Gimme Gimme That Southern Comfort
Southern rock n’ roll is alive and well and bands like Larkin Poe are here to prove it. Sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell of Larkin Poe kicked off their Blood Harmony tour towards the end of January at the legendary Orange Peel in Asheville, North Carolina, followed by an additional 26 headlining shows across the U.S. With the help of folk-rock band Goodnight, Texas, Larkin Poe gave everyone a taste of southern comfort and preached the blues to a packed, nearly sold-out opening show.
The anticipation of seeing one of your favorite bands perform right in front of you is admittedly distracting enough to overshadow the opening band in some cases. However, when it came to Goodnight, Texas, I was instantly hooked and had a new band to add to my southern rock playlist. The two singers’ on-stage chemistry and charisma coupled with the melancholically groovy bass made it impossible not to get into it. They make the kind of music that thrusts you straight into a small Midwest gothic town and gives you no choice but to stomp your foot to the beat.
Shortly after Goodnight, Texas kicked off the night, Larkin Poe took the stage with an electrifying performance of “Strike Gold” and “Kick the Blues” off their new album, Blood Harmony. Their energy was infectious, and you could feel it throughout the room. After some hits from Blood Harmony, they threw it back to some fan favorites from their previous albums. One of my personal highlights from the night was “She’s A Self-Made Man”, a hard-hitting ode to all the ladies out there. Speaking of ladies, it was time for the Slide Queen herself, Megan Lovell, to take the spotlight and preach the blues on her iconic slide guitar - and when Megan preaches, you listen. They jumped into “Preachin’ Blues”, a cover of an iconic blues track, with a mesmerizing solo from Megan followed by a powerful vocal performance from Rebecca.
If you are unfamiliar with the origin of the name Larkin Poe, it is borrowed from their great-great-great grandfather, Larkin Husky Poe. Family and southern roots are a common theme throughout Larkin Poe’s discography, from their name all the way to their most recent album and its title track, Blood Harmony. About midway through their set, Rebecca shared a story of her grandfather’s struggle with schizophrenia and mental illness and what it was like seeing him go through it and the fear she associated with it being hereditary. When she was just a teenager, she wrote the song “Mad As A Hatter” about her grandfather, lyrically referencing the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland and time stealing away her grandfather’s mind. It’s a scary topic to talk about and you hear the pain in her voice as she pleads with this invisible threat that stole away her grandfather. What really stuck with me were the lyrics, “Please don’t come for me, I promise I’ll be great, just let me keep what’s mine”. The way she sang it, as a sort of pleading cry, invited you to feel her fear and pain in a deeply personal and hauntingly beautiful way.
They wasted no time getting the energy right back up to 100% with back-to-back groovy, bluesy hits, “Southern Comfort” and “Bleach Blonde Bottle Blues”. They followed up with the fast-paced, two-in-one track, “Wanted Woman / AC/DC”, where they managed to hit every square inch of the stage because it is impossible not to move too that song. After getting the entire crowds hearts pumping and feet moving, they hit the brakes with “Might as Well Be Me”. This is one of my personal favorites of theirs and, in my opinion, Rebecca’s most impressive vocal performance of the night. They closed out the main set with “Bolt Cutters & the Family Name”, just proving that you can take them out of the fight, but the Lovell Sisters are here to stay.
They took the stage for one final song during the encore, and it was genuinely one of the coolest performances of the night. The sisters came out without their guitars and sang “Deep Stays Down” on a dimly lit stage where they sang face to face for the first half of the song. They brought their guitars back out for one final explosive display of what they are capable of and left everyone with their jaws on the floor and the desire to see them again. Between Rebecca’s powerful voice and Megan’s soulful slide guitar, it is impossible to walk out of their show without a huge smile on your face. If you are a fan of the blues, classic southern rock, or even just good live music, do yourself the favor of checking out Larkin Poe as they hit cities across the U.S. on their Blood Harmony tour this spring.