That’s the word John Paul White, formerly of Civil Wars, used to describe the first time he heard Erin perform. She writes songs reminiscent of the dreamy folk-pop of artists like Jackson Browne or the Carpenters. Erin has just announced a new album called Putting On Airs. It comes out in June, and some of the songs address Erin’s personal struggle to understand her own sexuality. Erin was raised in Tennessee by very liberal folk-singing parents, who she’d join on stage at local coffee houses. But the prejudices she saw around her made Erin afraid of what she calls “seeming gay”. She’ll perform a song inspired by that struggle live from Nashville’s Sound Stage Studios, and talk to Ann Powers about the family drama that ensued after her Aunt came out as gay and was then declared an unfit mother by the State.