Singer and guitarist Valerie June takes a broad-church approach to roots music. She incorporates elements of old-time, country, electric blues, rock, R&B, and neosoul into her vision of a single seamless American tradition. A big part of June’s secret is her distinctive voice, simultaneously nasal, rough, and dreamy, which recalls iconic singers such as Sara Carter and Billy Holiday. On her most recent release, last year’s EP Under Cover (Fantasy), her singing makes songs by the likes of Nick Drake, Mazzy Star, John Lennon, and Frank Ocean sound like lost gems from some undiscovered volume of Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music. This concert at the Old Town School of Folk Music seems like a natural extension of June’s easy eclecticism. She’ll be joined by jazz, blues, and country singer Rachael Davis, Thao Nguyen of alternative folk-rock group the Get Down Stay Down, and fingerstyle guitar player Yasmin Williams for a performance that weaves together conversation and song in a Nashville-style songwriters’ round. The musicians first came together for the 46th Ann Arbor Folk Festival in January 2022, and they enjoyed the experience so much they’ve taken the show on the road. Given the format and the personnel, the repertoire is likely to be pleasingly all over the place. If June takes requests, though, I’d lobby for her amazing version of Nick Cave’s “Into My Arms” from Under Cover—she treats the aching, piano-driven, antitheist love song like a folk-music standard.
Valerie June Valerie June, Rachael Davis, Thao, and Yasmin Williams take the stage together in a songwriter’s circle performance. Fri 11/10, 5 PM and 7 PM, Old Town School of Folk Music, Maurer Hall, 4544 N. Lincoln, $55, $53 members, $125 VIP, early show sold out, all ages