[1] Lea developed a technique for violin which involved holding the bow "like a bassist" with the body of the instrument placed in front of her, like a cello, and attached to her foot so it wouldn't slip when she played.

[1] Lea's early career collaborations included the alternative folk music duo The Murder of Crows with Alan Sparhawk,[4] an "atmospheric, improvisational project" they began in 2011.

[7] Her song and performance for "Someday We'll Linger in the Sun" was selected over six thousand other submissions[8] by a committee that included Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, Jess Wolfe of Lucius, Son Lux and NPR staff.

[6] Auerbach's citation read: "This song starts off with the sound of 20 old floorboards groaning and creaking in unison and then Karen Dalton and Joanna Newsom melt together in the form of Gaelynn Lea and set about absolutely obliterating your heart.

[1] Reviewing her performance at the 2017 Folk Alliance Conference for Paste Magazine, Geoffrey Himes described Lea's "Watch the World Unfold" as the "most moving song" he heard at the conference: "The song draws its power from the tension between a young person's optimistic plans and the obstacles that life throws in the way of those hopes, a conflict reinforced by the paradox of the sunny, childlike vocal melody and the cloudy, ominous swirl of violin harmony.