“Time Is Only Linear On Earth”: A Discussion With Cosmic Country Singer Valerie JuneNOISEY:

08 Mar “Time Is Only Linear On Earth”: A Discussion With Cosmic Country Singer Valerie JuneNOISEY:

On one of the most blisteringly cold days in December I sat next to Valerie June in a small coffee shop and listened to her tell me about how music helped her and her family grieve the death of her father. “I feel like his spirit was so happy,” she explains, describing the hospital room that was filled with song as her father slowly passed. “I feel like we would’ve all been a freakin’ wreck if we didn’t have songs.”

June grew up in a musical family, though she didn’t see it that way at the time. Her father promoted blues and R&B shows for a living  and the family attended church every Wednesday evening and twice on Sundays. But it was folk music—and artists like Joan Baez, Mike Dillon, and Joni Mitchell—that inspired her to sing. She was drawn to songs she thought moved people and inspired change, music with a moral message. She started playing guitar in her early twenties and from there began to book shows in Memphis, playing coffee shops and open houses.  Read more here.