Spencer LaJoye
(they/them)
Queer singer-songwriter
Spencer LaJoye is a folk/pop singer-songwriter, violinist and vocal loop artist who has been described as charming, humorous and acutely self-aware. According to their website, LaJoye’s music feels like “taking a long walk on cracked pavement” with dynamic acoustic arrangements and crystalline vocals. Their live performances leave audiences crying, laughing and wanting more.
LaJoye, who is based out of Boston, grew up in a family of eight musicians in rural Southwest Michigan. They wrote their first EP as a closeted queer kid while attending a historically conservative Christian college, studying theology. Now, LaJoye is outspokenly queer with the goal to “foster a life-affirming community through music, and to bring ‘people to church’ at their shows.”
LaJoye’s first EP, “We’ve Been That Way Before,” won the WYCE Jammie Award for listener’s choice in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They also won the 2021 Kerrville New Folk Songwriting Competition and was an official showcase artist at Folk Alliance International, 2023.
In Autumn 2021, LaJoye released their four-track EP, “Remember The Oxygen,” written before, during and following their coming out as transgender nonbinary. Their single, “Plowshare Prayer,” went viral among hurting and healing people around the world, and a studio version was released in February 2022. Most recently, they released “Plant a Piano,” a solo EP of vocally theatric piano ballads, in February 2023.
spencerlajoye.com