Artist of the Week 10/10/11 - Lydia Loveless

[Kudzu Guillotine]

On the Todd May tip, a friend of mine just recommended his solo album from last year called Rickenbacker Girls. He also recommends the record he released with the band Fort Shame. I plan to hunt those down shortly myself.

Check out this link:
http://pelotonrecords.com/

the website sucks (sorry Steve) but you'll be able to find what you're looking for eventually.

Thanks much, Ben. Checking 'em out now.

[Smitty]

Ben's a rock solid kind of dude - he'll totally dig through tons of gear in the back of their van to dig out some bumper stickers.
Although I admit I felt kinda shitty about it all after seeing how much work it was.
Anyways, welcome aboard Ben!

[dime in the gutter]

lots of patsy cline vibe in lydia vocal stylings. has that already been brought up or is it obvious influence is obvious?

[Kudzu Guillotine]

lots of patsy cline vibe in lydia vocal stylings. has that already been brought up or is it obvious influence is obvious?

Not that it isn't there but I haven't really picked up on it. One thing I've noticed is her penchant for late 70's/80's era covers like "Alison", "They Don't Know", "Talk of the Town", etc.

[Gang Green]

Finally, got to see Lydia Loveless, who I've been dying to see for quite some time. It was last Saturday in Lancaster. My expectation were high and she and her band exceeded those. Thank god for that because I had to run the Harrisburg Marathon the next morning and had only three to four hours sleep. The show provided just enough motivation for me to make it through the race. But, I get a kick out of how everyone wants to compare her to Loretta Lynn or, as seen above, Patsy Cline, which is great. But, every interview I read, she talks about different influences. In the article below she talks about Richard Hell. For me, she and her band, are the perfect combination of punk rock and country. Plus she is a Bad Ass as her personality on stage reflects. At one point she was peppering her steel peddle player with beer bottle caps. Anyway, pretty decent interview below from FLY Mag a Central PA product, they may have lifted this interview from another publication.

http://flymagazine.net/lydia-loveless-c ... ock-heart/

[Kudzu Guillotine]

But, I get a kick out of how everyone wants to compare her to Loretta Lynn or, as seen above, Patsy Cline, which is great. But, every interview I read, she talks about different influences. In the article below she talks about Richard Hell. For me, she and her band, are the perfect combination of punk rock and country.

I noticed the same thing about Tift Merritt and Heather McEntire of Mount Moriah when their debut records first came out. Both of them were immediately compared to Loretta, Dolly and Patsy Cline (and in the case of Tift, Emmylou). While those influences are most certainly there, I sometimes think it may be laziness on the part of the writers or maybe because they just can't think of anyone else to compare them to. I know Clams has compared Lydia to Maria McKee (Tift was as well) but there's a frenetic side to Maria's early work (especially on The Vaught Tapes) that I'm not just picking up on with Lydia. As much as I love Maria, listening to those early records can be exhausting (and sometimes grating) on the ears. Lydia hasn't made that sort of impression on me. In the case of Tift, her early shows with the Carbines were much more country-flavored than the Tift the world would come to know by the time Bramble Rose was released so I felt the comparison to Maria was warranted.

[Clams]

My two cents.

Posted on December 2, 2014 by Lydia Loveless

Almost finished with this year. This has probably been the most intense of my life (cue old people chatter). I have been physically and emotionally exhausted and seriously gone to “the darkside”, and also experienced some of the most heartwarming uplifting beautiful moments. We have an amazing fan base of incredibly supportive, generous people, some of whom follow us around the country and see us play dozens of times. It is truly what I have always wanted to do, and even when it’s incredibly difficult, I wouldn’t do anything else. Clearly, if you’ve looked at my resumé, I’m not cut out for much else…..

But back to those dark times. It has come to my attention (through the magic of @fuckyou @haveyouseenthisbadshitaboutyourself that is Twitter) how awful and mean spirited people can be this year. I mean, I’ve always known it, but I grew up in a time where if something happened to you or you made a mistake, it was your mistake to go through and you talked about it with your dad or your priest or wrote about it in your journal, and you dealt with the gut crushing guilt that is self-awareness. In the past few years all that has changed, and we live in a world where people who didn’t even experience your perceived fuck ups can chime in on it and make you feel utterly terrible about yourself. I am more than willing to admit when I’ve made a mistake. It comes from the intense deep darkness that is the mind of an Italian Irish person. Seriously the guilt of this genetic mix is downright goddamned awful.

