By Norm de Veyra //
Aubrie Sellers //
The Independent – San Francisco
April 28th, 2016 //
Last Thursday, Aubrie Sellers rolled through The Independent with headliner Jamestown Revival and delivered a blazingly raucous set that showcased tracks off her debut studio album New City Blues, which came out in January.
The Nashville native treated the sold-out crowd to a rollicking evening of “garage country,” a term she has used to describe her dirty, messy rock/soul/country-inspired jams.
All of those influences were evident on this night, as Sellers and her bandmates performed a high-energy stretch of tunes that turned the show into a thumping dance party, highlighted by the rousing “Paper Doll” and “Sit Here and Cry”.
But it was during the quieter moments of the performance that offered the most intriguing and revealing glimpses into the mindset of the young singer-songwriter. Particularly as she dove into the song “Losing Ground”, Sellers sang with a sly, matter-of-fact tone in her voice that enhanced the honesty and vulnerability laid bare within the lyrics of the song about her struggles with mental health.
When a performer can deliver that kind of subtlety, you take notice because it differentiates her from the rest of the pack. That’s not to say Sellers can’t belt out a tune and rock out hard. She and her crew most definitely did so in SF, but beneath her heavier country-rock stylings, she proved capable of wooing fans with merely her voice and her words.
To that end, it is no wonder why Sellers has quickly been recognized as a rising star within the country music scene. She displayed none of the nervousness or awkwardness one might expect from a relatively new artist with just one album under her belt. With great ease and command, she simply got down to business and delivered a solid show. Aubrie Sellers will continue to tour through much of 2016, returning to SF in late June for a gig at Slim’s.
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