Write a commentBorn to two music professors, Spencer LaJoye – who plays the Oswego Music Hall in a show starting at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 10 – brings life lessons and a crystalline voice to the Roy C. McCrobie Building, 41 Lake St. in Oswego.
Two-piece Boston folk act Sweet Petunia opens the show before LaJoye, who aims to be a one-human tour de force balancing theatrical grace and unhinged sincerity.
Hailing from Michigan, LaJoye is a classically trained violinist but solely relies on an acoustic guitar, a looper pedal and their melodious voice when playing live. Their catalog comprises folk, indie and autobiographical music. Most of all, their music is shrouded in honesty.
"I love relating to a wide variety," LaJoye said. "Through honesty, there is something in the music for everyone."
LaJoye was raised on classical music, symphony works and what they call "bad worship music" -- all of which have influenced their tender and lyrical style that encourages unity and love.
LaJoye spent periods of their adult life in both Denver and Boston, but LaJoye currently resides in Northern California, with cows as neighbors.
Their track titled "Plowshare Prayer" is an "authentic and open-hearted wish" to everyone who has been cast out or made unable to express themselves freely. It was written over the span of a day and a half when LaJoye was working in three churches at once.
"I don't ever want to pray for someone to change," LaJoye said. "That is where prayer tends to go wrong."
LaJoye mentioned a quote that means a lot to them by psychologist Carl Rogers: "What is most particular is universal."
In writing their songs, LaJoye wants to be the person that listeners can relate to.
Ultimately, LaJoye said, they want people who come to their shows to "laugh, cry and walk away feeling like they have permission to be exactly who they are."
Tickets from the Oswego Music Hall range from $17 to $22. SUNY Oswego students with ID can get a ticket for $10, or bring a friend and each will get a ticket for $5.
Tickets are available at www.oswegomusichall.org, at the River's End Bookstore and at the venue door on the day of the show.
