Sunny War @ Camp North End

with Hiram

05/12/2023

Charlotte, NC

Sunny War is punk as fuck, playing country-blues with a unique style that defies genres. Her music is modern yet timeless, soulful and melancholy, bringing the despair of our broken society into sharper relief, but simultaneously hopeful in a “take no shit” kinda way. Her music is vulnerable, but she is not.

Her guitar work is the kinda thing you need to experience live. Recorded, the tracks sound flawless and as complex as you’d expect from a studio musician, but when you see her live you realize all that virtuosic complexity is channeling entirely through her old acoustic guitar. She plays with a clawhammer style akin to bluesmen of old, thumbing a bass line while simultaneously picking spidery riffs and melodies, creating a full-bodied sound that doesn’t require accompaniment.

Sunny War is a prolific artist, transcending punk, folk, blues, and all other labels, weaving tales of a life hard-lived with a resolve that does battle against the harsh world we all live in.

Opening the evening, Hiram got the crowd warmed up with some lively country tunes. These fellas are Gaston County natives, playing a modern sounding honky-tonk heavy on twang and grit. They’re good-times raucous country music.