Trixie Whitley is doing the right thing. The proof was all throughout her completely sold out and highly emotive performance at New York’s Le Poisson Rouge last Thursday. This was the record release show for her debut album, Fourth Corner, marking an occasion that Trixie had been dreaming of since she was 12. The daughter of the late blues singer/songwriter and guitarist Chris Whitley, she obviously has music in her bones, and at this release show she really expressed her range of feeling with impassioned power through her two hour set. She also made sure, during every pause, to reiterate how grateful she was to everyone in attendance, for “supporting this path.” I’m fairly confident that by the end of the show, the whole room was grateful that musicians of her caliber are still emerging and committing to this path. It really is essential for the future of humanity.

This was the first show that Trixie and her live band members performed many of the songs they did off the new record, and it took a few songs before the vibe really started flowing, but when everything really started to coalesce, and all things were swept in the wind that was her voice, with all the meaning felt to a depth way past basic comprehension and consciousness. She said she had been wanting to play with beats and samples for a long time, and having a full band helped her fill out all the songs she had written for her voice and guitar without compromising any intimate aspect. She was also getting over a cold, and joking about her deeper than usual voice told us, “this is my pain, can you feel it?”

The crowd was hard pressed to not feel at least some amount of what she was feeling. It was all over her face, the way the corners of her mouth turned down when she was belting out the lyrics something fierce, or looked up to the ceiling as if singing to a higher power, and the way her entire skeletal frame shook and swayed under the bright spotlights. The first real taste of what could really come out of her lungs was with “Never Get Enough,” that went straight into the album title track. The first big crowd response came when she announced the tune “Need Your Love,” and then proceeded to belt the hell out of it. “Breathe You in My Dreams” was another clear winner with the crowd, especially when she grabbed the mic off the stand and turned around on her center stage to face the people in the audience that only had a view of her back the majority of the show.

What essentially carried all of the songs through was Trixie’s powerful vocals, as neither the lyrics nor fleshed out accompaniment are anything super poetic, intellectual, or wise. If anyone else tried to cover these songs, it could easily become boring and repetitive. It’s the sight and the sound of Trixie that breathes life into her music. She could probably make singing the alphabet a gritty blues-infused masterpiece, wrought with mystique and sensuality. To be fair, she’s got some serious guitar licks and piano chops too. For a few songs the band left the stage to give her a solo performance, and the encore song was a breathtaking duet between her on guitar and her live pianist. Then it was time to go, but Trixie defied her time constraints and insisted on playing one more, sitting down at the piano and dedicating “Strong Blood” to her father. This was maybe her classiest moment, looking a bit like an old Hollywood film star but with no regard for holding back. She dug deep to pull out those far-reaching notes, and it was majorly felt with equal admiration from the sound of applause in response.

As this is just the beginning of Trixie Whitley tour, there are plenty more show dates to catch her on, throughout the US till mid-February, after which she heads to Europe. See all dates, and stay up to the minute with Trixie’s tweets.