Maya de Vitry (Trio)

Maya de Vitry (Trio)

w/ Shelby Means (Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, Della Mae, Sally & George)

Saturday, June 7th 2025

Charleston Pour House

Deck Stage

5pm doors /6pm show

$10 General Admission

Maya De Vitry

NASHVILLE — Originally from Lancaster, PA, Maya de Vitry is a Nashville-based singer, songwriter, producer, and instrumentalist whose music blurs the lines of folk, alt-country, indie rock, and Americana. An admirer of the dedicated songcraft of writers like John Prine and Gillian Welch—and of the stirring vocals of artists like Bonnie Raitt and Nina Simone—Maya de Vitry’s music invites listeners into a space of openness and connection.

On April 16, Maya will release an acoustic version of her song “Flowers,” initially released on her 2022 album Violet Light. Maya says, “I originally wrote this melody on clawhammer banjo, just like this recording, and wanted to share this solo version because I think it captures something about the essence of the song. I started writing this song thinking about the nourishment, beauty, and simplicity of flowers and also rain and the simplicity of reaching towards something that nourishes you.”

She adds, “I’m also continually fascinated by the word ‘love’ and how so many things can get swept into the definition (care and acceptance and comfort and respect… but also sometimes control and domination and manipulation…) until it’s just a really warped and distorted and confusing idea. The lines, ‘Tell me again how the world got sad—the part where you say you love somebody but you treat ’em bad,’ have a few layers of meaning for me. I’ve experienced this confusion and sadness in personal relationships and in how I’ve felt moving through the world as a woman… but I think it could also be the literal planet—our home—feeling sad.”

Her most recent solo album, The Only Moment [July 2024], is a strikingly gorgeous collection of songs that paint a beautiful sonic portrait of her emotional range and power as a vocalist. De Vitry has independently released four records and has nurtured a devoted community of listeners since she launched a solo career with her 2019 album Adaptations, after a formative chapter with roots-Americana trio The Stray Birds.

She has earned praise from Rolling Stone Country (“…de Vitry’s songwriting balances her intensely personal, microscopic style of storytelling with a straightforward, accessible delivery”), NPR Music (“the perfect soundtrack for uncorking that emotion and (defiantly) loving life again”), No Depression (“her songs shiver with an emotional immediacy that stirs our hearts”), and Glide Magazine (“her voice is among the most ethereal and pure in roots music”), among others. On April 18, The Milk Carton Kids released a cover of Maya’s song “Ribbon” (the closing track on The Only Moment).

When she is not collaborating live on stage, de Vitry thrives in the studio. Her songwriting appears on albums by Molly Tuttle, Lindsay Lou, and Steve Poltz, and her versatility as a multi-instrumentalist and harmony singer enriches numerous Nashville records.

Maya has begun taking on another behind-the-scenes role in bringing music into the world, not only to produce her own album, The Only Moment, but also serving as a producer for others, including her guitarist Joel Timmons’ debut record, Psychedelic Surf Country. She says, “The performances are bursting with the humor and straight-talking and drinking-deeply-from-the-cup-of-life attitude that is Joel, and I’m so proud of what we made.”

She produced the recent debut single, “Streets of Boulder (Feat. Molly Tuttle, Kyle Tuttle),” for singer and bassist Shelby Means. [Released Feb 14, 2025] “Shelby is an absolute force of nature in the bluegrass world,” says Maya of Means, who is a member of Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, with whom she gained her first GRAMMY win. “Shelby is a deep feeler, and it really comes through in her singing—and the band is just epic!” Maya also produced and added harmonies to Means’ second single, a cover of Lady Gaga’s “Million Reasons,” released March 14.

Maya also served as producer for, and added harmonies and instrumentations to, Hannah Delynn’s debut full-length album—out this September. Hannah toured with Maya as part of her ‘Infinite Band’ in 2024, the group that also served as the studio band for Maya’s Infinite EP which came out the year prior. Maya says, “I remember talking with Hannah about how when we are making a record, ‘we are making medicine, in a way.’ Whatever medicine she most needed—the stories she was telling through the songs, the emotions she’d be revealing through the performance—if she was making her own true medicine, that’s what mattered.” Hannah says, “The ease and connection you hear on the album are very much the foundational fabric of our friendship and, therefore, the record. Maya especially has played such a beautiful and instrumental role in helping me step into my musicianship, both on stage and creatively.”

