Noah Gundersen unplugged his guitar from his amp and then his sister, Abby, followed suit with her violin as everyone in the crowd quieted each other with scattered “shh”s. In the next moment, Gundersen's unsettling and earnest voice broke the silence inside the Majestic Theater, as he started the a cappella introduction to his song “Poor Man's Son”.

In a sense nothing has changed. That same gospel-esque “Poor Man's Son” is the opening track to Noah's debut album, Ledges, which was released two weeks ago, and Abby and Noah are touring again throughout the country. “Poor Man's Son” begins with calm church-like vocals and escalates into a powerful crescendo of guitar and emotionally driven harmonies, fittingly Noah's career has follow that same crescendo to new heights with the release of his self-produced debut album.

Noah and Abby are no longer the opening act and are also no longer alone as they start this headlining tour with their brother Jonathan (drums) to promote Ledges. He recorded his first album at 13 with his sister in their basement and now has a publicist, lawyer, booking agent, and business manager.Gundersen has described his music as “Americana singer-songwriter music” and it definitely has a focus on traditional acoustic sounds highlighted by his softly strummed guitar rhythms intertwined with his sister's violin.

His voice, filled with spiritual energy, although much smoother than Waits or Dylan, exudes the same serious and introspective feel of a man who has gone through a long, hard climb (to quote Dylan).Lyrics such as “I've done a lot of living, but I'm dying now”, the brutally honest “home is not a person or a place but a feeling you can't get back”, and finally the hopeful, yet remorseful “I want to learn how to love – not just the feeling” give a look into the hard lessons Gundersen has dealt with. Though he has “done a lot of living” his lyrics embody the “dying”, or the creative embodiment of his reflections and existential questionings of that
living.

Noah will be playing this Saturday, March 1st, at the Frequency with opener Armon Jay. Jay is one of Gundersen's friends and he is part of the folk music scene in Nashville.

-Noah Johnson