Juanita Stein
Sometimes music lovers are afforded a chance to catch something special, to see a star on the rise before fame forces us to share them with everyone who has a pair of ears and a Spotify account. And this Sunday at Railgarten, discerning Bluff City music fans have a chance to see Juanita Stein before the singer/songwriter gets too big to justify a Sunday show at a Midtown venue.
The former front woman and lead singer/rhythm guitarist of Howling Bells, Stein is
carving out a name for herself as a solo artist with those rare qualities, subtlety and taste.
Hot on the heels of her solo debut record, America, Stein recently released her sophomore album, Until the Lights Fade, on Handwritten Records/Nude Records.
Juanita Stein
Stein’s music embraces simple arrangements and twangy guitars, with the bass and drums hot in the mix. The result feels authentic and emotional. “Forgiver,” the first single from her new album, stands as an example of the immediacy the songwriter harnesses by eschewing a big production. And it’s fitting that Stein has, upon embarking on her solo career, adopted a direct approach. A mother of two young girls, Stein has spoken about the influence the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements have had on her songwriting of late. Though Stein hails originally from Australia (she has since relocated to the U.K.), the issues coming to light in America right now are, to some extent, universal. On Until the Lights Fade, she tackles such issues with grace, singing about the point when forgiveness becomes foolish, about agency and self-reliance and compromise — and the tension between those ideas.
Later in her tour, after a three-night run in Brooklyn, Stein is set to play a handful of
European festivals, and she opens for the Killers in Finland and Luxembourg. It’s safe to say that the indie-rocker is blowing up. The Sunday afternoon concert at Railgarten provides a chance for an intimate show with a star on the rise. Don’t miss out.
