Transformations are at once the most painful and liberating processes we can experience, and can be also among the most inspiring. This past spring, Delicious Audio contributor and Americana performing artist Mya Byrne (previously known as Jeremiah Birnbaum) came out as a transgender woman. After this breakthrough, a period of intense creativity followed, which brought to life the songs in Mya’s debut album "As I Am." This is an inspired collection of folky, personal songs that mostly reflect influences from the golden years of folk-rock, from Joni Mitchell’s jazzy, disarming sincerity to Neil Young’s evocative, twangy poetry, with some exceptions veering towards blues and old timey. Opening track "April Fool" is a testament to change, which, filtered through Mya’s experience, is an explosively complicated – and therefore fertile – issue, in particular for the people who surround her: "And in me you see a stranger, someone you thought you knew, ink spilled, a quill collapsed on the last line of a picture you drew." Mya will be playing at The Living Room’s new Williamsburg location on November 22. – photo by Emily Raw
