We hope you’ve all had a good weekend – after attending a few shows last week we chose the ‘sleeping & eating’ option – taking it nice an easy.
We did, however, want to share some of the musical happenings that caught our attention this week.
Kill Moon – Shine
Regular readers will know that we’ve got a bit of a crush on Kill Moon. New tune ‘Shine’ was released last week and we reckon it’s a solid step forward for the band – most definitely on our ‘ones to watch’ radar
The Strokes – One Way Trigger
This new release from The Strokes (free MP3 download via the bands website) has caused quite a stir on our twitter feed. It is fair to say that we’ve not paid much attention to the band since This Is It came out – that said we quite like this – odd, interesting and catchy.
Larkin Poe & Thom Hell – I Belong To Love
A complete change of genre but, in our opinion, another example of an excellent ‘pop’ single. someofitistrue faves Larkin Poe have teamed up with Thom Hell for an album, The Sound of the Ocean Sound. Have a listen and let us know what you think.
Regular readers of the blog will be well aware of our our love and admiration for Union Music Store. What you may not be aware of is that Union co-owner, Jamie Freeman, is a rather fine recording artist in his own right. To set that record straight we caught up with Jamie to chat about song writing, band leading and his new video.
Your debut solo album ‘Just You’, is still bearing fruit with the video release of ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’ Have you been pleased with the reception to the album?
I’ve had some great response to it, and I’m really pleased with it as a collection of songs. But we didn’t really have a plan for it, so we didn’t approach it the same way we do now with other Union artists. ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’ is actually the first proper video we’ve done for any of the album tracks.
What prompted you to release the video now?
Religion is rife with hypocrisy. The song was mainly prompted by the religious rhetoric during the Iraq war. Imagine if all those western Christian politicians actually followed just one of their God’s top-ten rules; thou shalt not kill. How different would the world be?
I’m an atheist, I think religion is bunk. That stance is only strengthened when I see how many people are prepared to bend their religions to whatever political or personal need is present at the time.
The record packs a real emotional punch – was it a challenge sharing that much of yourself in song?
The point of songwriting, for me, is to convey some emotion. Love, anger, loss, whatever it is.
I’ve written some properly sad songs, but funnily enough I got a tweet from someone who watched the video and said it moved them to tears! I hadn’t expected that, I must say, but they obviously heard something in it that touched them.
How do songs manifest in the Freeman brain-box?
Well, from my previous answers you know I’m not about to say they’re a gift from God, but they do sometimes just appear out of thin air. Often a line or a phrase will lead to an almost fully-formed song and it flows out pretty quickly. Other times I might leave an idea kicking around for months or years then really work at it. Usually the old adage ’20 percent inspiration and 80 percent perspiration’ is about right! I do try to work on the lyrics, because I can’t bear songs with sloppy lyrics, or words that are just there to fill space or make a convenient rhyme.
I know when I’ve got a lyrics right because it will often – regardless of the subject matter – make me choke up! It’s embarrassing as I often write on the train in public. I’m quite soft…
You’ve been playing live with the Jamie Freeman Agreement for a while – what’s it like being a band leader?
The band are great and it’s been really exciting, after years of playing solo, to have this bunch of people making your song come to life in a different way. It’s an amazing thing to have these actual, real-life human beings playing your songs – it’s awesome! Magic can happen when a bunch of musicians play together, you can’t beat it.
Is there an actual ‘agreement’ they need to sign-up to? Where did the name originate from?
Haha! An actual agreement, perhaps written on parchment, would be excellent. The name is just a rhyme really, it just sounds good. It’s kind of a play on the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Stevie will almost certainly remind me she came up with the name, but like all the good ideas, as band leader, they tend to become mine over time… in my head at least!
What is next on the agenda for you and the band?
A second album, once I’ve finished producing The Self Help Group’s debut album, which will be Union’s next release.
Your image is part-mod, part-cowboy has this ever led to any major fashion faux-pas?
