Kevin Bronson on February 19th, 2014

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Nico Vega was pumping new life into the notion of the power trio long before there were blues revivalists on every street corner. It was 2006 or so when the dual shredding of Aja Volkman (with her Joplinesque vocals) and Rich Koehler (with his guitar) first jolted L.A. audiences, with (then) up-and-coming actor Mikey Pena on drums. Since then, Nico Vega has had ups and downs – including a full-length on ill-fated MySpace Records and a string of nifty song placements (notably, “Beast,” a four-year-old single, got a new life when it appeared in the trailer for BioShock Infinite last year). Their second full-length, though, has taken a back seat to life happenings; Volkman married Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons and in 2012 the couple had a child. But later this year, finally, Nico Vega will release “Lead to Light,” and at a recent showcase hosted by the Village and held at Mack Sennett Studios, fans saw a slightly different Volkman. Almost absent from the spritely, barefooted singer’s repertoire were the electric screeches that punctuated songs like “Beast” and, way back when, “Gravity” – she’s more of a belter now, with new songs like “I Believe” (co-written by Reynolds and out as a single next week) still making use of her impressive range and phrasing. Volkman can still light up a room, but maybe the days are past when tries to overload the circuits.

||| Watch: The video for “I Believe”

||| Previously: “Beast,” “Easier,” “We Are the Art”