Spencer Day's Music, Life in a Good Place

Jazz singer/songwriter got his start playing retirement homes in Palm Springs

Michelle Roe Arts & Entertainment

 

Palm Springs Life happened to catch Spencer Day on a day of travel to Hudson, NY, that coincided with one of the worst snowstorms to hit the East Coast. It was also Valentine’s Day, which is appropriate since most of this singer-songwriter’s songs have been inspired by love. 

Luckily, Day arrived at his destination safely to enjoy a bit of the holiday while taking train delays, closures, and icy streets in stride.

“I don’t get paid to sing, I get paid to travel,” he says. “I love to sing – it’s the fun part and l’m lucky people listen to my music. But I, actually, travel most of the time and I just love it when I actually get to new places. I meet amazing people. and I’m lucky to see some of the most beautiful places in the world.”

Travel Days

  • “When I was young I wanted to be a travel agent when I grew up."
  • "I grew up in a small religious town in Northern Utah, and music was my escape to dream about exotic worlds."
  • "If I weren’t singing, I would love to be a travel writer."
  • "I still love mapping out itineraries and I love to help people discover a new restaurant or cool place off the beaten path.”

Dark Days

Day says he is currently in a “good place”, having come through what he characterizes as a “dark period where he was forced to look at his own “bi-polar mental illness” in order to heal and realize his personal recovery and growth.

“It’s great to be on the other side to encourage others to be sympathetic to mental illness,” he says. “There are so many unknowns and there is no shame. I suffered my whole life, and for me, by embracing a combination of personal spirituality, western medicine, eastern approaches to psychology and diet, I found my way and want to inspire people to take their own journey.”

In fact, his last album, The Mystery of You (2013) explores Day’s dark period and was really a coming out and personal acknowledgment that “you must own your own shadow.”

Sunny Days

Day brings his positive message to the desert as a headliner this week at The Copa Palm Springs playing at 8 p.m. Feb. 20-22.

“It’s a bit like coming home,” he says. “I got my start in Palm Springs playing retirement homes and a couple of piano bars as my first paying gigs. I still have elderly friends living there that I would like to visit.”

  • Day received his first major break as a StarSearch contestant.
  • He has worked with his favorite Nashville writers Jon Randals (“Whiskey Lullaby” for Brad Paisley and Allison Krauss) and Randall’s wife, Jessi Alexander (“The Climb” for Miley Cyrus).
  • He’s done voiceover for an audio book with Academy Award winner Helen Mirren about artist Vincent Van Gogh for the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
  • He co-wrote “Til you come to me” a hit on Palm Springs radio with lyrist Cliff Goldmacher.

While a strong jazz musician, Day’s music has evolved with a variety of influences from folk rock’s The Association, rockabilly, big bands and Nancy Sinatra. He likes the versatility and flexibility of his music and plans on performing a Palm Springs show infusing elements of cabaret, storytelling, and comedy with his piano and vocals.

He is looking forward to playing on the Copa Room’s intimate stage.

“I prefer more speak easy types of venues and a return to low key environments,” he says. “I’m also looking forward to premiering some new songs from my new album, Daybreak. Daybreak (to be released in April) treats retro 1960’s and ‘70’s style tunes with a contemporary sound. I’m really happy with how it’s come together.”

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