![\"Valerie-June-Issue-No27\"](\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Valerie-June-Issue-No27.jpg\")
VALERIE JUNE<\/h1>\nVALERIE JUNE<\/h1>\nHOMETOWN:<\/b> Humboldt, Tenn.
\nINFLUENCES:<\/b> Wanda Jackson, Dolly Parton, Nina Simone
\nALBUM:<\/b> Pushin\u2019 Against a Stone<\/i>, out August
\nWEBSITE:<\/b> valeriejune.com<\/p>\n
Valerie June showed off her vocal chops by singing in church as a child in West Tennessee, where she soaked up the region\u2019s rich musical culture. She landed her first gig as a teen with the help of her father, a promoter for gospel musicians. \u201cIt was and still is hard to go anywhere without hearing country and blues,\u201d she says. \u201cIt always reminds me of home. It\u2019s the place in art where the color lines of the South seem to blend.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later, June performed across the state, holding an array of part-time jobs to make ends meet. In 2009, she landed a break when she was featured on MTV\u2019s web series $5 Cover<\/i>. Two independent albums followed, both harkening to the past. \u201cI just love old records,\u201d she says, \u201cthe crackle, the gritty sound. So do a lot of other people\u2014we just want to hear real music alongside the modern beat machine.<\/p>\n
For a while it was only moving in a new direction and people started missing the old stuff.\u201d That respect for tradition has paid off. June\u2019s upcoming album, Pushin\u2019 Against a Stone<\/i>, was co-produced by Black Keys\u2019 guitarist Dan Auerbach at his Easy Eye studio in Nashville. She explains that the album\u2019s title holds meaning to her and the music she loves.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel I\u2019ve spent my life pushing against a stone,\u201d she says. \u201cThe jobs I\u2019ve had have been fitting for getting a true feel for how the traditional artists I loved came home after a hard day to sit on the porch and play tunes until bedtime. That\u2019s one reason why they were older before anybody cared.\u201d June underscores her retro style with a bold flair for the unexpected. \u201cIf I want to put out a punk rock record next week,\u201d she says, \u201cthat\u2019s me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
VALERIE JUNE HOMETOWN: Humboldt, Tenn. INFLUENCES: Wanda Jackson, Dolly Parton, Nina Simone ALBUM: Pushin\u2019 Against a Stone, out August WEBSITE: valeriejune.com Valerie June showed off her vocal chops by singing in church as a child in West Tennessee, where she soaked up the region\u2019s rich musical culture. She landed her first gig as a teen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[83],"tags":[2744,6875,4479,6911,6910,6912,2408,10160],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10293"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10293"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10296,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10293\/revisions\/10296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}