Garden Grove native and classically trained pianist Vicky Farewell has had a pretty good musical run so far as she quietly helped out friends with their music projects.

She earned composer credits for her work on Anderson .Paak’s 2019 Grammy-winning album “Ventura,” and keyboardist and background vocalist nods on his 2016 Grammy-nominated album “Malibu.” Plus she’s toured as keyboardist for Kali Uchis, Willow Smith and Mild High Club.

She even once drove around Orange County with Canadian singer Mac DeMarco to help him find the inflatable suits he wore on stage at the 2018 Tropicalia Music and Taco Festival in Long Beach.

But Farewell is now stepping into the spotlight. Her debut solo album “Sweet Company” comes out April 8 — and she made it with a little help from her friends, and even their dogs.

OC native Vicky Farewell has been supporting her musician friends but now has her won album out titled “Sweet Company,” which is out April 8th via Mac’s Record Label. (Photo by Lauren Kim)

Produced, arranged and engineered by Farewell, the eight-song release is a collection of light, poppy atmospheric tunes filled with synth beats and catchy harmonies.

“It’s just a lot of fun, not to be taken too seriously,” said the 34-year-old, who also will also perform April 8 opening for pianist and composer John Carol Kirby at the Pico Union Project in L.A.

But her music is being taken seriously by friends like DeMarco, who is putting the album out on his new record label Mac’s Record Label.

“She’s just a different caliber of musician,” said DeMarco, who described her as one of his “homies” and signed her as his second artist on the label shortly after listening to her album.

“She can do any style on the piano and when I heard the record I was like, ‘Wow, your voice is great, too,’” he said.

Farewell will also be opening for DeMarco in his upcoming tour in Northern California this summer.

Sweet group of friends

With a love of the piano that was sparked by listening to a church pianists as a kid, Farewell said she begged her parents to sign her up for lessons at around the age of six.

“I just never stopped, it was the only thing I cared about,” she said.

Sticking with her love of music, Farewell eventually started playing bars, small venues and events while meeting other musicians, which lead to an introduction to Anderson .Paak through other friends around 12 years ago.

“We had been writing together for a long time, before he was even famous,” she said.

Farewell eventually ended up contributing on two of his records and later found herself on tour with other artists who had heard about her through her work and friendship with Paak.

“I was just freelancing, either being a studio musician or co-producing or co-writing or going on tour with other people, working for other people in general,” she said.

But once COVID-19 hit, and grounded from touring like all other musicians, Farewell started writing music for herself.

Peggy and the roomie

While the album is filled with lighthearted pop music, the title track off “Sweet Company,” which has more of tender rock ballad feel, was written at the height of the pandemic lockdown when Farewell was quarantined with her roommate and his dog Peggy, a chihuahua-beagle mix.

“We had all lost our minds a little bit during this thing and I would say at the time she was the only constant in my mind. She held me down,” Farewell said. “So I wrote the song about her, crying the entire time I was writing,” she said.

Farewell’s latest single, “Get Me,” a danceable and groovy synth-driven tune, was the last song she wrote for the album and it cemented her decision to release her own music.

“I just felt like it all came together at the very last second. I felt like I was just kind of guessing before that but I felt more confident when ‘Get Me’ was done, and so that song is just about feeling confident in general,” she said.

The album eventually made its way to DeMarco, whom she met through Paak a few years back.

“Mac was hosting a lot of kickbacks at his house at the time and they invited me over and we just became friends. I wasn’t trying to be like ‘I want to work with DeMarco,’ we kind of just got along pretty well, similar sense of humor and things like that,” she said.

And it’s a good thing they have the same sense of humor because when DeMarco was about to play the 2018 Tropicalia Festival, he told her he needed inflatable outfits for this show.

DeMarco ended up performing on stage that night in a big blow-up suit that made him look like an adorable Pikachu wobbling around the stage. He took the suit off at one point only to reveal yet another blow-up suit.

“I drove him up and down Laguna Beach to find those outfits, so yeah, it’s all my fault,” Farewell said with a laugh.

Vicky Farewell

When: 8 p.m. April 8

Where: The Pico Union Project, 1153 Valencia St., Los Angeles.

Tickets: $20 in advance, $25 at the door

Information: sidthecat.com/sidthecatshows/jck2022; vickyfarewell.carrd.co