Local Songbird Takes Flight: The Rise of Victoria Elizabeth By Writer and Contributor Emily McGinn
Southern California resident Victoria Elizabeth has been singing since before she could talk — or that is what her mom says, at least.
“I've always been a singer,” she says. “That's just always the route I knew I was going to take at every family function.”
Victoria Elizabeth has been performing since her youth, even snagging a coveted position at The Rage Entertainment Complex, an entertainment-driven school that has launched stars such as Taylor Lautner, Ross Lynch and Becky G. At the time, Victoria Elizabeth was from a low-income family, so Wayne Brady, the host of “Let’s Make a Deal,” sponsored her time at the school. There, she worked with dancing, songwriting and acting coaches to hone her craft.
She steered away from singing and dancing during her time in high school, when she focused on pushing through to graduation. She managed to graduate early and moved on to earning her associate’s degree in theater arts.
Victoria Elizabeth found her way back to live performance by chance. While working at a family restaurant, Gino's Italian restaurant, in Lancaster in 2020, she realized they offered live music every week. Seeing an opportunity to return to what she truly loved — the art of performing — she asked the owner if she could perform.
“My whole family and friends came into town. It was a really good time, and it really showed me how much I missed performing,” Victoria Elizabeth says. “I was like, ‘Okay, well, obviously I'm not taking another break. I'm going to continue. So since 2020, I've been singing live again.”
Since then, Victoria Elizabeth has been singing at bars, weddings and private parties over the past several years, often using a loop pedal and her guitar to produce a full-band sound. She plays across Southern California, performing from Lancaster down to San Diego.
She draws on inspiration from artists like Joni Mitchell, Elton John and David Bowie, favoring indie and classic rock favorites and bringing “a fresh, moody twist to pop.” She credits her father for introducing her to classic rock and helping her dissect the lyrics and what the songs meant.
“I just think that their music really captures their emotions and takes you to a whole other world,” she says. “That's what I want to do with my music. I really like to create the same dynamic, moody atmosphere with my music.”
When writing music, Victoria Elizabeth focuses on finding and hearing the melody first, and then adding lyrics afterward. When performing, she tries to incorporate both covers and her original music and twists on fan favorites.
“I really love making an impact, even if it's super small. I love the little kids who come up to me and dance while I'm singing. Just the joy on their faces makes me enjoy what I'm doing so much more,” she says. “The sweetest thing for me to see is older folks dancing to my songs, which is just so cute. I almost can't keep my focus on playing because I just want to watch them. That's been a real joy. It's really the connection with other people that's been my biggest joy of it all.”
It has not always been an easy artistic road for Victoria Elizabeth, especially in an industry that now expects artists to also serve as their own producers, sound engineers and lighting experts. In a lot of ways, Victoria Elizabeth has had to find her own way, wearing all the hats necessary to put on a show. However, the glow of performing — and what it could lead to — is worthwhile for her. She references the movie “Selena,” based on the life of late Mexican-American performer Selena Quintanilla, to describe how performing makes her feel.
“She talks about that moment when she's on stage and she has the whole crowd in front of her, she's singing, and she can just feel that everyone is there with her, as if she's holding all their hopes and dreams almost in her hand and they're all in it together,” Victoria Elizabeth says. “That is something similar to how I feel when I sing and I’ve hit this big note, this rich moment in the song, where it feels almost like I’m flying with my voice. The people are all there with me, and we're all kind of flying. It's hard to put into words, but that is the moment that I live for. It's like a moment of silence in my own head while I have a note ringing out, and it feels like soaring.”
Currently, people can find Victoria Elizabeth at one of her two residencies: she plays at Chez Jay’s The Backyard in Santa Monica one Wednesday a month, and she performs at Three Stags Irish Pub in Redlands. She is also planning to get music out this year across YouTube, Instagram and Tiktok. For her, this is just the beginning.
“I'm not selling out concert halls right now where people know that they're coming to see Victoria Elizabeth,” she says. “They know that they're going to a bar where there's live music, or maybe they're going to a wedding, but nobody's there to see me yet. I say yet because it will happen. But even though they're not there to see me, they still get joy from what I'm doing, which makes me really happy. I have people tell me, ‘Oh, I haven't heard that song in so long, but you brought a new twist to it.’ It makes me feel like they're definitely going to remember me singing that song forever.”
Victoria Elizabeth has big dreams down the line. Every performance, she is working to make them come true.
“My ultimate goal is definitely a full blown-out stage with big lights and sparkly things, and just having fun with the crowd, singing the lyrics with me, and a band behind me to really collaborate with,” she says. “That's what I'm most looking forward to. I've had little peaks here and there, getting to perform with some bands and having fun on a really big stage, but I just can't wait to do it full-out my own way.”
You can follow Victoria Elizabeth on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.
Emily McGinn is a journalist based in the Los Angeles area. She enjoys reporting on and writing about a variety of topics from lifestyle to news, especially in her areas of specialty, environmental science and political science.