Luella and the Sun Benefit Show Brings Out Nashville's Best

A couple months ago, an electrical fire obliterated the studio of musician and producer Joe McMahan of the Nashville band Luella and the Sun. Though no one was hurt, much was destroyed. The band quickly kicked into gear and started a fundraiser campaign. Lucky for us, it included a benefit show at Mercy Lounge.

Around Nashville, often times you can hear the best music at funerals and fundraisers. The artist community is tight-knit and supportive, so if your livelihood goes up in flames, these events are the places to be. The adage proved to be true at Luella’s benefit show. The stellar line-up included Justin Townes Earl, Webb Wilder, The Altered Statesmen, Los Colognes, and, of course, Luella and the Sun. But the best acts were the first two up, James Wallace and the Naked Light followed by DUGAS.

James Wallace & the Naked Light opened the bill and proved to be the biggest surprise of the night. The band’s sound is hard to pin down, and perhaps best described as cross-genre. The hollow-body electric played by James Wallace lent an Americana, southern rock vibe. Sometimes Wallace sang through an old-fashioned telephone receiver, which elicits the same sound as the carbon microphones used through the 1920s. The drums and bass hopped in to make it downright poppy at times and then the keyboard and synth came to wash it out and add atmospheric depth. Above it all, their words were honest and beautiful. Their vulnerability melded the various influences into something cohesive and unique. Wallace’s voice and whole demeanor were in line with this sentiment: nothing flashy or grandiose, just simple, honest, and a bit quirky.

The second band of the night that blew Mercy Lounge away was DUGAS (pronounced /doo-‘gah/), a brother/sister duo that moved down south from Winnipeg, Canada. Christian Dugas is an excellent drummer and harmony singer, but his sister Sarah is the pulsating star of the band. She’s a natural beauty who commands the stage with only a microphone. More importantly, her voice is mesmerizing. The sweet and smoky, powerful and clear, surging voice hula-hooped around our ears. This girl could have been singing an ode to orange space aliens, and no one would have cared as long as we could have just listened, enraptured.

Listening to DUGAS’s and James Wallace & the Naked Light’s recordings is great, but it doesn’t do justice to what happened on the stage at Mercy Lounge. This is just how good bands are though. Both acts are in the final stages of putting out new recordings, so be on the lookout as they continue to tour and support the new music.

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Caroline McDonald

My first memory is of singing Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” quietly to myself during preschool naptime. Perhaps it’s because I’m from Nashville where an instrument lives in every home, but music has gripped me for as long as I can remember.

After dabbling in many parts of the music industry—recording studios, PR, management, labels, publishing—I’m expanding into music journalism because I’m yet to find anything more rewarding that finding and sharing new music.

A longtime sucker for girls with guitars, my musical taste unabashedly follows the songwriting lineage of Dolly Parton and includes Patty Griffin, Gillian Welch, and Neko Case. But not to pigeonhole myself, my music love is big love that stretches from R.L. Burnside to Animal Collective to Lord Huron.

I’ve recently moved home to Nashville after living in Boston and Big Sur for several years. I’d forgotten how music pours onto the streets ten hours a day, seven days a week. I’m honored to share the creative explosion happening here. If your band is in the area or of the area, please reach out!