June Youngblood
Artist: June Youngblood, Levi Gillis, Barry Archie Johnson
Venue: Healing Force of the Universe (LA).
Date: 2/26/26
June Youngblood celebrated her debut LA record release of We Never Talked at Healing Force of the Universe, one of LA's beloved independent record shops, and the intimate setting felt exactly right for the occasion. Playing guitar with open tunings full of jazz-inspired inversions and chord colours that feel simultaneously earthy and sophisticated, her playing is a quiet revelation on its own. A lap steel player alongside her added an aching americana yearning to the sound that made everything hit harder. But it's the lyrics that stop you cold, heartbreaking and direct in equal measure, the kind of songwriting that makes you feel seen without asking permission. She sold cassettes too. The following week she packed up and moved cross country to New York, making this her last LA show for a while, a bittersweet send-off for a CalArts graduate and an artist worth keeping your eye on.
Levi Gillis played a three-piece set before her, and Barry Archie Johnson opened the night alone on acoustic guitar, both setting a warm tone for what Youngblood would deliver.
