LYDIA LOVELESS plays Teragram Ballroom Oct. 11 and Oct. 12, Belly Up Oct. 13; photo-cover
Since entering the scene in 2010, Lydia Loveless has been seemingly determined to escape the confinements of a single genre. Her debut album, The Only Man, showcased the country/bluegrass roots from whence she grew. Her explorations of the genre were done as though paying homage to the reasons people love country music: playful, twang-filled, virtuoso slide guitar, sing-along melodies about love/drinking/farm life, fiddles, banjos, and a voice enriched with a commanding, unmistakably Southern, beauty.
But even here, with all her similarities to artists who came before her, there remained a sense of something more unique. Her lyrics have more bite than her apparent influences. Her musical compositions were articulated with a clarity that could only exist through the marvels of modern sound engineering, and from a deep understanding of musical expression.
As she evolved from album to album, we find Loveless moving away from such classically southern beginnings, injecting her music with varied doses of modern pop rock, straight rock n’ roll, and alternative rock. The results are consistently solid and entertaining, her band confidently following her lead wherever she goes. Often, her musical influences are not immediately apparent, coloring her music with an extra shade of intrigue for the more active listener.
Always, her voice remains effortlessly beautiful in ways that beg to be heard, and subsequently marveled at, during a live performance. Her latest musical effort, Real, is certainly no exception. Now three albums removed from her debut, several tracks, such as “Heaven” and “Bilbao”, retain almost no similarity to her initial sound. While the twang of the south refuses to leave her vocal timbre, with nigh jazzy basslines and chords, washed out, effects-heavy guitar riffs, and a blatant lack of banjo, one would sooner guess that Lydia grew up in Los Angeles before they guessed Mississippi (even though she’s from Ohio – you get my point).
In support of this recent statement of musical, artistic evolution, Loveless is hitting the road alongside fellow Southern rockers, Drive-By Truckers. They will be stopping by the Teragram Ballroom for not just one, but TWO nights, on Oct. 11 & 12, before heading to Belly Up Oct. 13.