Larkin Poe's Rebecca and Megan Lovell perform September 24, 2017, at the Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival in Franklin, Tennessee We hereby direct your attention to Larkin Poe...
Larkin Poe's Rebecca and Megan Lovell perform September 24, 2017, at the Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival in Franklin, Tennessee
We hereby direct your attention to Larkin Poe, a pair of badass Georgia-bred sisters who—we kid you not—are distantly related to 19th-century American writer, poet and critic Edgar Allen Poe, the tortured artist behind The Pit and the Pendulum, The Masque of the Red Death and "The Raven."
OK, I majored in English (writing and literature), so, yeah, I think that's cool.
However, the fact that they're a 20-something-year-old sisters playing gritty, modern roots rock and blues on a Fender Jaguar and an ancient Rickenbacker lap steel makes them a hell of a lot cooler.
That's Rebecca Lovell on guitar, mandolin and vocals and Megan Lovell on lap steel and vocals. Rebecca and Megan (along with their older sister, Jessica) started performing together in 2005 as the Lovell Sisters. After a level of success that's definitely nothing to sneeze at (unless you happen to be sick), they split up, eventually reforming (just Rebecca and Megan this time) in 2010 as Larkin Poe, which is the name of their great-great-great grandfather, a Civil War wagon driver (and good ol' Edgar Allen Poe's cousin).
Their 2017 album, Peach, is overflowing with hints of their Southern upbringing, not to mention lots of wiry guitar, strong songwriting, magnetic melodies, sweet harmonies and a comforting level of authenticity. They also bring a new style of Southern pathos and grit to some incredibly ancient tunes, including Robert Johnson's "Come on in My Kitchen," Son House's "Preachin' Blues" and Blind Willie Johnson's "John the Revelator."
Mind you, this is not a "throwback" band (or album); some of the tracks from Peach would sound natural following an Ed Sheeran tune on the tinny speakers at the Veggie Grill