Sydney Worthley is walking down the hall before she is stopped by a friend who confesses, “I’ve had that song stuck in my head the entire day.”
That song is “One Two Three,” an earworm off of Worthley’s own 14-track CD Strong which dropped last month through Ambassador Music Group.
The Voorheesville teenager is aggressively pushing out into the local music scene. She’s performed several gigs throughout the Capital District in the past several months, highlighted by a show at Albany’s Tulip Festival in May and a headlining act at Jupiter Hall to celebrate the release of Strong.
Since it’s release in September, the title track has received play on local alternative and Americana stations, including 88.3 WVCR-FM, where Worthley has already earned respect from its prominent on-air personality.
“Her charm and poise were evident,” said Vito Ciccarelli, WVCR radio personality. Ciccarelli interviewed Sydney Worthley for his show and he said he was impressed within two minutes. “You don’t generally see that in performers that young. When she performed live, I said to myself — this is the real deal. Reminded me of Moriah Formica… just in the way she didn’t stumble, and let her knowledge and charm take over the interview.”
In a NYS Music album review, writer Julia Wolfe describes Worthley’s writing technique as similar to Taylor Swift, another artist whose music career started in earnest at the age of 14. Like Swift, the topics in which Worthley touches upon transcend into more mature interpretations of self-awareness, love and death.
A dedication to Worthley’s grandmothers is scribed on the front of the CD’s lyrics booklet; “two women who exemplified what it means to be strong.” Dorothy Contreras and Sherry Worthley both died of cancer within four months. The young artist took to writing.
“After that, I had started writing about things I had experienced,” said Sydney, “and that’s what this entire album is about.”
Shauna Worthley, Sydney’s mother, said her daughter has been determined to strike out onto the world since performing in front of her first crowd at 9.
“Any parent thinks that their daughter is extremely gifted,” said Shauna. She and her husband decided to gift Sydney with a guitar for her 9th birthday after showing an interest in playing music. Three months of lessons were followed by a performance in front of more than 100 people at her school’s talent show. “And, [she] came off the stage bawling. She was just so happy. Throughout all of this, she just wanted more.”
Last Thanksgiving, Sydney sat before the piano and started writing.
In 20 minutes, she had the words down for “Better Than You.”
“It’s No. 8, which is my favorite number,” said Sydney. The track that contains biting lyrics from a jilted lover is also her favorite. Which, perhaps, draws another comparison to Swift. “I don’t think they know it’s about them. It’s about certain people in particular. Not the entire song is about them. Sometimes little bits and pieces are about that person, and then I go off and make the song bigger.”
In addition to the 14 songs debuted on Strong, Sydney has 18 more written down. A lyrical chain of subjects that all began with her first song “Wrong Way.” It’s a song Sydney said was initially difficult to perform in front of audiences. The last track on her CD covers the topic of bullying. She admits to once feeling like the “odd person out.” Struggling through the fear of sharing her songs to strangers helped her realize that others could relate to her words.
“This is what I want my career to be,” said Sydney. “I want it to go as big as it can.” Writing down places to play such as the Times Union Center, “because that’s a big dream of mine. World tours and most of what other musicians want to do.”
She already has someone in radio convinced.
“Sydney is the whole package,” said Ciccarelli. “Amazing talent, wonderful songwriter, and an engaging young lady. Having worked with many young acts over the years, I see her achieving great things in the future.
This article was originally published by The Spot 518.
Currently on tour in support of her latest musical adventure, titled Better Left Unsung, the music of the Grateful Dead reimagined for solo piano, Bowling will return to the Whisper Dome this Saturday, October 21, for a 7 p.m. show. In 2014, she hit fame within the jam band world by transcribing a 37-minute version of “Tweezer” that Phish did in 2013 in Lake Tahoe. Since taking that on the road, Bowling has blown up into not just a respected piano player, but a keyboard savant who has been performing with some of her idols.
The Arizona quartet opened the show with “Simon and Lily” and “Galisteo Way” before treating us to “Mind’s Unchained” and “People.” The highlight of the first set was their bluegrass’esque cover of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Soul to Squeeze” before going into their original, “Windmill,” which had the fans clapping for more as they wandered off stage. They came back from the break with a cover of Johnny Russel’s “Catfish John” before the band soared through a jaw-dropping combination of “Dream Jam” > “All My Friends” > “Bee Jam” > “Alternate Ending” and finally “Ain’t That Wrong” to end the set. Never one to disappoint, they came out once more for a bluesy-pop encore with one of their own, “Shake You Loose.”
This was the first public appearance for the band since last December. The band’s return not only brought in a packed house, the performance was also entertaining, fun and it was a great night for their fans as they rock and rolled in the City of Troy.