Brittney Spencer. Photo: Catherine Powell
Vocal powerhouse Brittney Spencer‘s “In A Perfect World Tour” took over Nashville’s Basement East last night (Dec. 9) as she delivered a stacked set of over a dozen tracks.
With only a handful of songs actually released on music platforms, Spencer gave the audience, which included a wave of Nashville music industry executives, a heavy helping of new music slated to come in 2022. With vocals that command an audience’s attention with every note and powerful lyrics to match, the crowd hung on to each honey-soaked word and falsetto-filled run.
Brittney Spencer. Photo: Catherine Powell
Spencer kicked things off with a song drenched in gratitude titled “My Stupid Life,” which reminisces on the whirlwind year she’s had, singing: “Man, I must be living right. Man, I love my stupid life.”
“I put out my first EP this past December, and I can’t believe that it’s been a year already. I call myself a quarantine child because, for whatever reason, I released music during a pandemic for the first time in my life,” Spencer joked with the demographic-spanning crowd.
She continued: “I wrote this next song because I felt like people were putting boxes around me and telling me who I could be, what I couldn’t do, and I was taking all that shit in. One day I woke up and thought, ‘What would Jay-Z say?’ He would say, ‘Allow me to reintroduce myself.’ So I told myself that everyone was wrong. I had to figure this thing out and reintroduce myself to everybody else, but also to myself. I believe that you can do whatever you want, we can be whoever we want.” Spencer then shared her aptly named “Damn Right, You’re Wrong.”
Bringing a unique combination of jazz and R&B mixed with country sensibility, organic instrumentation and a spice of pop relatability, Spencer wowed the crowd with a full spectrum of genre-defying songs. Her set included a soul-filled cover of “Man’s World;” the rocking “Bad Habits;” a dreamy, up-tempo track titled “When I Think About Love;” and the vibey drinking song, “Party Problems,” which also featured a medley of “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me),” Niko Moon’s “Good Time,” and “I Should Probably Go To Bed” from Dan + Shay.
Brittney Spencer plays the Basement East in Nashville, Tennessee on Dec. 9, 2021. Photo: Catherine Powell
Paired with pitch perfect harmonies from her band, the songstress, who first came to Nashville 8 years ago and got her start busking on Broadway, also toned things down for a stripped down version of her change-inspiring track “Compassion,” as well as her own shimmering version of The Highwomen‘s “Crowded Table.”
“In October of 2020 my life changed in a very weird and wonderful way when I posted a cover of this song. I love The Highwomen with all of my heart. They’re incredible women in my life, both musically and as people. I’ve learned so much from them and [they’ve made me feel less alone]. No one really gives you a manual about artistry when shit happens, so it’s really nice to have people in your corner who can be your friend and be there,” she explained. “I’ve learned so much about holding the door open for other people because of The Highwomen, Mickey Guyton, and so many artists who have given a damn about little ole me–this girl from Baltimore, Maryland. I just want to do the same for other people.”
In a standout performance from the night, the singer-songwriter showcased her clever lyrical prowess on “Bigger Than The Song,” which serves as an ear worm tribute to some titans of the radio such as Reba McEntire, Beyonce, Whitney Houston, Brittney Spears, Janet Jackson, Maren Morris, and more. What’s sure to be fan-favorite, Spencer belted the catchy chorus, offering: “Be fancy like Reba, a Queen like Latifah, and love like Johnny & June / Get mad like Alania, scream like Janet, do it all like Dolly would do / It’s more than a three minute listen when the radio’s on / It’s bigger than the song.”
Brittney Spencer & Lindsay Ell. Photo: Catherine Powell
Spencer closed the show with special guest Lindsay Ell who backed the killer vocals with her signature guitar riffs on the unreleased “Thankful.”
2021 has been quite a monumental year for Spencer who has celebrated the release of her Compassion EP, performed alongside Guyton and Madeline Edwards at The 55th Annual CMA Awards, was a featured performer at the 2021 ACM Honors, and was named a part of MusicRow‘s Next Big Thing Artists Class of 2022, among other impressive accolades.
The “In A Perfect World Tour” will pick up after the holidays with a stop at Tuffy’s in Sanford, Florida, on Jan. 14, followed by a two-day stay at the 30A Songwriters Fest in Walton Beach, Florida, on Jan. 15-16.
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