Larkin Poe Rock The Blues

Last Saturday night at the Fonda theater in LA, the church of Rock and Roll was in session. Leading the faithful were sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell, or as they are better known, Larkin Poe.

Born in Georgia, raised in Knoxville, and now residents of Nashville, Rebecca and Megan may be in their early thirties, but they have been performing for some 18 years now. They began singing in church, then playing bluegrass or what’s now called Americana and Roots Music at fairs and gatherings (as the Lovell Sisters, they appeared at the Grand Ole Opry and at Bonnaroo).

As Larkin Poe beginning in 2010, with Rebecca on lead vocals and guitar and Megan on vocals and slide guitar, they went deep into the blues and blues-inspired southern rock. Since 2014 they’ve released six studio albums, the most recent of which, Blood Harmony, was released in November 2022 – which is the reason they were playing the Fonda. But everyone there knew the real reason was, in the words of a recent Larkin Poe song, to “Kick The Blues.”

From the moment they took to the stage as the opening bars of Cream’s “White Room” played, they were there to remind all of us, if not themselves, after three years of isolation, of the power of live performance.

Rebecca, wearing a white T shirt, black jeans, and sneakers stalked the stage as if she was in a punk band; Megan was more rooted in place, but her energy was equally ‘70s rock.

Here’s what I was thinking as they ripped through their set:

Larkin Poe is The Clash if The Clash were a blues band.

Larkin Poe is The Who if Pete Townsend played slide guitar.

Larkin Poe was what you go to clubs and shows to hear – real musicians playing real music, singing their hearts out in authentic, electrifying fashion.

On stage it was just the Lovell sisters, their bass player and their drummer playing their own instruments. There were no choreographed dance moves, no backing tracks, no electronic voice adjustments. Very stripped down. Can I see a future where they have a larger band, with a horn section and back-up singers? You bet. But, for now, it was just four people on a stage lighting a fire.

Among the songs they performed, standouts included “Self-Made Man,” “,” their cover of Son House’s “Preachin’ Blues” and the beautiful ballad “Might as well be Me” (which calls out for Miss Bonnie Raitt to cover with them).

The encore turned out to be a surprise as Mike Campbell and Steve Ferrone of Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers came on stage to play the Campbell co-authored Petty classic “Running on a Dream,” — it was one of those LA moments where all you can think is “I can’t believe I’m in the room for this”

As for the audience…. Let me confess: I’m an oldster. I’ve spent a lot of time standing in dark clubs and venues seeing bands perform; as a result, I’m now that old guy standing upstairs watching the band – in this case, a band whose main performers are half my age. And at the Fonda, I was not alone in this.

Looking out at the sea of attendees there were quite a few bald pates or white-haired attendees. The audience was easily half oldsters which, at first, seemed strange. But, the reason is not hard to understand: The music that we grew up on is the same music that inspired Larkin Poe; and, as a result, the music they play is very much our music. The audience was there for the same reason I was, to hear something authentic and real.

Larkin Poe delivered on that. I may have to catch them again on this tour, perhaps at Jazzfest. You should see them on this tour if you can as well.

Can I get an “Amen”?