The Show On The Road – Larkin Poe

This week, we finish off this season of The Show On The Road with a powerful, Southern sister act that has been wowing audiences around the world with their transformative take on stomping blues and cagey, slide-guitar-driven rock ‘n’ roll: Larkin Poe.


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As it is nearly Halloween it would behoove us to mention that Rebecca Lovell (who sings lead) and Megan Lovell, (who commands the stellar slide-work) are indeed distant relatives of Edgar Allan Poe. Their name came from another long-gone grandfather, however, after their eldest singing sister Jessica stepped away from the band, leaving the younger sisters to contemplate if they wanted to continue playing bluegrassy, harmony-rich folk music — which had gotten them on shows like A Prairie Home Companion — or to strike out in a new direction.

Taking inspiration from their frontiersmen-inspired family, who often built and made everything themselves, Rebecca and Megan indeed took DIY to a new level: they have written, produced, and performed nearly all their own records and EPs themselves. They often pay homage to legends like Robert Johnson, Blind Willie Johnson, and more modern greats like The Allman Brothers and The Moody Blues, while they also put their own rawboned stamp on stellar ZZ-Top-esque originals like “Self-Made Man,” which is also the title of their newest record.

While the sisters admit that doing almost everything in-house can be like walking a tricky tightrope, the results have been encouraging. From show-stopping appearances at festivals like Glastonbury, to opening for the revivified touring version of Queen (Brian May is a new fan), to headlining the 2020 Mahindra Blues Festival in Mumbai, India, to snagging a Grammy nom for their hard-stomping record, Venom & Faith, one would think that they should keep on following their DIY instincts.

Larkin Poe doesn’t plan on taking it easy even though they haven’t been able to tour in 2020 — in November they will release Kindred Spirits, a collection of beloved stripped-back covers. Stick around to the end of the show to hear their acoustic version of Lenny Kravitz’s “Fly Away.”


Photo credit: Bree Marie Fish

LISTEN: Dianne Davidson, “Sounds of the City”

Artist: Dianne Davidson
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Sounds Of The City”
Album: Perigon: Full Circle
Release Date: August 28, 2020
Label: Perigon Music

In Their Words: “I was 19 or 20. I was already being a bit beaten up by the business. I spent two weeks on the road with The Moody Blues as opening act while I was touring my third album, Mountain Mama. Sometimes on those quick one-nighter tours, you can lose your bearings and realize you don’t quite know where you are. I was in a high-rise hotel, down below was traffic and noise and people milling about. I felt like a lost soul and wrote the song to center myself again. As fate would have it, I never recorded it until now. I was fortunate enough to have it recorded by Tracy Nelson on her Homemade Songs album in 1978. I was so grateful for her version of it. I knew I needed to do it on this record. It just belonged. The feeling just poured out and I was blessed with the beauty of my friends who played and sang on it. The B3 player, Austin Wireman, wasn’t even born when I wrote it. Full Circle.” — Dianne Davidson


Photo provided by the artist.