Almost certainly! But I draw the line at cowboy boots, I’m more a brogues person!. I’m a mod, I just look for those crossover reference points; like Levis 501s or Converse for example. Amazingly I have another mod in the band now, Joe Ellis. He’s pretty hard-core, a very cool looking guy! We’re not an American band (except Jessica of course), we just play American-influenced music. In the age-old tradition of British bands!
The Beatles were trying to play American rock’n'roll, but the skiffle influence made it come out differently enough for the Americans to think it was something new. I think our folk influence means we’ll never be a ‘country’ band. That’s cool, the Americans already have that covered.
You produce your own material and you have overseen some excellent work by other artists. If you could bring in someone to ‘twiddle the knobs’ on a new Jamie Freeman record which producer would you go for & why?
Jack White would be a good candidate; he totally gets it. Or T Bone Burnett. I’m hoping to have Richard Smith produce something in his Nashville studio for the next album, he’s been offering to record something for me for ages, and he could certainly put some good pickers together for a session! Steve Earle isn’t strictly a producer but I would love to spend a while with him in the studio.
Neil Young or Bob Dylan? Why?
Neil, for me. For no particular reason, he just floats my boat more than Bob. Don’t get me wrong, I love Bob – he’s a bonafide songwriting genius. I think it’s Neil’s guitar that does it for me, electric and acoustic. As one of CSNY, Neil’s was one of my very earliest influences; my Mum played De Ja Vu a lot, so aged four I could sing along with ‘Our House’ and I assumed it was about my family home. I always wondered why we didn’t have ‘…two cats in the yard’!
If you could curate your own dream festival who is in the line-up?
I’m gonna say The Levellers, in a pathetic attempt to ingratiate myself with the Beautiful Days people! Seriously though, Neil Young and Crazy Horse would headline. Larkin Poe are there. Emmylou Harris of course. Phantom Limb would be excellent. And late on the Saturday Steve Earle invites The Agreement on stage to join him for Copperhead Road… Well, it’s my fantasy after all!
Finally, which of your tunes would you recommend people listen to as an introduction to what you and your music is all about?
Tricky… The album is fairly evenly split between the folky, English-sounding ones and the more country ones. Lilly’s Boarding House is kind of a ‘calling card’ track, but the title song ‘Just You’ is probably more representative.
We always ask what are our guests top 3 Dylan albums so, what are yours Jamie?
Let’s see… Everybody Know’s This Is Nowhere, The Beach, Rust Never Sleeps… Oh, Dylan, sorry My all-time favourite is Bringing It All Back Home; that’s the sound I was consciously going for with Thou Shalt Not Kill – Dylan going electric (did you hear the ‘Judas’ reference at the end?). After that I don’t have too strong opinions, but I do like The Times They Are A-Changing and I have a soft-spot for John Wesley Harding. You might think I’d be into Nashville Skyline, but really I’m not. It’s not a great record in my humble opinion. Don’t tell him I said that!
Thanks to Jamie for his time.
The Jamie Freeman Agreement play a FREE show tomorrow, 22nd September, at Union Music Store http://unionmusicstore.com/
Our friends at Union Music Store have been busy singing the praises of Larkin Poe since we started going into the shop. They have also been good enough to bring Rebecca and Megan to play in Lewes and Brighton on numerous occasions!
Larkin Poe aren’t a hard sell – they make beautiful records, are brilliant live, have a great band and seem like genuinely lovely people. If you add House of Hats to the live mix you, undoubtedly, have a great show on your hands. Victorsson dug out his camera for the first time since The Staves (surely a coincedence) to capture the evening. I hope you enjoy as much as we all did!
It has been an exciting week for someofitistrue, culminating in the Larkin Poe & House of Hats double-header on Thursday evening. Now, with a little time to reflect, we wanted to post a few things we’ve enjoyed and hope you will too.
Small Town Jones – Red (Live on the Gilded Palace Radio Show)
Small Town Jones were in Brighton last weekend to play at the excellent Brighthelmstone Promotions ‘Still the Weekend Sessions’. Whilst he was in town Jim recorded this rather beautiful rendition of ‘Red’ from LP Freight Ships. The set in the evening was great as well!
