I've been following Shannon Lay since 2011 when she was in a band fronted by Laena Myers called Raw Geronimo (name later changed to Feels). She started to do solo gigs and I saw my first set at the Bootleg Theater (since closed) in 2017. I wrote the following about it:
"Shannon Lay from Feels started the night off. It reminded me of my first night during my New Zealand vacation. I was walking around and came across this music venue where folks were in a circle, singing. Her set was such a unique difference from Feels."
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| Shannon Lay at Permanent Records Roadhouse |
Yes, it definitely was a different sound. Raw Geronimo / Feels was a psychedelic rock band while Shannon Lay was like listening to a mystical ancient Irish vocalist.
She eventually left Feels in 2019. Feels itself disbanded in 2022, but Myers still carries the torch and you can catch her around Los Angeles every so often. Also, long time band member of Raw Geronimo, Lauren Fay Levy, is involved in music via being a music supervisor for TV and movies. It is a nice family tree of a part of the Los Angeles music history.
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| Shannon Lay at Permanent Records Roadhouse |
I happened to notice that she was playing a set at Permanent Records Roadhouse. The last time I saw her play was in 2021 at a Ryan Pollie event (we've cross paths at times during that time frame while catching live music around town). It was obviously time to fix that time gap. The event was an early Friday show (6 p.m.). Interestingly for me, this was the second time I went to Permanent Records Roadhouse this year and the second time that I hit up an early Friday matinee show. I must be getting old. Also, that previous time I went on a Friday evening, I got stuck in the most horrid street traffic. This time, there were very few cars on the road. Very interesting.
Sometimes I catch Shannon Lay playing with a band and other times I see her going solo. On this night she was going solo with a guitar. She sat on a chair on stage and sang out a, "Hello." She then asked the audience, "Do you want to come sit with me?" There were a handful of takers initially, but by the end of the set a significant portion of the audience were either sitting on the floor of the venue or on a couple chairs that were on the sides.
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| Shannon Lay at Permanent Records Roadhouse |
A highlight of the set occurred at the end when she sang "Awaken and Allow" A capella. She asked the audience to say their names three times in their mind in order to "reclaim some of yourself from all that is happening in this world or in your own personal life." During a moment when the venue bar was shaking a drink cocktail, she paused her vocals until the bartender had finished making the drink and then continued, "I have to get out of California."
My favorite Shannon Lay song and the song spotlight is "All This Life Going Down," which was the third to the last song of the set. It is a song from her 2016 debut album of the same name. I find it the most mystical of her songs. There are those note progressing vocals while singing the lyrics, "With all this life goin' down'," that I love hearing over and over again. The lyrics are accompanied by the finest camp fire guitar playing.
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| Shannon Lay at Permanent Records Roadhouse |
Setlist: Tides, A Thread to Find, Angeles (Elliot Smith cover), Asa, All This Life Going Down, Rare to Wake, Awaken and Allow
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