SXSW Find: Valerie June At The 18th Floor Hilton Garden Inn

Craig Hlavaty

​ Each year at SXSW, there are certain artists that you find either by sticking around after the artist you came for, or coming to the venue early, for said artist you came for. Memphis' Valerie June is our first and best find so far this year, coming directly after Buxton at the 18th Floor At Hilton Garden Inn venue.

With a tangle of dreadlocks, a sweet Southern lilt, and obsession with kitchenware, and a musical template touching on Cat Power, Erykah Badu, and even the vintage sheen of Justin Townes Earle, June was pleasing to most every sense. Her voice alone had us enthralled, leaning against a toaster oven in the converted banquet hall venue, naturally. Her cut "Shotgun" hit the crowd square in the forehead and shut up the squawkers in her midst.

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