Genre-blurring singer-songwriter Valerie June performed for a nearly sold out crowd last Wednesday at the Ladies Literary Club.

June, who played with a full electric blues band, brought her unique blend of musical genres, different vocal styles, dancing and personality to a gathering of fans.

June has had a slow rise to notoriety. After cutting her teeth on the Memphis club scene and self-releasing home-recorded solo albums for years, 2013’s “Pushin’ Against a Stone” finally garnered wider acclaim. 2017’s “The Order of Time” methodically yet emphatically follows up on the long-awaited success of “Pushin’.”

Wednesday night’s show included songs from both of June’s major-label albums, including “Shakedown,” the lead single from “The Order of Time,” which had a few fans dancing in the aisles, and one of three encore songs, “Workin’ Woman Blues,” a raucous blues number that definitively capped off the show.

She also played two songs without her band mid-show, simply accompanying herself on the acoustic guitar. One of these songs, “Love Told A Lie,” a brand new single released last week, prompted a rambling between-song speech on the sometimes unfortunate dynamics of love and solitude, which was appropriately irony-tinged in its delivery and reception, given that it was Feb. 14.

June’s onstage candor carried over to the traditional post-show conversation with Ken Heffner, the Director of Student Activities. She provided lengthy answers to questions such as, “What other art has been feeding you lately?” often pausing to tell stories about her daily practices for life on the road or to sing a line or two from one of her songs.

The uninhibited performance style and conversational candor of Valerie June certainly seemed to win over the audience. Not only was it a near sell-out, but June’s set also received a standing ovation that prompted a three song encore.

However, June was not the only performer receiving audience adoration on Wednesday evening. The show’s opener Birds of Chicago, a traditional folk duo from Chicago via Nashville, captured the audience with their unusual combination of guitar-picking and clarinet solos, even getting the crowd to stomp in time and sing along unrequested. They too received a standing ovation.

Valerie June and Birds of Chicago presented an evening of traditional folk, blues and country music that artfully amended and synthesized those great musical traditions, creating all new sounds while also paying great respect to the long legacy of American traditional music. The audience was clearly appreciative and enraptured in their performance, given their unusually active participation for a seated concert and their standing ovations that called enthusiastically for more.