Fans who know Erika Lewis as the brassy blues singer in front of Tuba Skinny have only gotten a part of the story. On her debut solo album, Lewis, now based in Asheville, trades in her blue notes for pure country. Lewis reveals a clear prettiness that much of her former work obscured, as well as formidable songwriting skills.

On the 11 original tracks of A Walk Around the Sun, Lewis picks up a strain of her earlier collaboration, the country-tinged Magnolia Beacon with Meschiya Lake, but leaves behind the earthy depths for multiple, more ethereal variations on Tennessee twang (the album was recorded in Nashville). From the soaring opener, “A Thousand Miles” (a high lonesome waltz), to the dreamy “Hearts” (haunted by Claire Hubbard’s close harmonies), Lewis revels in her range, a sound made all the more poignant considering the backstory—the singer- songwriter recorded this album facing voice-threatening thyroid surgery. Making up in pure prettiness what she lacks in heft with that floaty upper register, Lewis at times approaches a Stone Poneys-era Linda Ronstadt vibe, particularly on the dreamy “Wild Thing,” with Lewis’ lovely clear ascending and descending tones accented by Mike Hicks’ earthy organ and guitar solos (courtesy of producer John James Tourville) in what is essentially SoCal country rock.

On this uniformly solid album, this track also stands out as the most fully-constructed song and one of the most varied in a collection that runs toward similar mid-tempo ballads. “Unsatisfied (tiny pictures),” another high point, is the closest thing to a rocker here, helped along by Tourville’s steel and Jim Hoke’s harmonica. Tuba Skinny’s Shaye Cohn also adds a bit of spooky fiddle to the mix. But this is first and foremost a country album, although those nearly flatted blues notes of the lament “First Love” recall what else the multitalented Lewis can do.

—Clea Simon