the UK's VV Brown on tour - 2 free NYC shows

Beatweek: When I listen to Travelling Like the Light, there’s two things that immediately jump out at me. One is that it’s got this old school, throwback feel. What inspired that in you?

VV Brown: For a long time I was repressing the music that I really loved, cause when I was a kid I was a very deep kid, I was into classical and jazz music, and it wasn’t very cool. So from the age of thirteen to like nineteen, I kind of suppressed the love of it and was trying to be cool and listened to not songs that I loved. And then I went to LA and I was signed to a record deal which was different from this one, and they were trying to make me into an R&B diva, and I was still suppressing all of the music that I really liked, but I never said anything about it.

When I came back to London I didn’t want to suppress it anymore. I wanted to be true to what I wanted to do. So I went to a record store and I bought loads of vinyl and started to listen to old music again, like Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, and mixed the two, my love of pop music and then my love of old school music, and try to create a fusion of both.

Brit singer VV Brown plays a free show at Brooklyn Bowl tonight (2/15) with future funk singer Gordon Voidwell.

UPDATE: She’s also playing again for free Wednesday at Hiro Ballroom. RSVP here.

Brown’s Travelling Like the Light came out last year in the UK and earlier in 2010 in the US. An acoustic version of her song “Crying Blood” and all tour dates (a few more on this short US run) are below…

V.V. Brown – Crying Blood (Acoustic)

VV Brown – 2010 Tour Dates
Feb 15 Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn
Feb 17 Hiro Ballroom, New York, NY
Feb 18 Mar Bar, Philadelphia Philadelphia
Feb 19 Washington DC@DC9 Washington DC
Feb 22 Great Scott, Boston Boston