It doesn’t take long to realize Linda Dunnavant’s new single, “Turn the Lights On,” is something special. Dunnavant’s lilting voice is imbued with vulnerability and purpose. The electronic shimmer that lives somewhere between a banjo and a guitar signals that this song has twang, but with an eye to indie pop. As the narrator evolves from anxiety to acceptance, the layered instrumentation gives “Turn the Lights On” life, and crafts it into a truly arresting song.
Singer-songwriter Linda Dunnavant did not officially write her first song until her thirties, so it makes sense that her songs don’t fit neatly into one genre. With high-edged, clear vocals and a light touch on acoustic guitar, Linda fuses Americana and indie-folk elements to create a sound that simultaneously reads vintage and current. Influenced by artists like Neko Case and Nanci Griffith, Linda’s lyrics and melodies seek to describe feelings that can feel hard to understand and even harder to express.
Her EP, Tiny Towns (a reference to being a child on long car trips reading the names of the towns that passed by outside the car window), is set to release in the Spring of 2023. Produced by Jackson Badgley, Tiny Towns is a collection of true and imagined stories about navigating boundaries and how sometimes you have to hurt the ones you love to save yourself. The first release from the EP, “Somewhere Else” has been featured on local Nashville radio stations (Lightning 100 and WMOT). Linda regularly performs at writer’s nights around Nashville where she lives with her husband and two kids.
“‘Turn the Lights On’ is about getting older and the freedom that comes once you stop living in fear of being judged by other people,” Dunnavant explains to Adobe & Teardrops. “It’s also about vulnerability and letting someone be there for you emotionally in a way that you wouldn’t have been able to when you were younger.”
Incredible voice – can’t stop listening to her songs on REPEAT!
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