House of Hats – Rivers Will Run – Video
Regular readers will be aware of our love for House of Hats. Luckily for us this week has been a HoH bonanza, with a brilliant live show supporting Larkin Poe and also the release of this, the video for the new single, ‘Rivers Will Run’. We hope you like as much as we do.
Roxanne de Bastion covers The Kinks
Our blog friend Roxanne de Bastion (she of the excellent Red & White Blood Cells) has entered a competition, with the winner having the amazing opportunity to record at Konk Studios in North London together with the Kinks. Roxanne’s interpretation of ‘Dead End Street’ is here, if you want to vote here is the link for further details!
The Standard Lamps – Harmonica Song Live
We will be talking more about The Standard Lamps in the coming weeks as we are really enjoying their album Sell Everything You Own. For now we hope you enjoy this live performance of Harmonica Song. Nice song and excellent to see a frontman rocking the ‘Cobain Cardigan’ look!
Larkin Poe are two sisters, Megan and Rebecca Lovell, who know a thing or two about writing excellent songs. They have released five EPs, all of which not only highlight their song-writing prowess, but also show an innate understanding of various genres, glorious vocals and a mastery of their instruments. To see Rebecca sing and Megan play the dobro is a very special experience – and that is why we are so excited about seeing them play again later this month. The girls are in the middle of a European tour and we are lucky that our friends at Union Music Store have managed to persuade them to come our way for a third time! If you get a chance to see them play live we would highly recommend it – if not all of the EPs are worth a listen. It is a true honour to to introduce you to Larkin Poe,
Hello Larkin Poe, how are you keeping?
Mid-way through a two month tour, I would say we’re doing very well – spirits are high and we’re happy to be in the UK!
We have been following the youtube tour diary but still cannot keep up with all your travels! Where are you at the moment?
At this moment, we are in our trusty van driving from Northampton to Oxford for a rehearsal show with Fairport Convention. We are so excited to be performing at Cropredy this coming weekend and today’s events are getting us into the Cropredy spirit!
What has been the favourite place you’ve visited this summer?
We have been touring solid for two straight months, so we have gotten the opportunity to visit a lot of amazing places… it’s really hard to choose a favorite! One of the most memorable days of the tour so far was in Lucerne, Switzerland. We performed at the Blue Balls Festival in the evening, but during the afternoon we got to swim in Lake Lucerne… Wonderfully refreshing.
…..and how about the musical highlight of your travels?
At the beginning of last month, we played a show in Hannover, Germany at The Blues Garage. The energy in the room was electric and I think everyone had an unforgettable evening.
For the uninitiated where is home and how did Larkin Poe start?
Home is Atlanta, GA. We two sisters started playing classical violin and piano at a very young age and throughout our childhood and teenage years, music became a bigger and bigger part of our lives. After attending a bluegrass festival in our mid-teens, we picked up mandolin and dobro and started playing bluegrass music as a band called The Lovell Sisters, which included our eldest sister, Jessica. The Lovell Sisters toured internationally for five years before Jessica decided to leave the group and move on to new things. We started writing songs, Megan picked up the lap steel, and at the beginning of 2010, Larkin Poe released its first album.
Having seen you play together, the strong bond between you is obvious – are there not any Oasis/Gallagher sibling bust ups when touring for so long?
The strong bond that is apparent when we’re performing isn’t just for looks – we are very, very close as sisters and are lucky to be best of friends. Of course we have small spats when we’re on the road, it would be impossible not to, but we stay away from “bust ups”… We’re a unified team (we like to think we’re soul extensions of one another), so we usually don’t have too much to argue about.
You are coming to play in Lewes soon – do you have fond memories of the town?
This will be our second time coming to play in Lewes and we are definitely looking forward to it. We have fond memories of walking through town, visiting the farmer’s market at the bridge, having lunch at La Porte’s, and of course, getting to hang out at The Union Music Store with Jamie & Stevie Freeman!
