Raised in the high desert of Idaho, Valley James found refuge from her turbulent family life in the vast landscapes of the American West. Her cinematic blend of Gothic country, Americana, and alt-pop meditates on themes of liminal space, death, and redemption.

On Sundays after church when country singer/songwriter Hannah Juanita was a child, her family congregated at her grandparents’ house. There was food and football. And in the background, her grandfather on the couch picking his Gibson Hummingbird guitar (100^th anniversary edition). The gospel and bluegrass music he played was so much a part of the fabric of her childhood, it’s hard to distinguish any one song.