Folk All Y’all: Jessye DeSilva

Jessye DeSilva (she/they)’s new, crowdfunded album, Renovations, chronicles an ongoing, imperfect journey to self-love and -acceptance, full of both moments of resignation and moments of triumph.

DeSilva, a non-binary, trans person and the child of a preacher whose conservative religion left no room for their personhood, examines identity and trauma and reckons with privilege and marginalization across 11 songs that draw from both their classical vocal training and work as a voice teacher for musical theater students at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee College of Music and their love of ’90s emo and pop-rock. The 2023 Nashville Scene artist to watch and 2022 Boston Music Awards Americana Artist of the Year nominee put queer and trans empowerment at the very heart of Renovations, both in their encouraging, vulnerable lyrics and in the musicians they enlisted to play on their songs.