San Francisco-bred and LA-based singer-songwriter Jessica Pratt brought her vintage sounding vocals to the intimate Clive Davis Theatre at the GRAMMY Museum on Tuesday night, treating fans to a conversation and a brief intimate set.
Pratt enchanted the crowd with her unique vocal style that transports you back to the ’60s. She has a generally soft approach to singing but the vocals wash over you lushly as she sings accompanied by her acoustic guitar and a band behind her that adds some nice layers.
Pratt was joined on stage by my former theLAND Magazine co-hort and jack-of-all-music-writing-trades Jeff Weiss for a discussion before the show. She allowed fans to peek behind the curtain a bit into the creation of the latest album, which has been an amazing progression from her early records as a teen and young twentysomething who wrote music in her Los Angeles bedroom. This album has much more depth than previous records of hers because of the addition of more than just an acoustic guitar.
Her record Here in the Pitch dropped in May and the now LA-based singer said the title references the La Brea Tar Pits. Her music sounds inspired by the area in which her northeast LA cabin sits.
Pratt performed a handful of songs from the new record, my favorite being “Better Hate,” an almost jazzy-like rhythm to it that gives big time lounge vibes. It sounds like the heyday of Laurel Canyon’s music scene, a refreshing and beautiful pop record that is worth hearing on vinyl, switching from side A to side B … and then back to side A again to start it all over.
Pratt has seen some crossover into genres well outside the scope of her own music. A$AP Rocky featured her on his August single “Highjack”, and pop singer Troye Sivan sampled her on his song “Can’t Go Back, Baby”. Hearing her talk about that experience with Rocky in particular was a fun moment in the conversation.
Check out Here in the Pitch and cross your fingers along with us that she plays LA again soon.
Words by Mark Ortega
Photos courtesy of the Recording Academy™️/photo by Rebecca Sapp for Getty Images
