Delaney Bailey: Chicago Transplant

 Delaney Bailey was born in Indiana and spent her college years at Indiana University in Bloomington Indiana. It was on the second day of classes that inspiration hit her. Her boyfriend broke up with her. She didn't have therapy and so, like many other artists, she turned to song writing as an outlet. As a result, "Her first released single “Loving & Losing” garnered over 163,000 streams on Spotify and her following quickly grew to over 30,000 listeners on the music platform" (WBEZ). And just like that, Bailey's career started on a random day in 2020.

Bailey at Schuba's Tavern

I personally had heard of Bailey around this time, but did not start listening to her intensely until her EP, "what we leave behind," was released in 2023. While there was not necessarily a theme that Bailey had in mind for this album, all of the songs are stripped back to a little bit of instrumental work to focus primarily on Bailey's vocals. This album came out towards the end of her college career, just after she moved to Chicago. She spends much of the album reminiscing on what she left behind in Indiana. Speaking on the aspects of life that one gives up for their own betterment and doing so with little assistance from instrumentals is scary. Still, Bailey bravely sticks by her craft, goes forth, and doesn't hide, wearing her heart on her sleeve and allowing her lyrics to breathe using subdued instrumentals to accent but not overwhelm her storytelling.

Since "what we leave behind," Bailey has worked on honing in her craft of story telling on her most recent EP: "Chiaroscuro." Her sound has changed with the city air and as she has collaborated with other singers and songwriters for the first time. We have been talking about in class the way that collaboration can change the end product and I think Bailey's new album is a perfect demonstration of that.