Sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell, better known as the duo at the core of blues-schooled band Larkin Poe, have accomplished a great deal since they began performing in a family band as teens about 15 years ago. Megan, the older sister by two years, has become a master of lap-steel guitar, while Rebecca has become a formidable frontwoman who also plays a slew of instruments. They’ve performed at major festivals from Bonnaroo to Glastonbury, played in bands with Elvis Costello and Conor Oberst, and made the move from their native Atlanta to Nashville about five years back. Their fourth album, 2018’s Venom & Faith, earned a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album.
What might be their most important achievement is growing from kids who love the emotional response that music evokes into adults who make music that resonates deeply. When the Lovells went into the studio to record their new album Self Made Man, which comes out Friday, they were looking to capture the electric energy of the shows they played while touring behind Venom & Faith.
“During that year-and-a-half of touring, we were experiencing shows in a way we never had before — like, selling out tours and having fans coming in knowing all the lyrics of the songs and singing along,” says Rebecca Lovell, speaking with the Scene via phone. “We’re writing now from a perspective of asking what songs we want to sing together with an audience.”
For a prime example of that philosophy in practice, listen no further than the album’s almost-titular opening track “She’s a Self Made Man.” It’s a ferocious, swaggering electric blues tune in which the two tap into the power of an antiquated archetype while turning it on its head and making it their own. As guitars snarl and drums thunder, Lovell sings: “I was down and out, now I’m up again / When I roll the dice, everybody wins / Like the Cannonball movin’ down the track / Baby’s on her way, she ain’t comin’ back.”
Developing and harnessing that kind of confidence has been key to the sisters’ growth and continued success. It permeates their new record, which they produced themselves. The LP owes a deep debt to a wide variety of Southern music — from swampy blues to lyrical string-band music to searing rock — whose power they pay homage to in the original “Back Down South.” There’s also a rendition of Texas bluesman Blind Willie Johnson’s “God Moves on the Water,” in which the sinking of the Titanic is a cautionary tale about hubris. While Self Made Man is easy to enjoy, it’s not so easy to categorize. That doesn’t bother Rebecca Lovell.
“I think that we live in an age in which it’s very easy to ignore your gut,” she says. “Everyone wants to go off metrics and if the algorithm is performing well. So I think to pull back and just quietly listen to the little voice in the back of your head that says, ‘Hey, just go for it. Do it. Be vulnerable. Get down to the feeling, allow your true self to come out and don’t be afraid,’ that really has served us so well.”
With an album tailor-made for live shows, it’s been a challenge for the duo to present their new music during a pandemic, when venues are closed and it’s not possible to tour. Still, they’ve been doing their best with a livestream series called Home Sweet Home, which ran through June 6 and featured a new set list each week based on a different theme. They also donated a portion of the funds raised to United Way Nashville to help their adopted hometown’s recovery efforts in the wake of both the March 3 tornado and COVID-19.
“It’s really been kind of a cool shift in focus,” says Lovell. “Now we’re live-chatting with fans on YouTube while streaming, and it’s really been fascinating. It’s been so amazing to get a sense of that global community and how everyone from all over the world is sharing in this moment together.”
