By Myki Angeline

trophiiLet me start off by saying that I am in love with this album.  From the moment “Itch” hit my ears, the first track from the highly-anticipated release Vitamins And Flowers by indie artist Lindsey Pavao, I realized this album is a totally different style and direction than her fans are used to.  For this California native, that is the reaction she is hoping for.

Pavao is proud of her new project Trophii, a duo with musical and life partner, Richie Smith (formerly of Life in 24 Frames).  Their collaboration Vitamins And Flowers was mixed by engineer Robert Cheek (Band of Horses, Tera Melos, Chelsea Wolfe, Life in 24 Frames), and releases December 6th. It will be available online to the public, with a performance scheduled at a free Le Twist event at LowBrau in downtown Sacramento, California on the same night. She describes the album as, “full of commentary about our past with experiencing rejection, from both others and personally towards ourselves. It’s our release from (some) demons and our rebirth.” Pavao says.

I met The Voice finalist in the summer of 2012 at Concerts In The Park, a weekly outdoor concert put on by the Downtown Partnership showcasing local and national talent, boasting attendance in the thousands.  It was exciting to see a music artist from Sacramento make it so far on the popular singing competition television show. After her wonderful performance, I approached Pavao to congratulate her and asked to take a photo with her. She was shy and reserved as we posed together for the picture. She had launched a successful Kickstarter campaign for her first album that year.  But, it would take Pavao four years before any of us would hear what her fan’s pledges would produce.

Pavao described her experience with being on The Voice as “an awakening”.  She was relatively new to music performance, surrounded by more seasoned competitors. As if the pressures of performing in front of millions of viewers each week for votes weren’t enough, she was forced into an image she could not relate to.  All the glitter, high heels, glamorous make up, and cinched waists seemed more important to the producers than her vocal talent.  Image over substance. Still, she made it all the way to the finals before being voted off, and not before giving a performance that was true to her heart, an acoustic version of “Skinny Love”.

The next two years were an emotional roller coaster for Pavao. She would complete a national tour, two west coast tours, collaborate with artists, experience writer’s block, and struggle through depression.  Identifying more as an artist and less as a celebrity, Pavao found solace in yoga (now an instructor at Solfire Yoga in midtown Sacramento) and daily mediation; taking a much needed break from social media.  It wasn’t until working with Richie Smith, that she would find her inner strength to look past people’s expectations and create music that would resonate with her artistically.  What started as a solo project, turned into a collaboration and thus, in the summer of 2014 Trophii was born. Pavao, like many other female artists, has been a victim of objectification in the music industry. She came out of her experiences stronger, no longer allowing the pressures of the music business determine her creative process.

Trophii will debut on December 6th at LowBrau in Sacramento, California at a free Le Twist event, starting at 9pm.  Then, the duo will kick off 2017 with a performance on January 10th at Harlows in Sacramento, California. On the same bill will be local bands NTVZN and The Color Wild.

To hear the single “Itch” on Soundcloud, click here.

Like Trophii’s Facebook page here.

Below is Lindsey Pavao’s performance of “Skinny Love” from Season 2 of NBC’s The Voice.