{"id":28964,"date":"2025-02-14T05:30:24","date_gmt":"2025-02-14T10:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=28964"},"modified":"2025-02-15T09:39:46","modified_gmt":"2025-02-15T14:39:46","slug":"28964","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/14\/28964\/","title":{"rendered":"Larkin Poe Go Their Own Way"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"This feature first appeared in<\/em> SPIN<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The success of Larkin Poe\u2019s 2024 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album could have been a double-edged sword, painting the rootsy duo of sisters Megan and Rebecca Lovell into a creative corner. But they\u2019re not about to let that happen. \u201cWe\u2019ve been very welcomed by the blues community, and we\u2019re super thankful for that,\u201d says songwriter, lap steel and dobro player Megan. \u201cBut we do have a lot of other interests and inspirations. Those interests\u2014and Larkin Poe\u2019s mastery of many American musical forms\u2014are on display on the duo\u2019s seventh and latest studio release, Bloom<\/em>, released January 24.<\/p>\n

Ever since the Georgia-born Lovell sisters debuted on record, they\u2019ve resolutely done things their own way. Their earliest releases came in the form of four EPs\u2014each titled after a season\u2014and were released by a tiny Norwegian indie seemingly created just for them. Fifteen years and numerous releases later, Larkin Poe remains independent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Meg and I were 15, 16, 17 years old, we did receive a lot of interest from major labels,\u201d says guitarist Rebecca, admitting that at the time, they wanted to sign. \u201cBut they wanted us more in the country space; they were sort of chasing down another chick-style sister group. And that never sat well with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

So Larkin Poe forged their own path. By 2017, that approach led to the group launching its own label, Tricki-Woo. That move leveraged Larkin Poe\u2019s creative freedom. \u201cWe could release records whenever we decided we wanted to,\u201d explains Rebecca. And with that independence came the opportunity to self-produce their albums, something they had long wanted to do.<\/p>\n

Rebecca admits that she and Meg are musical chameleons. \u201cWe can fit ourselves into an acoustic setup, hard rock, or a blues setup,\u201d she says. That comes in handy when Larkin Poe works\u2014as they\u2019re often called upon to do\u2014as hired guns. Megan and Rebecca have played on recordings by Elvis Costello, Steven Tyler, ZZ Top\u2019s Billy Gibbons, and many others, most recently Ringo Starr.<\/p>\n

The duo\u2019s versatility is a kind of superpower, Rebecca says with a chuckle. But in the past it was also a kind of Kryptonite. \u201cWhen we would get in the studio with a producer, we could effectively shape-shift into whatever it was that the producer would suggest.\u201d At some point, the sisters began to feel inauthentic: \u201cThat\u2019s not exactly what we\u2019re hearing in our own heads,\u201d Rebecca recalls thinking.<\/p>\n

Bloom gets to the heart of what Larkin Poe wants to sound like; it\u2019s a varied set of songs that touches on Americana, country blues, arena-sized rock, and more. \u201cIf God is a Woman\u201d imbues hill country blues textures with modern production values. The swaggering \u201cBluephoria\u201d is a distaff distillation of Led Zeppelin and the Allman Brothers Band.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we desire to do in the studio is present an authentic, real-world representation of who we are as a band,\u201d Rebecca says. \u201cWe\u2019re first and foremost a touring band.\u201d Working with co-producer Tyler Bryant (\u201cWho also happens to be my husband,\u201d Rebecca adds), Larkin Poe cut much of the music for Bloom live in the studio. \u201cYou\u2019re not hearing a whole ton of extraneous overdubs,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

From its beginnings, the making of Bloom was a very intentional endeavor. \u201cWe enjoy writing with focus,\u201d says Megan, \u201cso we set aside time just to write for the record.\u201d With what she characterizes as a workmanlike approach, Meg and Rebecca made a point of getting together every day to write. \u201cIf it\u2019s bad, that\u2019s fine,\u201d she says with a smile. \u201cIf it\u2019s great, even better.\u201d<\/p>\n

