There’s a sense of urgency in the lyrics of “A Walk Around the Sun,” a hidden gem of a country-Americana project by a singer-songwriter known previously as the singer in a brassy French Quarter busker band called Tuba Skinny.

The 11 songs Lewis wrote represent a departure from tourist-friendly New Orleans street music. They soar not just on the loveliness of her voice but on emotional intensity and the preciousness of time.

The songs range in style from pure helpings of Patsy Cline-style country to songs with more drive that still manage to be calming. In the adventurously melodic “Wild Thing,” for example, Lewis works territory that recalls the best work of Chris Isaak.

— The Associated Press