Rebecca and Megan Lovell are the multifaceted musicians of the duo Larkin Poe. Their style is soulful, gritty, and rooted in Southern heritage. Originally from Atlanta and now based in Nashville, the Lovell sisters are descendants of the literary genius Edgar Allen Poe. Larkin Poe’s new album “Blood Harmony” was just released on Tricki-Woo Records, and the sisters joined “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes via Zoom to share more about it.
Interview highlights:
Bringing classical discipline to a passion for the music of Americana:
“We started out playing classical violin as kids. That was our first introduction to learning the language of music. So we did Suzuki lessons in violin and then later in piano, but we were introduced to roots music in our early teens, and that’s when our true passion began for music. And we were so inspired by the idea of improvisation and being able to write our own songs,” said Megan. “We quit our classical lessons and began playing roots the whole time. We grew up listening to a lot of classic rock and Southern rock, so we wanted to work that side of ourselves as well.”
Reflections on a family deeply interwoven by music:
“I feel that our sisterhood, it cuts both ways,” said Rebecca. “The fact that we have so much shared experience at this point in our lives – we’re both in our early thirties now and we’ve been making music together for about 15 years – and obviously growing up with one another gives us a real innate understanding of one another as individuals, both personally and musically… We’re able to have a lot of nonverbal communication when we’re playing. We can look at each other and just sort of catch a wave, which I think is really magical.” She added, “But then I think it has required a lot of additional work on our family connection to ensure that our relationship stays healthy.”
“Some of our earliest memories in music stem from our mother. She drove us to our lessons, and she also sang harmonies with her siblings, and so she taught us siblings how to sing harmonies. So we would be sitting at the piano and she would be teaching us how to sing, and that’s really precious to us,” recalled Megan. “There is a feeling that sibling harmonies are passed down in the blood, and there’s nothing like being able to sing with your family. So we wanted that to be well represented in the title track of the newest album because singing together and playing together as siblings is really important. So ‘Blood Harmony’ felt like a really good name for this album.”
Singing about a bittersweet move in “Georgia Off My Mind:”
“We were born in Knoxville, but when we were toddlers, our folks moved us to Georgia, and so naturally, we identify as Georgia peaches,” said Rebecca. “About seven years ago… we made the decision to move back to Music City, to Tennessee, and it was a very emotional decision to cross that state line… It was a transitional season. It was that, you know, one foot in the past, one foot stepping into the future. And I think just being aware of that emotional transition really inspired me to write a song dedicated to the leap-of-faith story that we all can experience in different ways, and then naturally, just being able to shout out Georgia and Coca-Cola and all the good stuff that we identify growing up in Georgia. It just feels good. It feels right.”
The new album by Larkin Poe, “Blood Harmony,” is out now and available to purchase and stream at https://www.larkinpoe.com/
