One strum at a time

From working with poisonous substances to spending countless hours alone with a guitar, Jill Brzezicki has been on opposite ends of the career spectrum. The Windsor-based musician, who once worked at Colorado State University as a toxicologist, fronted the now-defunct Damn Straps and still plays occasionally in the folksy-funk duo Sangre, but tonight, Brzezicki embarks on her first solo tour to promote her first solo album, Consequence of Truth, at her CD-release party at Avogadro’s Number, 605 S. Mason St. in Fort Collins.

Brzezicki wrote many of the songs on Consequence while she was still playing with Damn Straps, and a few came about in the midst of the band’s breakup. She says the album is personal, freeing and terrifying. “When I first started performing solo, I was so nervous. I didn’t realize how much I depended on my bandmates.”

Brzezicki’s Buddhist philosophies can be heard on her album, which consists only of her impassioned voice and lone acoustic guitar. “I try not to push, not to get attached. Ego can get in the way, especially when things start to get successful. I can think, ‘People like me,’ but really, it’s not me, and the album is not mine. It just comes through me.”

Brzezicki takes the Avo’s stage at 8 tonight, and there is an $8 cover. Call 493-5555. She also plays a free show tomorrow night at The Bean Cycle, 144 S. College Ave. in Fort Collins. Call 221-2964.