Vintage Vibes

As a teenager in Brooklyn, Val Levine would hide out in the back of coffee shops and write poetry. Pen and page were an escape from the stressful demands of a competiive figure skater training with an eye on the Olympics. After early hours on the ice she would stop for coffee and linger in a booth writing so much she would often be late for class.

Years later, after retiring from a professional skating career that included touring with ICE CAPADES, she picked up a guitar and began her songwriting journey. She was listening to James Taylor, Neil Young and Elton John, but Ricki Lee Jones and Tom Waits had a kind of jagged edge that spoke to her. She saw Syd Straw play old time country songs in vintage cowgirl clothes and Emmy Lou Harris made an impact. Songs about the heartache of a simpler rural life spoke to a kid navigating sidewalks and riding the New York City subways.

Eventually Val was recording her own emotionally driven music -informed by her imagistic poets soul and love of collaging words into lyrics.

Today, Val plays with her band and fellow musicians and her recordings have been heard world wide. Her second studio album 'FANCY TOWN' was recorded in Nashville with well known players from the Jim Lauderdale band, and released in the fall of 2024.