Valerie June

Valerie June, a Memphis, Tennessee-based singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, fuses folk, soul, blues, and traditional Appalachian strands into an ageless style detached from any single era. Initial notice arrived through two independent recordings plus her appearance in the 2009 MTV series $5 Cover, although her third album, the Dan Auerbach-produced Pushin' Against a Stone, marked both her critical and commercial breakthrough. Maintaining strong followings across Europe and the U.S., she advanced further with 2017’s The Order of Time, another widely praised set that underscored her maturing individuality. The fifth album, 2021’s The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers, included a collaboration with Memphis soul legend Carla Thomas, while the 2022 covers EP Under Cover acknowledged her origins.

Daughter of a brick cleaner from Humboldt in West Tennessee’s flatlands, June absorbed the region’s local roots styles at an early age, self-teaching guitar and forging a personal approach that treated traditional songs as living entities while shaping original material under the sway of socially engaged songwriters such as Bob Marley. She launched her professional career at 19 as one half of the husband-and-wife duo Bella Sun, which issued the album No Crystal Stair in 2004 on their Bella Sun Music imprint; after the marriage ended, June left the South and sustained herself as a street musician, performing for tips in bus and subway stations along the West Coast. She later returned to Tennessee and settled in Memphis, integrating into the city’s thriving music community. By then she had added banjo and lap steel to her instrumental foundation, attracting local notice through forceful performances that made her a regular presence at area folk festivals and workshops.

Two albums, The Way of the Weeping Willow and Mountain of Rose Quartz, were recorded at the legendary Ardent Studios in Memphis, yet national recognition arrived when she joined rappers Al Kapone, Muck Sticky, and other local artists in the MTV web series $5 Cover, assembled by Hustle & Flow creator Craig Brewer to chronicle Memphis musicians navigating rent, relationships, and performances in one of the world’s most storied music cities. The series debuted in early 2009, supplying June wider visibility; capitalizing on that exposure, she recorded the 2010 EP Valerie June & the Tennessee Express with Old Crow Medicine Show. A relocation from Memphis to Brooklyn and an introduction to Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys led to the sessions for her third studio album, Pushin' Against a Stone. Singles from the project received heavy European airplay, and a support slot with British singer-songwriter Jake Bugg aided her rising profile after the 2013 release, with critics highlighting her originality and fluid movement across styles and moods. She continued touring while preparing her next record, produced with Matt Marinelli; issued in 2017, The Order of Time became an even stronger critical success, charting on multiple Billboard lists and appearing on numerous year-end best-of lists. Bob Dylan added his endorsement, naming June among the contemporary artists he had been listening to. A semi-mystical three-song suite titled “Stay” appeared near the close of 2020 and served as the opening of her next album, the Jack Splash-produced The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers, which followed the Carla Thomas duet “Call Me a Fool”—itself nominated for a Grammy in the Best American Roots Song category—upon its March 2021 release. The subsequent August brought Under Cover, containing her versions of material by Nick Drake, Mazzy Star, Bob Dylan, Gillian Welch, and Nick Cave.