Sammy Suede & the Strays opening for J.P. Harris & the Tough Choices at The Water Heater

It’s difficult to quantify stuff like this, but I feel pretty confident in saying that Sam Lunsford is the most wildly versatile and talented musician around Roanoke these days.

In his latest incarnation, he is a Gram Parsons-style country music singer/songwriter with a helluva band. The act is Sammy Suede & the Strays, and it includes some of Lunsford’s cohorts from Rootstone Jug Band. The Strays opened at The Water Heater last Friday for J.P. Harris & the Tough Choices, and damned if they didn’t sound about as good as Harris’ band of Nashville cats. They’re not quite there yet, but watch out once they get some more gigs under their collective belt with huge truck-stop buckle.

Here, the band plays “Sweet Adeline,” one of Lunsford’s own songs. The two-song playlist continues with another original, “Just A Memory.”

It’s nice to have some more honky-tonk slingers in this town. Maybe folks will catch on.

How to use this playlist: Click “play,” then mouse over the second icon at the screen’s bottom left. The word “next” will pop up. Click that button to get to the song you want to catch. Or don’t click play, just go to the bottom left of the screen and click on the playlist. Thumbnails of all the list’s vids will show up. Click on whatever you’d like.