Gentle vocals, lush acoustic guitar chords and introspective lyrics are drifting into Orlando from across the Pacific this week, with the arrival of Australian indie-folk singer Leah Senior.
Senior performs at the Dr. Phillips Center as a co-headliner with Kairos Creature Club on Friday. She’ll be taking the stage at the venue’s new cabaret stage, Judson’s Live, an eclectic new musical chapter in the life of this usually jazz-forward venue.
The singer-songwriter toured the U.S. solo last year and opened for rock band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard in 2022. But this will be Senior’s first trip to Florida, where she’ll play four back-to-back shows in Jacksonville, Orlando, St. Petersburg and Gainesville.
Senior loves playing for U.S. crowds, who she can count on to match her energy by being vocal and supportive during her sets.
“I think that’s why we keep coming back, because Americans make good fans,” says Senior.
Senior’s Florida stops are part of an extensive, summer-long U.S. tour that kicked off in Chicago June 15. Half of the 18 tour dates, including the Orlando stop, will be with psychedelic Sunshine State rock group Kairos Creature Club.
An Australian folk singer and a Floridian psych group might seem an unlikely pairing, but Senior is excited to have a connection to the Florida music community through Kairos. The seeds of this touring collaboration took initial root when Senior met KCC co-founder Lena Simon at an Australian music festival.
“Being in it together with someone else, whether it’s good or bad, it just makes good camaraderie,” says Senior.
Senior describes herself as a “lyrics kind of person” who takes inspiration from folk legends like Joni Mitchell and Bridget St. John to inform her own stripped-down musical style. On her most recent album, 2023’s The Music That I Make, Senior sings about subjects ranging from the passage of time to facing musical criticism.
Since debuting in 2015, Senior has come to treat songwriting as more than just an emotional release or outlet.
Instead, she’s embraced the freedom of drawing from a bigger, sometimes more playful pool of resources.
“In the past, I would feel so much, and then I would have to sing or write about it,” she says. “Now, as I get older, it kind of feels almost like I’ll use playing music and a song to access how I’m feeling … if I’m feeling numb, music is the way to unlock my feelings.”
Senior’s tour schedule demands a break from songwriting while she’s traveling the U.S., but she’d already started work on two upcoming albums while home in Australia since her last release.
One album will be similar to the guitar-focused, introspective The Music That I Make. The other will be more like her 2020 album, The Passing Scene — more pop-inspired, buoyant and piano-forward.
Senior plans to mix material from The Music That I Make alongside deeper cuts based on audience requests for her setlists throughout this tour. She’s always gratified to meet U.S. fans who are familiar with her music.
“Every night, there’s a small group of people who have been familiar, which is super trippy for us,” says Senior. “Coming from Australia, that’s really special and cool to have people that have followed through the different albums.”
Senior performs alongside her partner and music collaborator, Jesse Williams, on this tour. Instead of staying in motels and eating at truck stops, for much of the trip the duo will be camping their way through the U.S.
Waking up in nature and preparing meals for herself on a camp cooker has improved Senior’s mental health on tour. She’s already had several adventures in light of her newest travel mode — including staying in a near-abandoned manor upon invitation from another band.
Possible haunted house adventures aside, connecting with other musicians — and with the communities for whom she plays — is Senior’s favorite part of touring.
“My favorite shows are the shows that feel like there’s a strong community around music, or there’s a strong culture, and you get to have a little window,” says Senior. “It’s like a little portal.”
Judson’s Live, Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts
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This article appears in Jun 26 – Jul 2, 2024.