Sun Studies (Durham, NC) is a songwriting moniker featuring the wide-ranging baritone and shrewd songwriting of Reid Johnson. Since the mid-2000s, Johnson has quietly accumulated a respected catalog with the band
Schooner & other projects. Sun Studies is a more intimate, sparse affair.
...on Sketches, he indulges in his blurriest folk tendencies, crafting accessible, honeyed desolation and several of the strongest songs of his winding career. -David Ford Smith, Independent Weekly (NC)
...spare, saturnine acoustic folk-rock bears along a striking vocal performance, heavily draped but surprisingly mobile. Johnson’s baritone has the stern majesty of Scott Walker, but it’s softened by the syrupy ache of Roy Orbison... -Brian Howe, Independent Weekly (NC)
Sun Studies is folk music at its heart, also hearkening to avant-garde pop and folk of yesteryear, when types like Roy Orbison and Scott Walker captivated with fiercely distinctive vocal deliveries and a daring creative spirit. -Obscure Sound