Bio

Nashville-based artist, songwriter, and producer Maya de Vitry is enjoying some hard-won creative flourishing. "I’m not just making different music now. It feels like I'm breathing in a different atmosphere," she says, reflecting on her evolution from acclaimed roots-Americana band The Stray Birds to her current solo journey. Her 4th full-length release in just six years, The Only Moment is a refreshing 10-song testament to the generative simmering that underpins periods of reinvention and growth.

Despite her seemingly vigorous creative pace, the recording process for The Only Moment was unhurried. “It’s like I was making a long-exposure photograph, but with music,” she explains, having left the metaphorical shutter open for nearly three years to allow the songs themselves the opportunity to breathe. “I completely shelved this record for months at a time, on several occasions,” she recalls. “Each time I came back to it, I heard new possibilities. In today’s music industry, there’s pressure to share our process or turn it into ‘content’. But I treasured keeping this record to myself and slow-cooking these songs on the back burner.”

Produced by Maya de Vitry and mixed by Grammy-award winning engineer Justin Francis (Madison Cunningham), The Only Moment is an unabashed blend of indie folk, indie rock, and indie pop, with elements of Americana and alt-country. Recorded at Phantom Studios in Gallatin, TN, the album captures the unfettered energy and occasional chaos of de Vitry’s Nashville "bar band," featuring Anthony da Costa on electric guitar, Ethan Jodziewicz on electric bass, and Dominic Billet on drums. These three musicians played a pivotal role in nurturing de Vitry’s vision, crafting atmospheres around her songs that feel unrestricted by notions of genre.

Throughout the album, de Vitry explores the tension between intuition and the external pressures of contemporary society. In "Addicted," she reflects on the insidious presence of social media, lamenting, "it’s all a part of the weight / of seeing every moment pass knowing you can never have it.” In contrast, "If They Feel Like Wings" celebrates the discovery of inner strength and potential, soaring with de Vitry's string arrangement and layers of violins. "You’re the only one who knows when you find something that feels like a sky," she sings, accompanied by Jodziewicz's inventive fretless electric bass playing and da Costa’s elegant electric guitar lines. It’s a standout moment of exquisite performance and production.

Her evocative storytelling, grounded in everyday language, often incorporates elements of magical realism. In “Some Rent,” she encounters a fully embodied version of her past self, symbolized by a woman she picks up on the side of the road—a passenger who “climbs inside / bags beside her / shouting at the lights like a backseat driver.” In “Compass,” she sets clear boundaries, delivering her message in a thrilling rhythmic cadence: “sorry to hear that I let you down / sorrier to know you were thinking I was here / just holding up high some idea you had about me / I get it, I get mad too / but I don’t wanna go there anymore.”

Despite being accompanied by rock band instrumentation, it’s easy to imagine the mantra-like repetitions in “Nothing Else Matters,” “I’m Not Going Anywhere,” and “Ribbon” being played on a lone acoustic guitar and sung around a crackling campfire. De Vitry credits these melodic sensibilities to her early exposure to bluegrass and old-time music, fostered by a musical upbringing in Lancaster, PA and her family’s annual pilgrimage to an old-time string band festival in West Virginia.

After her first significant hiatus from the project, de Vitry returned with a fresh perspective on its potential. Envisioning the addition of a singular harmony singer, she turned to Phoebe Hunt—an exceptional vocalist and a creative confidante. Similar to her collaboration history with the original tracking band, de Vitry and Hunt had also shared numerous informal shows at cozy Nashville locales. Hunt seamlessly joined the “bar band.”

The vocal synergy between de Vitry and Hunt spans an astonishing spectrum of emotions, from the haunting "Burning Building" to the defiant “Some Rent”. Their duet-style harmonies on "Odds of Getting Even" are an electrifying, impassioned rendition of de Vitry and Caitlin Canty's co-write, previously recorded by Della Mae and Canty herself on her 2023 release Quiet Flame. The Only Moment opens with a gorgeously intimate version of "Nothing Else Matters," a deliberate choice reflecting the camaraderie shared among de Vitry, Hunt, and fellow Nashville artist Lindsay Lou. “Phoebe and Lindsay have both already released versions of this song, and it’s the first track on both of their recent records,” Maya explains. “So this one is like the 3rd in our trilogy.”

As the months passed, de Vitry expanded the sonic landscape of The Only Moment, introducing piano and keyboard textures throughout. In addition to his role as recording engineer, Alex Wilder contributed background vocals and keyboards, including a beautifully subtle Wurlitzer on “Watching the Whole Sky Change.”

“That song, in particular, was pivotal for me,” de Vitry reflects. “I wrote it one night in January 2023, pretty deep into the process of making this record. I found myself in a mental spiral, grappling with the lost years of the pandemic, struggling to articulate my needs in my romantic relationship, and just feeling pinned to the ground with sadness.”

She spent a long time laying on her back on the winter ground, gazing at the cloud-streaked night sky before retreating indoors to light a candle and pick up her guitar. Drawing from a recurring theme in her solo work, she sought solace in the rhythms and teachings of the natural world. “I need less of the wondering if I am ready / and more of the turning to face the sound / of all of the promises this world is already keeping / without ever writing them down,” she sings with unwavering composure.

The album’s title was inspired by another poignant line within that song: “I need less of the standing right here in the only moment / and somehow still looking away.” This desire to be present in each passing moment has become a guiding force in both her daily life and her musical expression. After three years of introspection and artistic exploration, The Only Moment is an abundant and revelatory offering. It is a testament to de Vitry’s sincerity and depth as an artist and a timeless and resonant addition to her body of work.