Vinyl LP pressing. A self-taught musician, singer and songwriter from small-town Humboldt, Tennessee, Valerie honed her astonishing sound in the vibrant Memphis atmosphere, her spectrum of influences the history of music itself: Elizabeth Cotten, Leadbelly, the Carter Family, Whitney Houston, Van Morrison, Dolly Parton, Roscoe Holcomb, Woody Guthrie, Nico, Junior Kimbrough, Nina Simone, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Nick Drake, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Tracey Chapman, Billie Holiday, the Rolling Stones, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Mississippi John Hurt, Gillian Welch, Townes Van Zandt, Elmore James, Skip James, Blind Willie McTell, Memphis Minnie, etc. Pushin' Against a Stone was mostly recorded at Dan Auerbach's (The Black Keys) Easy Eye studio in Nashville, as well as L.A. and Budapest, and was produced by both Dan Auerbach and Kevin Augunas (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Florence & the Machine).