The Los Angeles-based singer Sunny War has an extensive background in both punk rock and Americana music, which has led some music critics and journalists to label her as “folk-punk.” What does that mean? Sunny herself set the record straight.
“I think guitar-wise I'm Americana,” Sunny said. “I think some of [my] lyrics are folk-punk, but I don't really believe in folk-punk as a genre.” (We’ll come back to this.)
“I'm a blues artist and a punk artist sometimes, depending on what band I'm playing in, and then sometimes I'm in a ‘folk funk’ band too, then sometimes I'm making beats for rappers. The only thing I can get gigs for is this folk music thing, so that’s what I’m doing now,” she said with a laugh.
Sunny War's performance at the 2024 Mission Creek Festival marked the second time in less than a year that she's played in Iowa. She also appeared at last year’s Hinterland festival, performing at the Campfire stage. I have trouble staying up that late, so I missed that Hinterland performance.
Consequently, Sunny War shot up to near the top of my “concert revenge list.” It’s similar to a bucket list, except it’s made up of bands and musicians I had a shot at seeing but missed out on.
For her Mission Creek performance, Sunny was joined onstage by her frequent collaborator, drummer Alan Eckert. Not only are they musically a match made in heaven, they’re clearly good friends. And despite Sunny’s claim that she’s “cosplaying as a blues guitarist,” she’s a tremendous guitar player, with a style that primarily uses her thumb and forefinger.
Most of the songs from Sunny War’s set were from her 2021 album, Anarchist Gospel. It was her first album for the New West record label, which is known for its impressive roster of folk and Americana-leaning musicians. It’s tempting to call this Sunny’s shift away from “folk-punk,” if she believed in that genre.
“There is a folk-punk scene, and there's folk-punk bands that I like and listen to, but I still know it's silly,” said Sunny. “Basically, it’s like a bunch of gutter punks that busk. They’re buskers playing shows that happen to be punk, but they can only play acoustic, because they're squatting.”
For Sunny, folk-punk came about out of necessity.
“I used to hop trains and sleep on the street and hang out with the crust punks, and then I somehow started hanging out with the ones that played banjo,” she said. “But I actually played the banjo, so then it got annoying because I actually liked blues. There's a weird crossover there.”
In the time since Anarchist Gospel came out, Sunny War has been busy playing a lot of shows.
“I just played more than I ever have before in one year,” she said. “And I think that that was a lesson to see how many shows are too many. It got kind of stressful, and now I know this many days is too many days to tour. I thought you were supposed to say yes to everything and just do as many shows as you can. But only certain people can do it. I can't do it.”
Sunny War will soon be making another Iowa appearance: she’s scheduled to perform at the Des Moines Arts Festival, performing on the Roots Stage Saturday, June 29. She enjoys playing at music festivals, but experiences the same “fear of missing out” that we all do.
“I like it if I get to see other bands I like,” she said. “But then sometimes it's set up where you can't see the people you want to see, and then I don't like it. Well, I like it anyway, but I usually want to see somebody that's playing a different day. That always happens.”
Sunny War has finished writing her next album, and is making plans to record again. In the meantime, her performance at the 2024 Mission Creek Festival is available on IPR’s YouTube channel.