That approach yielded a set of songs that are more collaborative in character than past works from Larkin Poe. \u201cIn previous writing experiences, we found collaboration difficult,\u201d Megan admits. \u201cI think songwriting requires a very particular kind of vulnerability that we struggled to find between the two of us.\u201d But they committed to making it work for Bloom<\/em>, and that commitment paid off. \u201cIt was like a veil had been lifted,\u201d Megan says. \u201cWe were able to come together. We learned a lot about each other, and we found a new confidence in our writing abilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some songwriters road-test their new material, effectively auditioning it in front of an audience and then tinkering with the songs before taking them into the studio. Larkin Poe doesn\u2019t work that way. \u201cI like a surprise,\u201d Rebecca explains. \u201cIt\u2019s always been important to Megan and me to be a little bit protective of these songs, to make sure we know how we feel about them before sharing them.\u201d<\/p>\n

One way that Megan and Rebecca figure out how they feel about songs is to break them down. \u201cSomething we\u2019ve taken in during these last few record cycles is that a good song stands on its own,\u201d Rebecca says. Once written, the songs on Bloom<\/em> developed by \u201csitting in a room, playing them in a very stripped-down manner,\u201d she says. They would ask themselves demanding questions: \u201cIs this landing without any production at all? Can it land with just an acoustic guitar, without a drum beat?\u201d<\/p>\n

If the answers were all yes, that song made the album; otherwise not. \u201cIt\u2019s a way for us to set a bar for the songs,\u201d Rebecca says. \u201cBecause while we\u2019ll play them with a full band on stage, we\u2019re also playing them in sessions with stripped-down arrangements.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a vulnerability that shines through the lyrics of Bloom<\/em>\u2019s songs. And that quality was hard-won for the Lovell sisters. \u201cIt takes a lot of strength to be able to present your inner dialogues and put them out into the public for comment,\u201d Megan says. \u201cAnd it can be a little bit scary.\u201d But she says that connecting with other people who have been willing to share their own stories has inspired her and Rebecca to share more themselves, strengthening those connections.<\/p>\n

Larkin Poe is also riding high on the thrill of having played with a former Beatle. Megan and Rebecca backed Ringo on two cuts\u2014\u201cRosetta\u201d and \u201cString Theory\u201d\u2014for his new country-flavored album Look Up<\/em>. They both gush at the recent memory of a dress rehearsal with him at Nashville\u2019s famed Ryman Auditorium. \u201cWe were four girls along the front,\u201d Rebecca explains. \u201cMe, Megan, Molly Tuttle, and Sheryl Crow, singing \u2018Boys\u2019 with Ringo on drums!\u201d Megan nods and smiles. \u201cThat takes your breath away,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s little time for Larkin Poe to bask in that glow. Right on the heels of an album release show at the Grand Ole Opry\u2014their first-ever headlining spot there\u2014the band heads out on tour in support of Bloom<\/em>. Upcoming dates in the U.K. and France sold out long ago, and demand is expected to be strong for tickets on the group\u2019s run of U.S. dates, taking them from late March into June. From there it\u2019s festival gigs and another Atlantic crossing, with overseas concerts keeping Larkin Poe busy up to Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n

As much effort and care as Larkin Poe puts into their albums, the ultimate destination for their songs is in front of an audience. \u201cWhen we\u2019re thinking about our next record,\u201d Megan says, \u201cWe always ask ourselves, \u2018What are these songs going to feel like on the live stage?\u2019\u201d Rebecca reiterates the point her sister made earlier: \u201cWe are <\/em>a touring band, first and foremost.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This feature first appeared in SPIN. The success of Larkin Poe\u2019s 2024 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album could have been a double-edged sword, painting the rootsy duo of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28965,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,9,41,49,62],"tags":[3639],"class_list":["post-28964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-americana","category-blues","category-interview","category-new-release","category-rawk","tag-larkin-poe","cat-6-id","cat-9-id","cat-41-id","cat-49-id","cat-62-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28964"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29038,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28964\/revisions\/29038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}