If you were at Rufus Wainwright’s Kimmel Center concert in summer of 2023, you probably got to see a young Philadelphia singer-songwriter join him onstage. Her name is Sadie Leigh, and though her powerhouse voice helped her win a contest to sing harmonies on his cover of “Hallelujah,” her own music is equally impressive.
With a retro look and an effortlessly nimble voice that can climb up and down octaves, Sadie is a musical old soul in the spirit of post-millennial pop stars Joss Stone, Corinne Bailey Rae, and Amy Winehouse. She began releasing music as a teen in the late 20-teens, and last year put out a winning EP called Skin, which she celebrated with a late fall party at the stylish center city venue Vinyl. Her songs are sometimes lighthearted stories about love and its misadventures, other times moving reflections on family and friendship and the people who help you get through this thing called life.
Joining Sadie Leigh in WXPN studios this week for The Key Studio Sessions is guitarist Avery Coffee, bassist Stefan Kauriga, drummer Tate Berkey, and her dad David Gustafson on keys. The session is a family affair in more than one way: on the anthemic rocker “Gasoline,” her siblings Sophie Gustafson and Annabelle Gustafson sing backing vocals. That song is the centerpiece between the playful “Attendance Record” and the burning “Boys Don’t Cry,” all from Skin, a project you can hear in full on all streaming platforms.
Watch Sadie Leigh’s Key Studio Session and check out a gallery of photos from it below, and for more, mark your calendar for August 3rd, when she’s on a lineup at MilkBoy with KELS, FirstNameDane, and recent XPN 24 Hour Song Challenge finalist Mackenzie Johnson. Details on the show can be found at the WXPN Concert Calendar.