Valerie June
Valerie June
Valerie June Hockett, known as Valerie June, is an Americana singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Her sound encompasses a mixture of folk, blues, gospel, soul, country, Appalachian and bluegrass. She is signed to Sunday Best label in the UK/Europe and Concord Music Group in North America...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMusician
Date of Birth10 January 1982
CountryUnited States of America
kids europe wanted
When I was a kid, I always wanted to go to Europe, to go to Africa, to go traveling.
want tennessee spirit
I don't even want to call it God. I just want to call it connecting with something that's greater than I am. So that's the biggest thing from Tennessee - the spirit.
want looking-good ifs
Even though I like looking good - don't get me wrong - but if I don't want to, I don't have to.
song pjs want
I met PJ Harvey when I was in England, and the first thing I want to do when I meet a songwriter I admire is to ask them how do they receive songs.
chord money save sit whenever
I was working like a dog as a housekeeper, barista, nanny, cook, so I could save enough money to really sit with my instruments. Whenever I had 20 minutes, I would practice a new chord or write a new verse.
car hard paid people ready records selling served worked
I paid my dues. I have crawled to gigs. I have served people coffee. I worked hard selling all these records out the back of my car. Girl, I'm ready to sell one the real way now.
songs
I just let the songs tell me what to do - they are my guides, and they are the boss. So I am subservient to the songs, and I let them tell me what to do. I don't judge them; I just write whatever comes to me.
dropped folks freedom grew hours jaws reckon roll spend thick tons
I grew my dreadlocks 12 years ago because they give me the freedom to roll out of bed and not spend hours on my woolly, thick hair. I get tons of dropped jaws and compliments, so I reckon folks like them all right.
lyrics music writer writers writes
Every writer writes in different ways, and so some write the music first, while others write the lyrics first, and some write while they are doing other things, and it is just nice to see how other writers are writing.
gonna man shut soon top
As soon as I could talk, I was bellowing at the top of my lungs. My parents couldn't get over how weird I sounded - like an old man when I was just a toddler! But no one was gonna shut me up.
When I was writing 'Shotgun,' it's one of the first songs that's come to me as an image.
britney knew
When I was teenager, Britney Spears was it - that was the pop world that was happening, and I knew I wasn't in it.
whitney
When I was really little, I loved Whitney Houston. I thought she was the prettiest thing in the world.
few moved
When I first moved to New York, I was still returning to Tennessee every few months to perform.