Maya’s expansive relationship with music seems to allow her to move joyfully between genres, especially in her collaborations. Exploring a fusion of electronic/ambient/folk music performed on clarinets and synth, her voice soars as a featured guest vocalist on a new emotive track “Over and Over.” The song was released on March 5 as part of Chris Lippincott’s forthcoming full-length record and was co-written by Lippincott, de Vitry, and jazz musician David Williford.

Another collaborative track has taken on a life of its own. In his article entitled, “One Song In Many Voices – The Story Of ‘Nothing Else Matters,” WMOT Roots Radio’s Craig Havighurst declares, “it crossed a bridge into a wider world…” “Nothing Else Matters” was co-written by de Vitry and Phoebe Hunt. The song was released by Hunt as the title track of her 2023 album, is the opening cut on Lindsay Lou’s 2023 album Queen Of Time, and in 2024 on de Vitry’s The Only Moment. Other musical friends have continued to record their own versions of the song in a variety of formats, including Bonnie Sims [Big Richard], Nicki Bluhm with Mimi Naja [Fruition], Lauren Balthrop, and Hannah Seng.

Havighurst elaborates, “Here though is something rare, a contemporary song written by mid-career standouts of the roots music scene that’s being interpreted by others in real time, one of the highest compliments one can pay a song… Any songwriter would be gratified to write an American folk standard. Maybe Maya and Phoebe already have.”

Maya says of it all, “In the music industry—and society in general—it’s possible to feel that we are pitted against one another. But music seems to come from a much more boundary-less, universal place, and it just flows through all of us. As much as I can, I try to give and receive in a musical ecosystem where we are trusting each other, lifting each other up, and letting music flow between us. It gives me hope. It’s like weaving an interconnected web, instead of insisting on taking the journey alone on some straight and narrow path.”

“I’m not just making different music now. It feels like I’m breathing in a different atmosphere,” Maya says, reflecting on her evolution from the single-minded focus of The Stray Birds to her more fluid and generative musical present. Her sense of liberation is especially apparent in her live shows, which have become a space for spontaneity, peace, and freedom, often woven together with personal stories. “After the show, I just want to know if I’ve helped you to feel more free,” Maya continues. “That’s my quiet agreement—to myself, my bandmates, and everyone in the audience.”

With a magnetic voice and a hard-won sense of purpose, Maya has toured across North America and Europe, supporting artists like The Wood Brothers, Aoife O’Donovan, John Craigie, and Mighty Poplar.

Shelby Means

Born in the bluegrass of Kentucky and raised on Wyoming’s high plains, Shelby Means is one of the foremost bassists in bluegrass, with nearly two decades of experience in bluegrass, folk, rock, Americana, and country outfits. Now based in Charleston, SC, during her tenure in Nashville she was a member of the incredibly impactful GRAMMY-nominated bluegrass band of all women, Della Mae. With Della Mae and others she has traveled to more than 20 countries around the world spreading musical diplomacy.

Means is also one half of roots duo Sally & George with her husband and collaborator, Sol Driven Train’s Joel Timmons. With Timmons, Mary Lucey, and Billy Cardine, she co-founded another group, Lover’s Leap, a genre blurring, heart-led Americana band. Means is a member of Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, with whom she gained her first GRAMMY win for their 2023 album, City of Gold. She’s also received more than a handful of awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association for her work with Della Mae and Golden Highway.

Means is a driving player with a deep pocket, a singular stage presence, and a magnetic, centered approach to the upright bass. Beyond her work on the instrument, she’s also an accomplished songwriter and a heartfelt vocalist whose voice is rooted in tradition while authentically her own. With her debut solo music, slated for release in 2025, Means invites listeners to experience the same soulful presence and adventurous spirit she has built her career on. Her singing and playing has been heard across the country and around the world, from NPR’s airwaves, the Grand Ole Opry, Bonnaroo, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and Newport Folk to the U.S. Virgin Islands, Kazakhstan, Australia, and beyond.

* Show is for all ages. Attendees under 18 must be accompanied by a parent. Attendees under 21 will be subject to a $5 surcharge. The surcharge must be paid in cash at the door on the day of the event.