Shawna Virago – “Blood in Her Dreams”
Americana Highways brings you this premiere of Shawna Virago’s song “Blood in Her Dreams,” the title track from her forthcoming album, which is due to be released on May 17. The album was produced by Shawna Virago and Grace Coleman; engineered and mixed by Grace Coleman; and mastered by Lien Do. It was primarily recorded at Different Fur Studios in San Francisco with additional recording at El Studio. Album photography was courtesy of Lindsay Gauthier.
“Blood in Her Dreams” is Shawna Virago on vocals, guitars, bass, and harmonica; Lien Do on drums and percussion; and Grace Coleman on additional percussion and background vocals.
Americana Highways sat down for a brief chat with Shawna about the song. The premiere appears just beneath our interview.
Americana Highways: What is this song about?
Shawna Virago: I see “Blood In Her Dreams” as a song about loneliness. The listener is dropped into a specific world and becomes witness to a woman who’s a loner with zero optimism. She’s lost somewhere in a desolate landscape. She doesn’t have a North Star to guide her. She’s overly anchored, maybe, to a particular worldview. She never got to be the beauty queen and never had the power afforded to the attractive. She’s been looked over all their life and has fallen prey to cold-hearted conmen. But there is a fire in her. Maybe she’s too strong, too unrepressed, too erotic for the small town she finds herself in?
We all have life’s stakes determined largely by things outside our control, but you have to carry on. If you get stuck, walk down a different street. I have compassion for this character, who’s consumed with a quiet bitterness, a bitterness in response to her circumstances, and she can’t see she has the power to step into new possibilities. Despite all this, I think it’s also a song where you can roll down the windows and let it inspire your driving.
AH: Who and what were some influences when it came to writing the song?
SV: I don’t think any one source had an impact on my writing. You hope you go beyond the sum of your influences, but if you heard me singing songs on my couch, you might hear me sing songs from Nico’s Chelsea Girl or something off Dave Alvin’s King of California. But you’d definitely hear me sing something by X. Maybe I’d do a rendition of “See How We Are,” or “New World,” or “The World’s A Mess.” They taught me to care about your lyrics, not to get too precious, and to keep your songs raw-boned. Plus, I’ve been a fangirl of Exene since I was 14 or 15 years old. She’s been a guiding light for me aesthetically forever. She was one of the first femmes to survive in the very patriarchal world of punk rock.
AH: Any interesting stories from recording this one?
SV: I find that sometimes, the stories in my songs have a way of becoming true. The day before I was going into the studio to sing this song, I was having lunch at the local diner, a cash-only kind of place. Earlier, I had gone thrift store shopping and found a gorgeous vintage French V-neck dress, that hung below the knee. It looked a little bit like the one Gillian Welch is wearing on Revival – and I could see this song’s character wearing it.
I had just sat down when I noticed a big fellow walk through the door. He had on a beat-up trilby. He sat next to me at the counter and he got to talking, leaving me no choice but to listen. From the vintage dress I was wearing to this stranger moving next to me, it felt like a scene from this song was being played out. I could tell he had more on his mind than his Reuben sandwich.
He wasn’t my type at all, way too butch. I like a dandy boy. As he got up to leave, his hand brushed against me, which, in case anyone doesn’t understand, is not acceptable conduct. My stranger danger light went on, but my ice queen look impelled him out the door. But this unfortunate encounter helped fuel my vocal performance the next day, giving me the right dose of annoyance to really put me in the character’s universe.
Wow, thanks very much for sharing that with us, Shawna. This song winds up into a gritty thriller in the style of Dave Alvin and X. “She was dancing around the porch, to the music of mosquitoes,” and then things take a turn, and the blood in her dreams goes through phases. Enjoy the hints of darkness, defiance, real world outlooks and a healthy indifference all rolled into Shawna’s delivery.
Find the music and more information here: https://shawnavirago.com/
