Luella and the Sun w/Sturgill Simpson & Josh Farrow: at The High Watt (Nashville, TN) Sat. January 19, 2013

Luella and the Sun w/Sturgill Simpson & Josh Farrow

Pop/Rock

Nashville Scene Critic's Pick …

The name Luella and the Sun may sound like a simple combination of lead singer and remaining band members, but it suggests more about the band’s musical dynamic through careful metaphor. What does the sun do? It provides light, direction and hope. Frontwoman Luella often sings soulfully strung lyrics onstage a cappella — usually before the band kicks in, almost as if she has purposefully isolated herself for a moment. She reaches out doubtfully and hopelessly in the dark, until the band rises and gives her direction with Delta blues guitar riffs and in-the-pocket drums and bass. Her already powerful voice seems enhanced and transformed by the Sun’s guidance. She claims to come from a poverty-stricken upbringing, and it takes time, experience and the rising and setting of many suns to dig yourself out of that hard life.

—ANDREW JOHNSON