Tracy Spuehler | Biography

“bursts of wit and sweetness tempered by dollops of sobering reality” (Los Angeles Times).

Shorter Bio from 1st version of website: Los Angeles native Tracy Spuehler writes deceptively simple indie-pop songs that are at once deeply personal and universal. Over four solo albums, her songs have received an abundance of radio support, landing on KCRW’s Top 50 and earning her a Best Singer-Songwriter nomination. Tracy’s music has been featured in multiple network and streaming TV shows including The Office and Switched at Birth, and after her song “Where Do We Go?” was chosen for a national Nissan campaign, Tracy has spent considerable time writing custom songs for commercials, international shows like the top-rated French series Profilage, and films including Mozart & The Whale and the upcoming Spa Weekend. 

While her music has been compared to Phoebe Bridgers, Aimee Mann and Elliott Smith, writing “songs that are poetic and straightforward, yet with a satisfying depth to the lyrics” (American Songwriter), her music “makes you feel as if you know its maker intimately… She sounds like a hundred women I’ve known, and one in a million.” (St. Paul Pioneer Press)

Tracy Spuehler writes simple, unaffected pop music that is refreshingly pure and direct. With catchy melodies and a sincere, captivating vocal style, Tracy transforms unique personal experiences into bold, visual songs that are easily relatable. Her music has been compared to Lucinda Williams, Aimee Mann and Liz Phair, writing “songs that are poetic and straightforward, yet with a satisfying depth to the lyrics” (American Songwriter).

Los Angeles native Spuehler (rhymes with Bueller) has performed regularly in local venues since 1998. Prior to that, she played violin (although she presently focuses on guitar) with the Minneapolis-based band Pimentos for Gus, who recorded four albums and toured extensively. The group disbanded in 1996, and Tracy moved back to Los Angeles from Minneapolis shortly a”er, when her mother was diagnosed with cancer. With the big life events of moving, leaving a long-term relationship, and ultimately her mother’s death, Tracy turned to songwriting, and the songs started pouring out.

Working in collaboration with Grammy-nominated producer Liam Davis (who went on to produce all four of her solo albums), Tracy put together a collection of those songs into what eventually became her solo debut. “six three one,” named a”er her childhood home, is an album of “sweet, sensitive songs” (Village Voice) chronicling the loss she experienced during that time — of her mother, her home, her lover, and even her car. Her sophomore album “It’s the Sound” details the joy and heartbreak of her dating experiences in LA with “bursts of wit and sweetness tempered by dollops of sobering reality” (Los Angeles Times). On “You’re My Star,” her most swooning, love-happy album, she expresses how it feels to #nd lasting, unconditional love. And “Awake,” her latest release, conveys the challenges of every day life with an upli”ing blend of acoustic and electronic sounds.

Tracy’s sweet-smart songwriting has been beloved by tastemakers, DJs and music supervisors since the release of “six three one.” KCRW listeners already adored the delicious hooks of “Where Do We Go?” long before it charmed the nation through a major Nissan TV campaign. Over the years, Tracy has placed songs on ABC, NBC, MTV, VH-1, Showtime and USA with shows like Weeds, The O$ce, Flash Forward, Royal Pains, and Switched at Birth, and her albums have received an abundance of radio support, landing on KCRW’s Top 50 charts and CMJ’s Top 200.

Branching out into creating custom music for the screen, her music has also appeared in commercials for such brands as Toyota, Expedia, Walmart, Freestyle and Google, and has enjoyed international success in the U.K., Italy, Israel, The Netherlands and more. Tracy has also written songs for the top-rated French network TV series Profilage, and has recorded multiple “Sunshine Pop” and whistle-based tracks for a British-based label.

Tracy was nominated for L.A. Weekly’s Best Singer-Songwriter Award, and critics nationwide have fallen for her “smart and infectious songs” (Womenfolk), with “writing so unobtrusive, she is able to evoke profound depth of feeling through little more than subtle suggestion” (Paste Magazine). Her music “makes you feel as if you know its maker intimately…she sounds like a hundred women I’ve known, and one in a million” (St. Paul Pioneer Press).

In the words of Derek Sivers, Founder of CD Baby, “Imagine a messy, chaotic world #lled with junkyards and media billboards, all shouting noise, hype, and clutter. Now imagine in the middle of this mess is a little oasis, a little perfect circle with a single simple beam of light shining down on a girl singing a simple melody. That’s Tracy.”

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