As Silverware, Ainsley Wagoner Captures the Profundity of Music

Photo Credit: Marisa Bazan

SF artist will celebrate release of latest album, “One True Light,” with Sept. 24 show at Tiny Telephone studio in Oakland.

The story of Ainsley Wagoner’s life is also inevitably a story about music. 

The Kentucky native grew up playing piano and singing in her church, taking cues from her parents, who were the organist and choir director, respectively. From there, she attended the University of Kentucky, quickly ingratiating herself in the local arts scene while working for the school’s radio station and majoring in music.

It wasn’t until she moved to San Francisco in 2014 that she began to contemplate an existence without her longtime companion. Although it had been a part of her life since birth, music always felt like an organic presence—a calming backdrop that was effortless and natural. 

Upon moving to a new city thousands of miles from her home, Wagoner wondered if she would be able to find that same sense of community that accompanied her earliest memories. For once, she would have to search out this scene, instead of letting it come to her—a prospect that felt daunting.

“When I moved out here, I started to wonder if I only enjoyed music because I was always around it,” said Wagoner. “I wasn’t sure who I’d be once I stepped away from my hometown. But after maybe two years of not doing it, I couldn’t even enjoy listening to music. At shows I was so deeply envious of the people performing. I knew that I had to figure out how to keep making music and find people to do it with here.”

That revelation impelled Wagoner to continue exploring music under her creative moniker, Silverware. On August 30, she released the second full-length Silverware album, “One True Light,” and on September 24, she’ll play tracks from that record at the Tiny Telephone recording studio in Oakland. 

“One True Light” is humble, yet ethereal—grounded in a DIY ethos but also uplifted by Wagoner’s boundless talent and technical expertise. It is secular spiritual creation, an ambitious concept album of sorts that combines Wagoner’s varied influences—everything from the experimental noise bands she played in college to her formative years spent in the church. Flitting between art-rock, synth pop and indie-folk, the album recalls acts such as Indigo de Souza, Bat for Lashes and Chairlift (Caroline Polachek’s pre-breakthrough outfit.) It’s a powerful statement from a musician who draws just as comfortably from Sonic Youth as she does from hymns.

Although she’s now firmly ensconced in the local music scene (in addition to her solo work, Wagoner plays in the awesome indie rock band, Galore), that integration took some time. Wagoner moved from a tight-knit artistic community in Lexington to a city where she knew literally no one. Slowly, she found a group of like-minded artists, mostly from playing at the Mission haunt The Rite Spot Café, making connections with DJs at the indie radio station BFF.fm, while meeting a crew of musicians and engineers working at Tiny Telephone.

Among that Tiny Telephone crew, she connected with Omar Akrouche, who records as Worthitpurchase. The two collaborated on the 2021 debut Silverware album, “No Plans,” and worked together once again on “One True Light.” Nearly immediately after the first album was released in 2021, they began work on the follow-up.

Unlike for the debut album, however, when both lived in the Bay area, the recording for “One True Light,” took more time, due to Akrouche moving to Los Angeles. In addition to the logistical challenges, Wagoner said she had difficulty letting go of the final product.

“I’m not sure how Omar remembers this, but I feel like there was a 3 – 6 month period toward the end where I couldn’t listen to the mixes, because I wasn’t ready to say they were done,” said Wagoner.  “I love “No Plans,” and I’m really proud of that record, but I would listen back and hear things that I wish I had done differently. For this album, over the 2.5 years we were recording, I redid the vocals a lot, because I was getting better at delivering them, and I was playing the songs with my band which helped me refine arrangements. After “No Plans”, I understood better the permanence of recording, so if there was anything I could do to improve the songs, I was going to do that.”

That attention to detail is illustrated gorgeously in “One True Light.” Despite recording in numerous different locales, the album feels crisp, coherent and fully-formed. There are moments of quiet devastation and jarring dissonant interjections, but it’s all a natural ebb and flow that naturally mirrors life’s ups and downs.

The title track kicks off the album in magnetic fashion, shifting quickly from a solemn, hushed number into an urgent, bracing piece capped off with a gritty guitar solo. “No Expectations” follows, an upbeat, thumping piano ballad that’s punctuated by shouted gang vocals of the chorus. “Search,” is a drone-y, atmospheric synth opus and “Longer” is an austere chamber lullaby, featuring a memorable appearance from a forlorn clarinet. “Goodbye,” a stark, dreamlike reverie, appropriately closes out the album. 

And whatever the tempo, tone or genre, every song on “One True Light” is anchored by Wagoner’s classically-trained voice—a silvery, ringing instrument that adds unique depth and pathos to the Silverware catalog.

Wagoner’s powerful delivery charges “Gloria,” the centerpiece of the record. Part dustbowl revival, part canticle, part wistful guitar ballad, the song tackles Wagoner’s evolving relationship with the church and her search for a spiritual guiding light that provides life’s meaning. 

“A lot of this album is wrestling with the dissonance of longing for security inside of a life built around making art,” said Wagoner. “It’s about this effort to stay close with this divine creative force, because I feel the best when I’m writing a song. That’s what makes life worth living—making music. I know there are no guarantees. I know that it might not be going anywhere, but I'm going to do it anyway.”

It's an apt takeaway from an album that exalts and showcases creativity’s profound powers. Wagoner’s musical journey will continue. 

Show Details:
Silverware with Affectionately
When: 7 p.m., Tuesday, September 24
Where: Tiny Telephone Oakland
Tickets: $17, available here.