It never occurred to me that “garage country” could be a thing, but that all changed when I heard the music of Aubrie Sellers, a Nashvillian whose fantastic debut LP, New City Blues, is out now. Yet somehow, when I heard the fuzz of guitars laced around her very traditional voice, with its twang stretched smartly and unusually around her bold lyricism, I wondered why no one had ever thought of this before. It’s not country-rock nor outlaw country: Sellers, whose mother is Lee Ann Womack, has strong Nashville roots and isn’t ashamed of them, nor does she try to morph them into something more Americana-leaning. It’s country, alright. But it’s dirtied up just right, sounding like what a modern version of the genre should be like when interpreted by someone faithful to its roots but who also grew up on a steady diet of classic rock and was born around the same time as Nirvana’s Nevermind.
For this UnLocked Session, we set up camp at Lockeland Table, the super delicious restaurant around the corner from our HQ. With us both as arbiters of the “Lockeland” name, it seemed like some sort of destiny that we’d end up in there, filling the place with music while the kitchen prepped pizza dough and slabs of bacon for the night’s service. As always, thanks to our friends at Made In for the support, and for Lockeland Table who kindly let us crash the place.
Enjoy, below, special stripped-down version of “Light of Day” and “Sit Here and Cry,” filmed exclusively for Lockeland Springsteen.
– Team L/S
Lockeland Springsteen 