Emma Ruth Rundle radiated devastating splendor with an intimate performance at Zebulon
With support from Storefront Church
An artist of unique and unparalleled talent, Emma Ruth Rundle has developed her voice as a singer-songwriter that embraces tragic darkness and gothic splendor with equal adeptness. Her abilities shone in an intimate sold out hometown solo performance on December 5 at Zebulon, with support from Storefront Church.
Storefront Church opened the evening with a brilliant performance, a triumphant expression of cinematic artistry rendered within irresistibly captivating prose that unfurled like great banners hung aloft upon marble monuments. Lush instrumentation imbued the band’s baroque chamber-pop with meditative jazz-like elements and an apocalyptic edge that set the scene for sweeping expressions of grand poetic romanticism that fell softly like autumn leaves on still water in Central Park and brutally clashed like ancient armies on some forgotten battlefield.
At first blush unassuming and outwardly academic, Lukas Frank collected facets of artists from Jeff Buckley and Neil Young to Leonard Cohen and Jim Morrison into a singularly unique stage presence that shook and trembled with the electric force of emotional turmoil dredged from the depths of his psyche and exorcised with herculean effort. The set predominately consisted of selections from the 2024’s Ink & Oil, a wonderous tapestry of an album that, in a live setting, became charged with a strikingly violent, angular nature propelling the expansive narratives with explosive force. Memories and moments were writ large upon tumbling avalanches of sound, a thrilling platform for the proclamations of a madman, a prophet, an evangelist, a revolutionary, a romantic.
Stream Storefront Church’s discography on Spotify and follow on Instagram.
Heralding her approach amidst a dirge of swelling tones and slow waves of feedback from the PA, Emma Ruth Rundle wordlessly took the stage with minimal ceremony, flanked only by a pair of guitars and awash in vibrant blue light. The atmosphere seemed to tighten as the audience collectively held their breath in anticipation, and at the insistence of a single chord stood completely enraptured by the expression of tempestuous emotions emanating from the center of the room.
The common thread that Emma Ruth Rundle weaves so expertly across her body of work is a celebration of the the devastating and tragic beauty of love in all its forms, written from a unique perspective that transcends categorization but ultimately finds its place among the darker shades of the spirit. Without the distractions of a full band, Rundle had complete ownership of her voice as she performed selections from her first album, Some Heavy Ocean, and most recent, Engine Of Hell. Separated by nearly a decade of experience, it was incredible to see how her songcraft has matured alongside her inherent ability to communicate the nuances of the soul from intimate vulnerability to armored resilience. The effect is primal and elemental, as wonderous and treacherous as the ever changing sea itself and an apt analogue for Rundle as an artist and performer who can draw blood from even the coldest of stones.
Rundle began the final moments of her set with a brief reading from The Bella Vista, her forthcoming book of poetry that served to underscore her brilliant command of language and emotion that strikes deep and true even without the accompaniment of music. Closing the set with a trifecta of her most notable compositions, Rundle rose at last from her seated position for a heartbreaking rendition of “Real Big Sky” that thrummed gorgeously with the pain of loss and the hopefulness of a reunion on the other side before ending much like she began, retreating into feedback amidst a cathartic eruption of praise from the adoring crowd.
Stream Emma Ruth Rundle’s discography on Spotify and follow on Instagram.
Upcoming Shows
Dec 9 Mon - Valley Bar - Phoenix, AZ, United States - Tickets
w/ Storefront Church
Dec 10 Tue - Meow Wolf - Santa Fe, NM, United States - Tickets
w/ Storefront Church
Dec 12 Thu - Central Presbyterian Church - Austin, TX, United States - Tickets
w/ Storefront Church
Dec 13 Fri - Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studio - Denton, TX, United States - Tickets
w/ Storefront Church
Dec 14 Sat - Resonant Head - Oklahoma City, OK, United States - Tickets
w/ Storefront Church
Dec 16 Mon - Bluebird Theater - Denver, CO, United States - Tickets
w/ Storefront Church
Dec 18 Wed - Neurolux - Boise, ID, United States - Tickets
Jan 18 Sat - The Orange Peel - Asheville, NC, United States - Tickets
w/ Wolves in the Throne Room, Thou, Generation of Vipers, Andy The Doorbum