We first connected with songwriter Maria Crawford nearly a year ago when she released the country-tinged single “Experiments,” which would appear on her debut album as Wilby later that year. With Center of Affection out for five months now, the artist shares that her relationship to these songs has begun to change as they’ve taken on new lives in a performance setting. “I’ve heard it said before that songs have three different lives: when you write them, when you release them, and when you play them live,” she shares. “With the album release, I’ve been in a second life with these songs, and it’s brought up a lot for me. There was a moment where I realized I can’t take any of it back, and a kind of raw vulnerability that I am experiencing at a newer level.”
Before she kicks off a set of spring dates at Baby’s All Right in her hometown of NYC, Wilby filmed a “Neighborhoods” session for us on a gloomy day in Brooklyn. Set up on a friend’s rooftop, she gives an acoustic performance of the album’s final single, “Body,” a “self-validation” anthem which was initially written during a darker period in her life. “‘Body’ is cathartic for me to sing, and feels natural to perform in a stripped-down setting, just like I wrote it,” she explains. As for the video, she notes that it was filmed by the friend whose roof she’s playing on and features a scenic view. “We shot this video on my friend Shea’s roof, and it just so happens to feature a skyline of my new home, New York.”
Check it out below, and catch Wilby on tour at the dates listed here.
