About Valerie June
Valerie June Hockett , known as Valerie June, is an American 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 Fantasy Records, and its parent company, Concord Music Group worldwide.
Born in Jackson, Tennessee on January 10, 1982, June is the second of five children. As a child growing up in Humboldt, June was exposed to gospel music at her local church and R&B and soul music via her father, Emerson Hockett, who was also a part-time concert promoter. As a teenager, her first job was with her father, owner of Hockett Construction in West Tennessee, and a part-time promoter for gospel singers and Prince, K-Ci & JoJo, and Bobby Womack. She helped by hanging posters in town. Her father died in late 2016.
June relocated to Memphis in 2000 and began recording and performing at the age of 19, initially with her then-husband Michael Joyner, in the duo Bella Sun. After her marriage ended, she began working as a solo artist, combining blues, gospel and Appalachian folk in a style that she describes as "organic moonshine roots music", and learning guitar, banjo, and lap-steel guitar. She became associated with the Memphis-based Broken String Collective.
In 2009 she was a featured artist on MTV's online series $5 Cover , and in 2010 she recorded the EP Valerie June and the Tennessee Express, a collaboration with Old Crow Medicine Show.
In 2011 she was honored by the Memphis and Shelby County Music Commission at the Emissaries of Memphis Music event. She raised funds to record an album with producer Craig Street via Kickstarter.com, raising $15,000 in 60 days. Later that year she relocated from Memphis to Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Shortly after, record producer Kevin Augunas introduced June to Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, which led to the recording of June's album Pushin' Against a Stone in July 2011, which was co-written and produced by Dan Auerbach and Kevin Augunas.
In 2012, June performed with producer John Forté on a collaboration called Water Suites , and with Meshell Ndegeocello on the song "Be My Husband". She contributed The Wandering's 2012 album Go on Now, You Can't Stay Here: Mississippi Folk Music Volume III. In 2012 she performed in the United Kingdom for the first time, playing at Bestival and appearing on Later... with Jools Holland.
She has received substantial radio play in Europe on BBC Radio 6, including a feature on Cerys on 6 with Cerys Matthews. Mary Anne Hobbs of XFM has said of June: "This woman has already touched my heart, she really, really has."
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