I’m writing this about some dumb review I can’t seem to escape of my Lincoln Hall show this week. i try never to read those and am quite successful, but when people shove something horrible about you in your face as if that’s something you’d want to know about, it’s hard to avoid. I would say that MOST people in life will never have reviews of their life decisions under the guise of some kind of honest critique. Most people do not have to get on the internet in an attempt to keep in touch with friends and fans and read something completely mean spirited about themselves. You may get a work review but it will not be on a daily basis and it will not be soul crushing (unless of course you absolutely suck at the office). And when these “work reviews” tear into your personal life, from someone who doesn’t even know you, it can be difficult to deal with.

In the past year I have been gone from anything familiar or comforting. As someone whose mental health is quite unstable, it’s been difficult. I started out the year in a very terrible place, and I looked at my calendar and saw that I was going to put myself through absolute hell at a time when I really wanted to lie in bed and have naked Bruce Willis bring me chicken soup for six months. So, I started going to therapy. This is absolutely against everything I’ve ever thought, but when I started taking it seriously, I realized that it was an incredibly helpful thing for someone like me. To have to show up and be honest about yourself and your myriad slip ups in life, and discuss why you are the monumental fuck up that you are, has kept me as sane as someone like me can be. Combined with daily yoga, I am now in a better place mentally than I have been in years. I can now be subjected to days and days of people telling me I am a huge drunken fuck up mess who plays terrible shows (when I feel that the shows in question were actually fantastic–like I said, I know when that shit is bad) without ending up in tears and wanting to literally kill myself. I know that right now I sound like some highschooler bawling about how MEAN everyone is to me, but, like I said, when you are already a suicidal person riddled with anxiety and neuroses and you get shipped all around the world to be critiqued, it can be quite depressing.

I pride myself on putting on shows that are loose and free and unrehearsed. That is why my band and I practice and work incredibly hard at what we do. We know the songs through and through so we don’t HAVE to put on the act of being a broadway play or the vagina monologues. We bust our asses so that you don’t have to witness the same show from city to city. This is why we can get onstage whether we are sick, have broken ribs, or have just experienced family tragedies. We are a rock band. We come to fucking bring the rock. If you are scared or “made uncomfortable” by that, you should stay home.

I was told by an acting teacher as a kid to never, ever apologize to anyone. To never show weakness. When you come to an audition and you have bronchitis, AIDS and flesh eating disease, you act like you don’t even fucking realize you have anything wrong with you. That’s hard to reconcile with the depressed addicts mantra of “don’t be afraid to ask for help”. I try to combine the two in my work. If you come to my show, expect me to mention every awkward thing I am feeling and play like I couldn’t give less of a fuck about what’s bothering me. I live by the “we are all friends here” method and I will never stop doing that. I appreciate every single person that supports me and comes to my shows, and I don’t ever half ass my job. I have in the past, and I won’t do it again.



This was long winded, but it’s been a long fucking year and I haven’t written on here in quite some time. I want to thank each and every one of you that has supported me this year, and to those of you who will continue to support me and not barrage me with tweets about what an asshat I am, I love you. I’ll see you soon.

Lydia Loveless

I say fuck em Lydia, some people are just assholes. It seems like you've got a good support system in place. Hang in there, don't stop kicking ass and taking names, and we'll see you at the 40 Watt in Feb.

[Tequila Cowboy]

I read that review she mentions. Dude's a fuckwad of the first order. Yes, artists have to have thick skins but that only goes so far. Personal attacks disguised as reviews aren't ok, and aren't helpful. Good on Lydia. I don't know her and I want to give her a hug.

[Clams]

I'm assuming this is the review in question.... http://chicagoist.com/2014/12/01/lydia_ ... _at_li.php

Interesting to compare it to this positive review from the very same show.... http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertain ... story.html

[Tequila Cowboy]

I'm assuming this is the review in question.... http://chicagoist.com/2014/12/01/lydia_ ... _at_li.php

Interesting to compare it to this positive review from the very same show.... http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertain ... story.html

Yep. I read the Tribune review first and then the Chicagoist piece. Seems like a different show huh?

