A light flickers and goes out. The room goes dark, a single match is sparked once, then again, lighting the room long enough for the record to play another song. “Sinner” by Leslie Stevens begins to play as her soft, comforting voice fills the room. And that is exactly how I pictured the start of the next independent film I watch. Stevens beautifully recaptures an early Dolly Parton blended with Janis Joplin, seducing her audience and guiding us down an old town road. “There is bad in the best of us” is a lyric that we all need to hear, read and then hear again, a true lyricist that will rip your heart open and mend it back before the end of the song—and “Sinner” does exactly that. Leslie Stevens is resurrecting a lost art. Keep an eye out for her come August 23rd, when she releases her newest LP. – Kayla Hay