Do you write songs together? How does the process work in Larkin Poe?
Before Larkin Poe, we hadn’t really written much of our own material. But with our four seasons concept albums, we decided we wanted every song to be original and kicked our songwriting into high gear. We write both together and separately, but in the end, every song must get a stamp of approval by each of us and is arranged together with the whole band.
The dobro is unique instrument – how did Megan discover it and how much practice did it take to become such a virtuoso? Is Rebecca allowed to play it as well
When we were taking lessons on acoustic instruments, I tried banjo, mandolin, and guitar, but they never really clicked with me. Then I saw the dobro being played and my heart was stolen. When we began Larkin Poe, I also picked up the electrified lapsteel to match a more rocking sound… I love my dobro and lapsteel dearly, but Rebecca is always welcome to play them anytime she wants.
The video for ‘Play On’ is stunning – where are you? Was it fun to make?
Thank you! We made the video for ‘Play On’ in Stongfjorden, which is a beautiful small town on the west coast of Norway. We had a film crew out to film our show there, which you can view on the live dvd included with our newest album ‘Thick As Thieves’, and while we had the afternoon off we figured, “Why not? Let’s just film a music video while this film crew is here”. It was fun and relaxed filming; very casual. But we think it turned out extremely well and it has had nearly 80,000 views on YouTube!
‘This Girl’ is our current favourite Larkin Poe tune – what can you tell us about the story behind this song?
I (this is Megan speaking) wrote ‘This Girl’ after my mom and I had been talking about relationships and how important it is to treat the other person gently and with respect in a relationship. This doesn’t only apply to romantic relationships, but friendships and sibling relationships as well. The only way to be happy through hardships, this is especially meaningful to Rebecca and I on long, rough tours, is to remember that everyone has their fragile moments and to try to be kind through difficult times. I think that’s what ‘This Girl’ is trying to say; value the person you’re with.
When can we expect the next recorded output?
As soon as we get home from this tour (which will be at the beginning of September) we have plans to get into the studio to start work on our first full-length album. We’ve got piles of new songs that we’ve written and we’re impatient for people to hear them… so, ideally, as soon as possible. We hope that people will keep checking our website for updates regarding the new project.
What tunes have been keeping you going on the tour bus?
As always, Jeff Buckley’s album Grace has been on repeat; additionally, the new album from Dirty Projectors, Swing Lo Magellan. This past spring, we had the opportunity to record on the forthcoming album from Barnsley’s own, Katriona Gilmore & Jamie Roberts. The new album is called The Innocent Left, and is due out in October… but we received a pre-release copy (lucky us!) and have been playing it nonstop in our van.
I’ve seen a clip of you doing an excellent ‘These Boots Are Made For Walkin’ cover – will you be doing anything like this at Lewes?
We’ll be drawing from a wide range of material for our show in Lewes; people should prepare for almost anything!
Any other odd covers used for sound checks?
Currently, Bon Iver’s “Perth” is a favorite for sound check… but the guys in our band – Rick Lollar (electric guitar), Chad Melton (drums), & Robby Handley (bass) – can play just about anything, so we’re always kept guessing as to what we will be jamming on.
You have been playing numerous festivals – if you were organizing your own, which 5 bands would you choose to play?
Regular blog readers will also be pleased to hear that one of our other someofitistrue faves, House of Hats, will be supporting Larkin Poe at their Lewes date.
Thanks go to Megan & Rebecca for being so generous with their time, and to Stevie for her support.
My all-time favourite is Bringing It All Back Home; that’s the sound I was consciously going for with Thou Shalt Not Kill – Dylan going electric (did you hear the ‘Judas’ reference at the end?). After that I don’t have too strong opinions, but I do like The Times They Are A-Changing and I have a soft-spot for John Wesley Harding. You might think I’d be into Nashville Skyline, but really I’m not. It’s not a great record in my humble opinion. Don’t tell him I said that!