[allisonsdc]

I read that review she mentions. Dude's a fuckwad of the first order. Yes, artists have to have thick skins but that only goes so far. Personal attacks disguised as reviews aren't ok, and aren't helpful. Good on Lydia. I don't know her and I want to give her a hug.

I wasn't at the show, but I agree that the "review" in question is a personal attack. I can only imagine how reading something like this written about me -- especially at 24 years old -- would hurt...a lot. What a dick. It's so easy to spew negativity and the haters love to take to Twitter and blogs and bitch all day long. Too bad people with positive things to say tend not to be as forthcoming. I'd like to give her a hug too. She's amazingly talented, I love her music and I can't wait to see her open for DBT at Homecoming.

[StormandStatic]

That piece really doesn't seem that harsh to me. Would I want to read that written about me? Of course not. But that seems like it could be a pretty honest description of the show, though of course I can't know that as I wasn't there.

[beantownbubba]

I'm assuming this is the review in question.... http://chicagoist.com/2014/12/01/lydia_ ... _at_li.php

Interesting to compare it to this positive review from the very same show.... http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertain ... story.html

The key is the snide comments about the creepy old guys. Clearly the guy was all about the scene, not the music, and this scene offended his snotty sensibility.

Fuck 'em Lydia. Your head is screwed on reasonably straight, you know where you're going and it's a good place. FWIW this old guy is not a creep but has heard a little bit of music over the past 40 something years, and you've got it! Keep on rockin'. Looking forward to seeing u for the first time in February.

PS - it's always a good idea to throw a few props hubby's way

[StormandStatic]

I'm assuming this is the review in question.... http://chicagoist.com/2014/12/01/lydia_ ... _at_li.php

Interesting to compare it to this positive review from the very same show.... http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertain ... story.html

The key is the snide comments about the creepy old guys. Clearly the guy was all about the scene, not the music, and this scene offended his snotty sensibility.

Couldn't disagree more. Clearly this reviewer wasn't enjoying himself, the mix was terrible, and so he started focusing on just about everything but what was onstage. I understand this feeling, it happens whenever I'm not enjoying myself at a show. The rest of the crowd is an easy thing to fixate on.

[beantownbubba]

I'm assuming this is the review in question.... http://chicagoist.com/2014/12/01/lydia_ ... _at_li.php

Interesting to compare it to this positive review from the very same show.... http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertain ... story.html

The key is the snide comments about the creepy old guys. Clearly the guy was all about the scene, not the music, and this scene offended his snotty sensibility.

Couldn't disagree more. Clearly this reviewer wasn't enjoying himself, the mix was terrible, and so he started focusing on just about everything but what was onstage. I understand this feeling, it happens whenever I'm not enjoying myself at a show. The rest of the crowd is an easy thing to fixate on.

Interesting. The difference is you've paid your money and make your choices; he's being paid to review the concert.

[StormandStatic]

It's possible he just got a free ticket. Hell, maybe he's doing it for free. I've done both. In fact when I am reviewing I tend to take notes on everything. Unless a show is just that damn good I'll probably note how many people are there, what the breakdown is, what people are saying, etc.

[Rocky]

I'm not going to click on some asshole's review and increase his net traffic numbers. I don't know shit about him but I know Lydia Loveless the band and the person play some refreshingly honest rock music.

I've already made up my mind whose side I'm on.

[beantownbubba]

It's possible he just got a free ticket. Hell, maybe he's doing it for free. I've done both. In fact when I am reviewing I tend to take notes on everything. Unless a show is just that damn good I'll probably note how many people are there, what the breakdown is, what people are saying, etc.

OK, let's just say his assignment was to review the show. I've written unpaid reviews where I comment on tons of things other than the show, but context matters. Here he's using tangential stuff to fuel his personal animus and distract from the absence of substance as opposed to adding flavor to communicate about the overall concert experience. How the crowd reacts to the performer, the demographics of the crowd, the size of the crowd, etc are all fair game for the reporter/reviewer. But it matters if you're opining that the performer is all hype and using the small crowd to buttress that point or you're describing how stiff a performer the artist is and you describe the crowd's failure to connect to the performer. Etc, etc, etc there are millions of permutations but it comes down to attitude and motive. I think that this guy was inappropriately personal and apparently motivated by a non-musical agenda.

