S.Lo on August 27th, 2019

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Some moments are best enjoyed in the low light of a sanctuary. Such was the case Saturday night when Shannon Lay and her six-person band (including opener Mikal Cronin on sax) celebrated the release of her album, “August,” at the intimate Pico Union Project.

Lay’s third full-length is a celebration of quitting her day job and committing herself fully to working in music two years ago. The result on Saturday was sublime reverberation of songs about awakening, seasons and the flow of life chiming through the former church (denominations removed) in the Byzantine-Latino Quarter just southwest of downtown L.A. The audience, listening intently, were lulled into a land of manifested dreams with Lay carrying the torch, leading her tribe through multi-colored sonic terrain, converting broken souls.

For the encore, the singer-songwriter returned with partial band (just the ladies and the drummer) and they beamed a nearly unrecognizable four-part choral harmonic version of Black Box’s ’90s house hit “Everybody Everybody.” After the ethereal choral arrangement closed to resounding applause, the original version played as the house lights turned on.

Kacey Johansing also opened the show.

Photos and recap by S.Lo

||| Also: Stream “August” in its entirety