In 2016, a video of Ashley “Slim” Stevenson performing a goosebump-inducing cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” on the Washington Blue Line platform went viral. Since then it’s racked up more than 25 million YouTube views, and until the pandemic stopped her, Stevenson continued to sing and strum her acoustic guitar for appreciative commuters. On April 16, she released a full-length of her own knockout songs, Freedom, recorded with local producer Prov Krivoshey. The album deftly captures her sublime guitar work and soulful vocals—with no interruptions from passing trains! “I do eventually hope to perform at the Washington Blue Line again, because it’s where I felt the most free as a musician,” Stevenson says. “But the next goal is to start traveling and creating new content.” For now, you can download Freedom from Bandcamp!
Last week local indie-pop six-piece Spun Out (which includes former Ne-Hi members Michael Wells and James Weir) dropped a sparkling new single, “Such Are the Lonely,” that embraces the bouncy melancholy of golden-age New Order. It’d sound really great on a packed dance floor—here’s hoping we can all get together on one soon! v
