Many of us are spending a lot more time with ourselves in quarantine, and that can mean a lot of new feelings to process. Someone who’s exceptionally skilled at navigating this kind of complicated emotional territory is singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jessica Ott, better known as Whoa Dakota. Her 2018 LP Patterns brims with emotionally honest, frequently fun and danceable songs about understanding yourself better in order to have better relationships with other people. Thursday evening, she played a few of those tunes and others in an installment of the Scene’s No-Contact Shows livestream series, with assistance from partner Collin Gundry, who also performs and records as Tuxedo Wildlife.
The couple has a natural and ultra-charming chemistry that sparkled in pre-show songs and between-song banter, as well as in their cover of the late John Prine’s beloved duet tune “In Spite of Ourselves,” as fine a portrait of the workings of a relationship as was ever made. (They also performed it as part of Consequence of Sound’s recent online tribute to Prine; a recording will be released May 22.)
But Ott’s songs and voice were the stars of the show. In addition to older songs like “Patterns” and “Baggage,” she shared several works in progress. One highlight was a piece tentatively titled “That Woman,” about refusing to be gaslighted. Another was a straightforward country song about dealing with a rude customer in her regular pre-pandemic day job as a server. Like many great country tunes, this not-yet-titled number relates a serious topic in a breezy setting. Ott shares a facility for this with Dolly Parton, and the Parton-esque lilt of her singing voice came to the front here, too.
One of the new songs that may resonate the most strongly — with musicians especially, but also with anyone who’s grappling with the meaning of life right now — is called “Out of My Mind.” Sonically, it highlights the commonalities between R&B and country, and lyrically it addresses the friction that can come with trying to make a living from an activity that you’re passionate about.
“I wrote it about my love for music and my sometimes seemingly unrequited love for my music career,” said Ott. “I think a lot of independent artists really struggle with how to make things happen — how to get where you want to go without changing who you are.”
