Last year, Ainsley Wagoner (she/they) and I discussed her new album One True Light and the start of her project known as Silverware. As a musician from Lexington, Kentucky, she shared her perspective on the San Francisco music scene and the collaborations the city has produced for her project overtime. One True Light was a two-year-long experimental project, reflective of their position as a vocalist and musician who feels her way through the writing and production process. The project plays with the lines of synth-pop and dabbles with atmospheric art-pop while creating space for vocals that drive a reflective narrative throughout. If you have not had a chance to listen, get on it!

We love Silverware at BFF.fm! Ainsley will be our featured artist at the BFF Listening Party on Tuesday, February 25 at Stable Cafe in San Francisco. Get your tickets today!

In August, I had the privilege of talking with Ainsley Wagoner from Silverware about her work as a classically trained vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. In our conversation, Ainsley shared about the scrappy beginnings of Silverware as a project and their early experimental process refining their creative voice as an artist. We also discussed her expansive journey as an emerging musician in the scene and how her experience is reflected in her new album One True Light.

Before relocating to the Bay Area in 2014, Ainsley attended school in Lexington Kentucky, where they studied music and majored in voice. The Lexington music scene at the time proved itself to be a safe and collaborative space, offering musicians the freedom to hone their crafts as they pleased. While at school, Ainsley found herself immersed in Lexington's experimental noise scene, profoundly influenced by D.I.Y. practice and a general punk ethos. The scene was objectively different than her academic exposure to music as a classically trained artist. At a formative time, the Lexington scene challenged Ainsley to expand her capacity for imperfect noise and embrace the art of self-expression instead. The inherent punk ethos of the space was a positive and beneficial contrast for Ainsley, who was otherwise acquainted with approaching her music solely through a traditional lens. This experience is notably evident in her sound today, which holds space for both the acknowledgment of tradition and careful deliberate choices to rebel against it.

During her college years in Lexington, her project Silverware was born out of a unique community project, where a colleague was tasked with developing a mixtape compilation of local bands. Her colleague decided to push the project one step further and challenge his local band friends to invent “fake bands” for the compilation instead of playing the work they already had. Ainsley took part in the compilation challenge and two experimental songs later, the project Silverware was loosely but officially born.

“Silverware was not born of a lot of intention, but was an opportunity to recreate my relationship to the craft itself."

Upon her relocation to the Bay Area in 2014, Ainsley felt a sense of isolation from the creative community they left behind in Lexington. Her first two years in the city were centered on building her work career and expanding her networks in the DJ scene and Silicon Valley world. After a two-year long break from playing music, Ainsley was itching to reconnect to a creative community.

Initially, she were drawn to the vastness of the Bay Area music scene for its expansive range of genres, project styles, and creative interests. She knew there were plenty of opportunities to plug in and started putting herself in the right rooms to participate. She started attending local open mics, bluegrass night at Amnesia, and connected to the BFF.FM community. She attended shows after work and eventually found her niche with like minded artists such as Al Harper and Asha Wells, with whom she regularly plays with now. Over time, Ainsley became a regular contributor to the local San Francisco scene.

 

In our conversation, Ainsley expressed her passion about sharing the vibrancy and importance of the San Francisco music scene today.

"I think people need to know that despite all the growing pessimism since the pandemic, San Francisco is not dead.  The scene is vibrant, it is vast, and there are so many important opportunities for artists here."

The scene in San Francisco continues to be an important avenue for artists, a beacon of opportunity and a community for creative folks who have come from all over the country to start something new. While there is a growing pessimism for change in the city, Ainsley wants people to know that the scene is still a thriving ecosystem for artists to refine their craft, challenge themselves and experiment with new ways of telling their stories.

Silverware's album One True Light is evidence of San Francisco's distinctive and flourishing music scene. The album is largely a product of a highly collaborative and explorative environment, resulting in the ambitious creative choices that make the album unique and memorable. One True Light was produced by Omar Akrouche on the Ghost Mountain Label and was recorded between both Los Angeles and San Francisco. One True Light is structurally fluid and vocally dynamic, offering plenty of room for play with sonic intention and adventure. Ainsley Wagoner is an artist who thrives in creative community, and their experiences with finding support through curiosity and determination in the SF scene are all evident through her new album One True Light.

Listen for yourself here.

See Silverware play live at BFF's Listening Party next Wednesday, 2/25 at The Stable Cafe in San Francisco! Doors open at 6pm!

Photo credits for all images to Marisa Bazan!