29 Sep THE GUARDIAN: One to watch: Valerie June
On the night I watch Valerie June play, a chilly autumn shower is sluicing over the east London streets. But in a dingy pub back room, she’s emanating warmth as only a Tennessee native can. Teetering in high heels, her hair a tumble of Medusa coils, she lays down her guitar and turns on her megawatt southern smile. “Now y’all just wait,” she says, “while I pick up my ukulele.”
It’s a moment worth waiting for – June is a dab hand at the ukulele, as well as the guitar and banjo. But it’s her voice that really lingers in the memory: pitched somewhere between rough-edged blues and the soaring melodies of soul and gospel, it’s the sound of hot afternoons on Memphis porches, of cookouts and church choirs and late-night Nashville jam sessions. Read more here.
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