Jessica Lea Mayfield - Live in Nashville
On Thursday, January 23rd, artist Jessica Lea Mayfield & opening act Margaux took their distinct sounds to the dreamy, cornerless Blue Room in Nashville, TN.
Margaux kicked off the evening with all she needed: a chair and her guitar. With strategic expertise, she’d pluck at the strings with slight variations in intensity, resulting in an incandescent-like sound.
I’ve been a fan of Margaux’s work since her 2019 EP More Brilliant Is The Hand That Throws The Coin, and have been bumping 2024’s Inside The Marble on rainy days with every presented opportunity; however, I have never heard her work presented in such a way. Her live, solitary setup pivots to an alternate direction from her studio production—only exacerbating the nature of her poignant lyricism. As her set continued, one could not help but be drawn deeper into the wistful world that Margaux weaved for her audience.
On the other hand, Jessica Lea Mayfield’s energetic performance stood in stark contrast to the soothing melodic work of Margaux, but their polarity only enhanced the overall experience of the concert. The two of them together felt like the audible equivalent of pairing together Goldfish crackers with prosecco—a combo that one might believe to be unmatched and bizarre, but quite scintillating upon realization.
Frankly, no way to promptly describe the sound of JLM and place her into one finite box. One may believe that there is solely a distinct ‘rock’ sound at first, the melodies themselves have these lilting folk roots intermingled with indie-esque lyricism.
Fans of a wide spectrum of ages stood entranced the moment the singer walked on the stage in big ol’ platform boots, covered in an array of jingling silver cross charms. Mayfield knows how to kick off a show, starting with a high energy rendition of Oblivious, before bouncing around her discography and keeping the audience on their toes with what was to come next.
Just like Margaux’s sound-flip—wherein her studio work felt a tad more energetic compared to live; some of Mayfield’s studio versions render more mellow compared to her undeniably intense & vibrant live performance. Once again, one can see & feel her work from an entirely new perspective—especially when the songs were hand-selected by her from across her 19-year long career. One cannot help but wonder: does she perform these works differently than when she was younger, and if so, what is this new emotional outlook? How has the meaning changed for her, and how does she present this alteration to us as her captivated audience?
There’s only one way to find out: catch Jessica Lea-Mayfield & Margaux on tour (and if they’re not near you, shuffle their music and have some Goldfish & prosecco).