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Larkin Poe
I'm astonished to see there is no thread devoted to Larkin Poe. Rebecca Lovell has gotten much deserved praise over the years for her mandolin playing. :mandosmiley: Just because The Lovell Sisters has evolved into Larkin Poe, with Rebecca switching to electric rhythm guitar and Megan to electric lap steel, does that mean we should turn our backs to them? I daresay not!
I was just looking to see whether anyone knows whether she plays mandolin in the "new" band, even a little. I thought a quick search would reveal the answer. But it turned out there's no easy way to do that. So I thought I would establish a thread and hope someone will post information regarding that. As well as whatever else anyone may want regarding these immensely talented young ladies. Meanwhile, I'll go back to searching through threads for whatever information I can glean.
I'll also use this opportunity to inform folks that Larkin Poe will be on national network broadcast TV - CBS This Morning Saturday, 2/6/21. Musical acts appear at the end, usually starting about 8:35-8:40 AM EST. There will be an interview/overview segment of, depending on factors which remain mysterious, indeterminate length, followed by a song, an unusually long commercial break, and a second song, which will continue throughout the credits. If Rebecca does play mandolin in the context of the band, I doubt she will within this format. Oh well! One can still hope ...
PS: Happy 30th birthday, Rebecca, on 1/30. :)
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She did pick up the mandolin briefly in one of their recent "live from home" shows, alas I can't find it now. I too wish she would play it more, she's extremely good!
Thanks for the heads-up on the CBS appearance!
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Perhaps she hasn't found a way to integrate the mandolin into the blues she and Megan are clearly dedicated to playing these days. :confused: She sure has gotten good at singing, though, which seems to be her main focus. Along with providing solid backup for Megan, who has gotten really good at slide. But that Duff is a great-sounding instrument, and can surely express the blues. :mandosmiley:
You're welcome! It's a good show, and they've had a wide range of mostly very good artists on over the years. They are terrible about promoting it, though. The performers don't even show up on the cable guide till an hour or so before broadcast. :disbelief: The only way I know they're on is they display who's playing the next couple of weeks toward the end of that long commercial break. Blink and you'll miss it!
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Larkin Poe was new to me until the last couple of years. I didn't know she played mandolin. Gives me something to search for when I get home. She does play guitar well.
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Her version of Thank God I'm a Country Boy was tremendous help, when I was looking for a mandolin version of the solo to steal er I mean get pointers from.
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They are fairly new to me and a little bit outside of my regular listening, but I have listened to a couple of the COVID era livestreams and really enjoyed the. I did see Rebecca play mandolin in one of those. Good singing, good songwriting. I enjoyed them a lot.
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If you search on her or The Lovell Sisters here, you'll see plenty about her mandolin playing. My comment is more directed at her recent work, and her apparent lack of mandolinning. Which is as it may be. As I also said, artists change, develop, evolve. Larkin Poe is what she's doing now, different from The Lovell Sisters. That group included a third sister, Jessica, the eldest, who played fiddle. They were active from 2004 through 2009. They broke up in early 2010, when Jessica left to get married and go to college. I believe it was late 2013 or early 2014 when Rebecca and Megan returned to the scene as Larkin Poe. I like both, in their own ways. And I'll tell you, I was pleasantly surprised to watch an Elvis Costello concert film a few years ago and see he was backed up by Larkin Poe. :disbelief: That, friends, is an endorsement of a high order. :mandosmiley:
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I didn't know anything about them until my Google feed recommended this nice cover of Church Street Blues. No mando but a nice version-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O2kqQErjhE
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Really nice. Thanks. Honestly, I've never known them to do anything that wasn't high quality. I can't even fault them for leaving the mandolin out. It's not my call, not up to me - nor anyone else, for that matter. What I may want, like, or prefer regarding someone else's druthers just ain't no part of nothing. ;)
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About 27min into this one, a jamming instrumental then Mad as a Hatter as well as mando-centric talk. From just a ~week ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz7XMC6f_Xk
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Oh, good! Thanks! I've been busy the last couple days and couldn't search as much as I wanted. And I kept turning up old videos. Plus last week I watched an hour-long set from a festival and there was no mandolin. That's part of what got me wondering.
Well, Rebecca has not missed a step on the mandolin. Good to hear that. :mandosmiley: For those who don't know, and may be wondering about all this a bit, Rebecca Lovell won the MerleFest mandolin competition in 2006 at age 15. She was the youngest contestant ever to do that, and also the first female contestant to win an instrumental competition. She's also quite good. :mandosmiley:
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Is that Joe K. Walsh on 6 string in the Hendrix cover? Sure looks like him, and, he’s ripping it!
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Haha! No way!
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That was a sweet Church St blues!
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I'd heard of them, but never heard them. Thanks for the intro! They have quite a variety of music out there.
Mando solo at 3:10 on this one from eight years ago. The distressed finish didn't come from Duff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNnzTtGgkr4
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Thank you for this. I heard the Lovell Sisters at Merlefest in 2007 and had seen Larkin Poe on YouTube but had not put the two together.
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Bumping it up here. The time approaches ... CBS ... :cool:
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Well, that was a bit of alright. About what I expected - two good stomping blues numbers, no mandolin. I believe they're looking forward, establishing themselves as a blues band. :cool: This was a good way to do that, in their moment on national network TV. :mandosmiley:
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Re: Larkin Poe
Attachment 191840Rebecca does some mandolin on their YouTube cover series and she really is a wonderful musician. I asked her what her mandolin was and she has a Duff that she plays mostly. She was intrigued by my Poe just because of the name....ha.
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Does that mean you're a Poe boy? :whistling: (It was right there - couldn't resist. ;) )
jefflester posted her playing mandolin in their home-grown streaming concert series. I'll have to check that out. :mandosmiley:
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I just happened to catch them this morning on CBS. Was very disappointed in the band’s audio mix — the first song was all electric guitar and her voice. You could not even hear drum fills — pretty much the snare only — and no bass guitar. The second song was a little better, but not much. Seemed like a pretty talented group though. My first exposure to them. I’ll take a listen to the videos above and some other stuff of theirs on-line. Nice to see young people playing actual instruments, with not a synthesizer or drum machine in sight.
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I've seen a few comments along those lines. I didn't notice a problem with the mix. But I may have been concentrating on the two sisters' contributions, more than the overall sound. Also, my TV's sound is tweaked pretty well. Well, I'm sure you'll find a lot to like in what you find.
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Happy Birthday to Rebecca Lovell, who turns 33 today. Larkin Poe has been doing pretty well over the last several years, their star rising steadily. They're nominated for a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album, for "Blood Harmony." Their second nomination, since 2018's "Venom & Faith." Hoping they'll win this time.
I'm super impressed with their output: seven studio albums, eight EPs, and a live album. Plus lots and lots of touring, including that time with Elvis Costello, and a concert film from that tour. One of these days they're going to get the widespread acclaim they deserve. But if they don't, I hope Rebecca knows that the mandolin community will always welcome her back. :mandosmiley:
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They're one of the acts I'm looking forward to seeing at Merlefest in a few months.
D.H.
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I always thought they were awesome, though I've only ever seen blues oriented guitar and lap slide, did not know she used a mandolin occasionally
I hear a strong Gary Davis vibe in their playing and singing