Is being a touring musician really all that different from running a taco truck?  Not according to Maya de Vitry.

De Vitry is an acclaimed singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who’s bringing her band with her to Baltimore for a concert on November 10.  If you haven’t heard of her, get ready to meet your new favorite roots musician.  If you’re even the least bit familiar with de Vitry, then you probably already have your tickets for the show.  This one’s going to be special.

De Vitry’s concert is part of the Music on the Square Concert Series sponsored by the Church on the Square in Canton.  The concerts are on select Fridays from October to May, and de Vitry’s inclusion in this year’s lineup further proves that the nation’s best roots music series just happens to be in Baltimore.  Yep, Baltimore.

I spoke with de Vitry by phone recently about the upcoming show, her new EP Infinite, her band, her career, and all things music.  She was on the porch of her childhood home in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania on a beautiful autumn morning sipping coffee and taking a respite from her tour of the Northeast U.S. and Canada opening for The Wood Brothers.

If it seems as if de Vitry has spent her entire life in the public eye as a musician, it may be because she had an early start.  When she was in kindergarten, her parents taught her to play the Iris DeMent song Our Town on a tiny guitar, which she then performed for her class’s show and tell activity.  (You’ve got to hand it to de Vitry.  There aren’t too many six-year-olds who could pull off such a sad and weary tune for a kindergarten audience.)

A typical family vacation for de Vitry growing up was a week of camping at the Appalachian String Band Music Festival in Clifftop, West Virginia, where she also found early musical success (and met some lifelong friends.)  “They had this neo-traditional band contest at Clifftop,” she said.  “We would form bands with our friends at the camp and enter the contest.  If you got to the finals, you got to play at night under the lights.”  As a teenager, de Vitry played in the finals often and won the contest on several occasions with several different bands.

But she says that she really caught the bug to pursue a life in music when, at eighteen, she embarked on an epic road trip as a fiddling street musician.  About the life of a traveling busker, de Vitry said, “Every day is unknown and different.  Every day is rewarding.  It’s been hard to step off.”  So, she’s been at it, on an ever-evolving musical journey, ever since.  For seven years, it was as a member of the popular acoustic trio The Stray Birds, and since 2018 as a solo artist, collaborator, and band leader.

There is a downside to being on a constant artistic journey.  The risk of mental, physical, and spiritual exhaustion is very real.  De Vitry said, “A lot of musicians begin to question why they are even doing this.”  For de Vitry, frustration and detachment began creeping into her live shows.  But in 2021, while performing at a music festival in Nashville, she experienced what can only be described as a revelation that reawakened her passion.  “I wasn’t as aware of what music could do,” she said.  “I couldn’t quite believe that it could change people’s lives.  I believe that now. And I approach this in a more sustainable way.”

There’s no better evidence of de Vitry’s “second wind” as she calls it, than Infinite, a five-song EP she released in October 2023, which just might be her strongest work yet.  Stacy, In Her Wedding Gown, which kicks off the EP, has been a fan favorite and mainstay of de Vitry’s live shows for a while, but the other four songs, which are equally as strong, were pulled together specifically for this release.

It’s ironic that an album called Infinite was recorded in just one day, but that’s what de Vitry set out to do on June 1, 2023, and by God, she nailed it.  I don’t think recording all the songs of an EP in a single day would be the first choice of most artists, but there’s no denying that there are advantages to this approach.  There’s a freshness in these recordings, an honesty in the production, playing, and singing on Infinite that lets the personalities of the performers shine through.  The EP captures live a top-notch ensemble with the freedom and confidence to fully explore its craft.  Aside from de Vitry on guitar and vocals, the Infinite band includes Hannah Delynn on vocals, Joel Timmons on guitar and vocals, and Ethan Jodziewicz on bass.

And it’s this same Infinite band that de Vitry is bringing to Baltimore for the show on November 10.  It’s going to be roots music bliss that evening with an upright bass, acoustic guitar, fiddle, and harmony vocalist gathered around a single microphone to play songs from Infinite, explore de Vitry’s extensive catalog, and throw in a few surprise covers.

As de Vitry describes it, the concert is perfectly suited to the Church on the Square.  The church houses a warm and welcoming performance space that seats about a hundred, with hardwood floors, wood adornments on the walls, and a glow provided by the overhead string of lights that run its length.  The moment you step into the room, you can’t help but feel it’s going to be a great show.

Oh, yeah.  And getting back to the taco truck thing.  De Vitry said about her touring with her band, “We’re just the food truck parked on that street corner in town for the night.  We’re not trying to be Walmart.  We’re just serving the best street tacos we can that night.  Our job is care.”

Job well done.  And while we’re at it, make me one with everything.  On a flour tortilla.

More information about Maya de Vitry is available at her website:  www.mayadevitry.com

The Infinite EP, and her other recordings are available on bandcamp:  www.mayadevitry.bandcamp.com

Tickets to the Nov 10 show are available here:  www.alexlacquement.com/music-on-the-square-concert-series.html

Photo of Maya de Vitry by Kaitlyn Raitz.