Lydia Loveless

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Lydia Loveless

Lydia Loveless (right)
with husband/bassist Ben Lamb (left)
playing in Fort Collins, Colorado (2011)
Background information
Born (1990-09-04) September 4, 1990
Coshocton, Ohio
United States
Origin Columbus, Ohio
Genres Singer-songwriter
Classic country
Honky tonk
Alternative country
Occupations Singer-songwriter
Instruments Vocals
Guitar
Years active 2008–present
Labels Bloodshot Records
(2011–present)
Peloton Records
Associated acts Carson Drew
Website lydialoveless.com
Members Ben Lamb
Todd May
Nick German

Lydia Loveless is an alternative country[1] singer-songwriter from Columbus, Ohio[2] signed to Bloodshot Records. Her music combines classic country, honky tonk, and punk rock.[3][4]

Early life

Loveless was born in Coshocton, Ohio. She is the daughter of Parker Chandler and has two older sisters, Jessica Wabbit and Eleanor Sinacola. Loveless grew up on a farm in a rural area outside of Coshocton. She said she felt like an outcast in a town that emphasized religion and conformity[3][4] until she moved to Columbus, Ohio when she was 14. On her childhood, "I was kind of a little redneck growing up, living on a farm, and running around in the country. I developed hillbilly tendencies, but I wanted to listen to something a little more meaningful than "Redneck Woman" (Gretchen Wilson's 2004 country hit) or whatever." This led her discovering Hank Williams III and a more punk-influenced country music, while also embracing popular music and rock and roll and "pretty much anything on Kemado Records."[5][6]

Her family is musical: Loveless' father was a pastor, drummer, and later country-western bar owner for a time.[5] Loveless said that she and her sisters “were always playing some kind of instrument.”[2]

Career

In 2004, Loveless, her father, and her sisters made up part of a four-member new wave pop band called Carson Drew, named after the father in the well-known “Nancy Drew” books. Loveless played the bass.[6] The band broke up in 2007.[2]

At a show in Cincinnati, Loveless met producer David Rhodes Brown who went on to produce her first album, 2010's The Only Man. Loveless was not happy with the slick production of the album.[3] Loveless said she had "little to no creative control while the producers brought in all their own musicians to create a slick, polished, Nashville-style record. The process began in November 2007, but the album wasn’t released until February 2010."[7]

Columbus attorney Steve McGann became her manager. Loveless and her band drove 20 hours to Austin, Texas, and ended up playing for Bloodshot owners Rob Miller and Nan Warshaw at the 2010 South by Southwest music festival. “We saw her at some shitty little Irish bar . . . where no one cared what she was doing, and even in that horrible environment it was pretty obvious there was a diamond in the rough,” says Miller, who was struck by her “powerhouse voice.”[7]

In 2012, determined to make a more raw and edgier album, she released Indestructible Machine with songs that feature themes of frustration with her hometown, drinking, depression, and a song about a stalker who looks like Steve Earle.[3][4][8] Loveless recorded the album with many live takes and a minimum of overdubs at Grove City, Ohio’s Sonic Lounge recording studio with engineer Joe Viers.[3][7] SPIN characterized the record as standing out "for its utter lack of bullshit," with "roaring vocals, in her narrators' lived-in-bars recklessness, and in her overall inability to mince words."[9]

Indestructible Machine received praise in publications such as the Chicago Tribune, Spin, Allmusic, and The Washington Post.[3][4][10][11] Greg Kot wrote that Loveless' "defiant tone is matched by songs that put country and punk on equal ground, unvarnished and direct".[3] She is compared to Neko Case,[12] Loretta Lynn and Exene Cervenka.[3][4][10] Loveless commented, "I get the 'next Neko Case' or 'not as good as Neko Case' thing all the time. Hopefully I can write songs in the future that don't make it so easy to be compared to anyone else."[3] "I think Neko Case is talented, but she was never an influence," Loveless says. "So when people say that I've stolen from her, which happens more often than not, it's kind of weird."[13]

On being a woman in music: "There’s so much pressure as a woman to fit into a specific genre. I would encourage women to write whatever comes out of them and not worry about sounding like someone who has come before them. To be truly yourself is to be completely unafraid," Loveless says. "It’s just so much better when you let go and stop worrying about what people think and just make the art that comes out of you."[14]

In the Spring of 2013, Loveless did an extensive Canadian tour supporting the Supersuckers.[15] Loveless and her band also toured Scandinavia and Spain during the Fall of 2013.