BTW, I think the previously noted phenomenon of LL appealing to an older male audience is very interesting and worthy of exploration. But that's not what the author does w/ it. He just makes fun of the creeps.

[beantownbubba]

I'm not going to click on some asshole's review and increase his net traffic numbers.

That's something I ought to take into consideration more frequently.

[Duke Silver]

I've read the review twice and while I understand why it would suck to be the subject of a bad review, I don't really see what's so objectionable about this particular one. The guy wasn't impressed by the performance and did a pretty decent job articulating why, while still throwing quite a bit of praise Lydia's way. She should take a page from Clams' girl Taylor's book and Shake It Off.

[StormandStatic]

Exactly. I don't see the personal animus here. He compliments her persona, her album, her songs, and lays about as much blame on the mix as he does on how she acted.

[Zip City]

She admits to depression/suicidal tendencies in her rant, so clearly she's going to take criticism differently

[StormandStatic]

Of course. I'm talking about our responses here.

[Tequila Cowboy]

It's possible he just got a free ticket. Hell, maybe he's doing it for free. I've done both. In fact when I am reviewing I tend to take notes on everything. Unless a show is just that damn good I'll probably note how many people are there, what the breakdown is, what people are saying, etc.

He's known for being a hipster douche. Has been for years. I didn't realize he was doing Rock reviews again though until recently.

[Zip City]

Just read the review. The headline seemed far harsher than the details.

I'd probably note the drinking if it was excessive and affecting the show as well. I've seen a fair share of shows that were ruined by on-stage drunkeness

[Kudzu Guillotine]

Guitartown and Motorco Present Lydia Loveless at Motorco in Durham, NC on Wednesday, February 11th.
Tickets available here.

For those unfamiliar with Guitartown, it's an online (and virtual) community made up of fans of alt.country, mainly based out of the Triangle region (Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill) of North Carolina but our membership is worldwide. You can find us on Yahoo Groups, Facebook and Twitter. For a bit of background on Guitartown, you can find that here and here.

[Rocky]

Lydia Loveless is a good get Kudzu. Congrats.

[Blammo]

We can't wait to come back to Durham!

And…I was gonna write a big ol' response to that "review" but fuck it. I've moved on and it's not worth the energy. Suffice it to say it was a kickass show and I don't know why they had an axe to grind. No one was drunk (and I would fess up if that was the case) and it was ridiculous to read that that was someone's take on the show. It was one of the best shows we've ever played & I would totally stand behind a recording of the show if it exists. The head of our label was there and said it was the best show she'd seen us play, and remarked that seeing how far we progressed live with the songs off of "Somewhere Else" that she hoped we didn't go into the studio too soon with the new songs, as she'd like them to be further developed the way we did those tunes. So…I dunno. A couple different takes on the same show, but the headline "hot mess" seems a little disingenuous if you ask me.

Anyway…looking forward to playing back in Chicago on January 10 and then touring our way down to Athens in February for the fucking Homecoming show! Really we are so excited that we can't stand it. Lydia's solo shows with Patterson were a great warm-up and introduction to everyone and it's gonna be rad. Guess i better book that hotel room now though! And thanks for giving a damn everyone.

[lajakesdad]

Hey Ben welcome to the board. I just saw you are on here. Big fan out here in California. Do you guys have any plans of a west coast tour? Any LA shows? We'd love to see you guys.

[Blammo]

Hey Ben welcome to the board. I just saw you are on here. Big fan out here in California. Do you guys have any plans of a west coast tour? Any LA shows? We'd love to see you guys.

Hey, thanks!
We are playing Stagecoach festival (where they hold Coachella) on April 24. I think we are trying to line up a whole west coast tour around that show, since we'll have driven all the way to California. If that happens, I'm certain we'll be in San Diego & LA, as well as the whole San Francisco, Portland, Seattle scenes, and probably a few more cities in between. I'll be sure to mention them once it all gets finalized.