by: Kayla Faulk

Rebecca Pronsky
www.rebeccapronsky.com
Bottega Art and Wine Bar
1 South Front Street
April 9th, 9pm, free

When asked about what inspires her to write songs, Brooklyn songstress Rebecca Pronsky said, “Songs are a bit like dreams. You make ‘em, and then you interpret them, but where they came from is a bit of a mystery—and I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Now with four albums released, including her 2009 EP The Best Game in Town, Pronsky’s music is making its way around the country. Her sound has been likened to a variation of styles, from indie-pop and folk, to Americana and jazz. However, she maintains that sometimes labels aren’t required. “Overall, what I’m writing and playing are just songs. They aren’t all alike enough to fit under in a nice, one-word package.”

With her powerful voice alongside the talented musicianship of her band, including guitarist and co-producer Rich Bennett, listeners can only hope that she keeps dreaming long enough to create more of these commanding sounds—and that she continues to find awe in growing up to be a musician.

At the ripe young age of 8, Pronsky got her start studying voice with a local rock singer. Only a third-grader at the time, her mentor asked her to sing along onstage. She then started writing music as a teenager and eventually went on to study ethnomusicology at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. There, she released her first album, Milestone.

On a break from teaching voice lessons last week, Pronsky was able to talk shop with encore. Her New-Yorker roots, her music and her career are taking off, as she prepares for a stopover in Wilmington on April 9th at Bottega Art and Wine Bar.

encore: What was it like performing live at the age of 8? Was it an instant love you knew would become your career?
Rebecca Pronsky: It definitely whetted my appetite to do more and see what would happen.

e: What does living in New York and, in particular, the city of Brooklyn provide you as an artist?
RP: Good question. Brooklyn has such a massive artist population, and there’s a seemingly endless supply of excellent musicians out there to talk shop with, play with and learn from. That is really invaluable. The downside is that there’s so much going on in New York, and people barely have a second to pay attention to anything, and often we miss out on getting to know others in our artistic community. That’s why I started the Brooklyn Songwriters Exchange, a music series I book, host and manage that features excellent songwriters in an intimate venue. We are working to create a community of affiliated artists and link Brooklyn songwriters through the scene.

e: How has your education in music at Brown benefited your career?
RP: To be honest, Brown was a totally intellectual education, and besides meeting a few great friends, it really didn’t help me to become a better songwriter or performer. I learned a lot and wrote a lot of papers, but the focus was on criticism and intellectualizing everything, not on being creative.

e: How is your material on your latest album Departures and Arrivals different from your past albums?
RP: I think the new EP is more stylistically coherent; it reflects what I’m up to now. Records are like photographs: You always need new ones to reflect how you look now. I have to keep putting out records, or I’ll feel out of date!

e: Tell our readers something they may want to know about you.
RP: Well, for one thing, I love the South. I’m a total New Yorker, born and raised, but I love traveling, and the South is my favorite place to tour. In some ways, I think my music fits better in your neck of the woods than mine. I cannot wait to get warm, look at old Southern architecture and eat barbecue.