Genevieve Heyward, January 12

Thursday, January 12, 7 p.m.

Raccoon Motel, 315 East Second Street, Davenport IA

Praised by Music Review Roulette for possessing "one of the most beautiful female voices we have heard in a long time," folk, country, and Americana singer/songwriter Genevieve Heyward headlines a January 12 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, the rising star lauded by Americana-UK for her "lilting vocals, sharply clever lyrics, and a distinctly country hued musicality that should be able to win over both traditional and more modern fans of the genre alike."

For as she can remember, the Wisconsin-based Heyward has grown up with music in her life. Adept at both guitar and piano, she writes her songs based on raw emotion and relatable experiences that cuts through with melody and sultry tone. After releasing her first EP, 2018's It’s Not Like Anyone’s Listening, before graduating high school, the singer/songwriter went on to tour through the United States both by herself and with other artists. She went on to release her second EP The River in 2019 at Painted Recordings, and the EP's title track was co-written by Pat MacDonald, whose songwriting credits include collaborations with Cher, Keith Urban, Imogen Heap, Stewart Copeland of The Police, and Peter Frampton. While recording and writing, Heyward toured across the United States in Tennessee, California, Texas, and Vermont, and eventually headed overseas, where she did her first headlining European tour through Norway accompanied by a band. After returning to the United States, she released her 2020 EP The Norway, which she had the opportunity to record in Scandinavia.

With At the Lake magazine raving that "her voice, both sultry and smoky, has shades of Brandi Carlile, Stevie Nicks and Amy Winehouse," Heyward stated in an interview with Wisconsin's The Hometown Foundation that "The Norway EP is very folk-heavy. Same with The River, it’s definitely got more of an Americana folk vibe to it. Currently, what I’m working on now is going to lean more towards my original album I released when I was 18, which is very piano-heavy. So I would say that one’s different. I never really intended to be an Americana artist, I guess. It was more like what my songwriting was sounding like at the time, who I was listening to. I think I was listening to a lot of Joni Mitchell at the time, so it’s kind of based off of, I feel like, what phase of voice I’m going through, who inspires me. So that one’s different just because it’s got that folk heaviness to it. Whereas right now what I’m doing is very, like I said, piano-heavy. I guess Queen’s a good reference. Queen’s another really good influence for me. Queen’s huge."

Genevieve Heyward headlines her Davenport engagement on January 12 with an opening set by Angela Meyer, admission to the 7 p.m. concert is $12, and tickets are available by visiting TheRaccoonMotel.com.