Sunday Valley

By Zach Czirr Posted: May 30th, 2010



Many great local bands and musicians have come and gone, almost unnoticed, as Lexington’s music scene has never really reached its full potential.

Lexington’s own Sunday Valley is one of the few bands that could break through the fusty mold that is the Lexington music scene. In fact, local music guru, James Johnson tabbed them as “Kentucky’s Best Band, hands down!”

Originally formed in 2004, Sunday Valley’s sound is a witch’s brew of traditional Bluegrass, mountain string music, your Papaw’s country and vintage rock n’ roll all thrown together, cranked up to 10 through old tube amps, and executed with stoic, country boy swagger in a seemingly effortless delivery that would leave most punk bands grasping for air.

During their early tenure, the band recorded their flooring debut EP in Glasgow, Ky at Barricks Studios after only being together three months. Following the release of their self-titled EP, Sunday Valley had a couple years where they were the only local band to consistently sell out The Dame.

In fall of 2006 the band began a project on music row in Nashville at Warner Bros. studios with Producer King Williams but the project never had the chance to come to fruition.

Sunday Valley took a hiatus in the fall of 2007 due to life complications and outside responsibilities. Some members ended up relocating as far as Texas and Utah. Ironically, Sunday Valley was voted “Best Band in Kentucky,” in 2007 by a Louisville magazine.

Almost three years passed before life brought them back to the region, thus forming the opportunity for a revival of the band’s sound.

This supergroup is comprised of four of the areas most raw and talented musicians, Billy Mason, Gerald Evans, Edgar Purdom & John Sturgill Simpson.

Simpson, the band’s principal songwriter & guitarist claimed, “we’ve all pushed aside some personal differences, started talking about some things and agreed at the least we owed it to ourselves and our fans, to finally record the two albums worth of material that we never had the chance to. Once we got into the rehearsal space, I presented some new songs to the guys and it was “here we go again.””

Indeed. It is obvious at first listen that the band’s prolonged absence has allowed for a maturing and musical growth among all members. It is clear that their current efforts are moving into an even more defined, truly original sound while bringing an energy level sorely missing in today’s modern musical threads.

Although the band’s sound is progressive in nature, it is firmly rooted in a fresh breath of authentic, down-home sincerity directly due to Simpson’s unique voice, which stems from a far-reaching South-Eastern Kentucky heritage.

Many have made comparisons of John’s smoky, tenor to other notable traditional country & bluegrass singers like Ralph Stanley, Keith Whitley, & George Jones.

While Sunday Valley is very much the vision of it’s lead singer, it is certainly no one-man show. The other members each bring their own flavor and sonic contributions to the overall sound of the band and in terms of pure showmanship; this writer has yet to see another local band that even compares.

If you catch Sunday Valley perform at one of their increasingly random and unannounced performances, and are actually able to get in the door, you will find the room filled wall-to-wall, with loyal fans singing along every word. If your experience is anything like mine, three songs into the set you’ll find yourself a fan for life! To use a common industry description...These boys are the real deal!
 


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