Virago is a psychedelic progressive rock project newly created by Jane Mabrysmith. The band features Amy Denio on bass and vocals and Alex Dillard on drums and keys. They began working together in 2016 after Jane reached out to Amy about recording some of her songs, to which Amy responded, “I’ve been wondering when you were gonna ask me to play!”

After sifting through several drummers, Alex, who is also Jane’s oldest son, had already learned the songs by proxy and wanted to try out. Amy was keen, and so it began.

After a year of recording, writing, improvising, editing, and mixing, the tangible result of this collaboration, titled Virago’s Lament, delivers a dark and moody mix of the whimsical and the ironic. Jane’s lyrics range from the bizarreness of fake news in “To Believe in You” to the irrational sense of loss from leaving social media, “Offline”, with Amy’s bass lines and harmonies adding eccentricity and attitude.

art credit: Eric Junge

photo credit: Kook Teflon

photo credit: Laurie Pearman