Jessica Louise Dye finds herself at the center of everything. When it became a hot thing in D.C. to see bands play and browse handcrafted merchandise at the same DIY group house show, she was ready to supply all three necessary elements: the music, the fashion, and the setting. As “Jess Because,” she (and another crafter named GoreJess) runs Hella Tuff, where they sell vintage ware, repurposed thingamabobs, and funky jewelry. Dye is also the singer-songwriter behind Lightfoot, an outlet for her unabashedly earnest and folk-y songs. If you can picture yourself in a group house basement, shopping for vintage clothes while a pretty voice sings live the saddest song you ever heard, you might very well be picturing the Paper Sun — the new-ish group/show house in Columbia Heights where she lives.

And if it all sounds a little precious to you, cut Dye some slack. Just half a year ago she was living out of her car, the result of a life-changing breakup that saw her leave her home in Clarendon and her engagement to her bandmate. All better now, she swears, Lightfoot talks to DCist about her lineup, the drawbacks of collaboration, and homelessness-light.

Visit Lightfoot online at: http://www.hellolightfoot.com

See Lightfoot next: Tonight — hurry! — at the Black Cat backstage, opening for Light Pollution at 9 p.m.

Buy Lightfoot at: Nowhere yet, but Lightfoot is in the studio

Questions for Lightfoot:

You’ve been playing music for a long time, but your first show as Lightfoot was just last winter. How did it go?

It was my first show on my own, because my old band, Vox Pop, was with my boyfriend. It’s a totally different feeling to do that with someone you love, to have your lover onstage holding your hand secretly while you’re playing these songs. To do without that kind of context—I was broken out in hives to say the least. But I had a lot of people come out, a very warm crowd. Friends, family, it was like a big group hug.

That was the start of it. I have a totally different lineup now.