In 2013, Loveless released Boy Crazy, an EP. Mark Deming of Allmusic praised the release, asserting that the album "is further proof that Loveless is a major talent, and if her next album is as good as this, she may run the risk of becoming a very big star".[16] Loveless describes the buoyant, freshly delivered[17] upbeat EP as reflective of those innocent boy-crazy days, calling the title track her "rock and roll tribute to baseball pants and youth.”[18] Consistent with her fascination with popular culture, one of the songs, "Lover's Spat," is about the notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.[19]

Loveless' lyrical bent includes feminist/strong-woman statements, yet also includes a lot of drinking songs. Early in her career she had a "younger scum-punk crowd, but as my music developed more and after I started playing electric guitar," the fan base got older. "There's always a handful of 40-year-old dudes. I don't know why that is exactly. I don't know if it's like my looks or the music or what, but I seem to just really appeal to that age group. A lot of people have said to me, 'What's with all the old men?,' and they laugh. But to me, those are my fans and I'm happy they exist."[5] Loveless is an avowed fan of Kesha, and has played "Blind" in her live shows.[20]

In 2014, Loveless will release her third full-length record, Somewhere Else, on Bloodshot Records, which has a dark, "poppy" vibe.[21][22] Stereogum said Loveless is using her "unmistakable voice as a songwriter, and she's only getting better at using it to blur the line between running her mouth and pouring out her heart."[23] Loveless was listed as one of "5 Best New Artist for January 14" by SPIN magazine.[24] The record includes a single Loveless wrote with her guitar player, Todd May, a fellow songwriter, called "Head."[25]

Personal life

Loveless is married to her bassist, Ben Lamb,[11] and currently resides in Columbus, Ohio.[3][4]

Loveless's older sisters, Jessica Wabbit and Eleanor Sinacola, also have their own bands (The Girls! and Dead Girlfriends, respectively).[2]

Loveless has talked about having social anxieties and has described herself as an introvert, noting that "Learn To Say No" from Indestructible Machine reflects a time when she wasn't even leaving the house. "I was just staying home and getting stoned and drinking. It was a pretty rough period. I think that's kind of the whole theme of Indestructible Machine, how when you have social anxiety, you can sort of convince yourself that you've gotten over it by drinking a bottle of whiskey, but once you sober up you're still terrified of everything. Hence you're treating your body like it will never die. I think I have gotten better, just from touring so much, but I still definitely have the skittish nature."[5]

Discography

Year Title Label
2010 The Only Man Peloton
2011 Indestructible Machine Bloodshot Records
2013 Boy Crazy (EP) Bloodshot Records
2014 Somewhere Else Bloodshot Records

Notable performances

References

  1. ↑ Oliphint, Joel (January 14, 2014). "Lydia Loveless Probably Won't Kick Your Ass". SPIN. SPIN Music Group, a division of BUZZMEDIA. Retrieved 15 January 2014. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Henderson, Andrea (April 20, 2012). "Lydia Loveless to show sisterly love in Columbus show". The Lantern - The student voice of The Ohio State University. Retrieved 2 January 2014. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 Kot, Greg (22 November 2011). "Lydia Loveless: Defiance on the farm". The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 27 May 2012. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Deming, Mark. "Lydia Loveless Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved 2012-05-27. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Valish, Frank. "Lydia Loveless and The Machine". Interview Magazine. Retrieved 2 January 2014. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Mateer, Chris (September 12, 2011). "Interview: Lydia Loveless on "Indestructible Machine"". No Depression. Retrieved 2 January 2014. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Oliphint, Joel (February 2012). "Lydia Loveless: Her breakout year just behind her, the rocker with a punk country sound is still touring while planning her next recording.". Columbus Monthly. Columbus Dispatch Printing Co. Retrieved 2 January 2014. 
  8. ↑ Danton, Eric. "Lydia Loveless Makes Men Cry, Professes Her Love for Britney and Booze". Spinner.com. Retrieved 29 May 2012. 
  9. ↑ Hogan, Marc (January 22, 2014). "Lydia Loveless Blazes Ahead on Real-Talk 'Really Wanna See You'". SPIN magazine. SPIN Music Group, a division of BUZZMEDIA. Retrieved 24 January 2014. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Stewart, Allison. "Singles file: Bjork, Premonition 13, Lydia Loveless". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 May 2012. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Joy, Kevin. "Profile of songstress rising outside Columbus". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 21 June 2012. 
  12. ↑ James, Matt (November 8, 2011). "Lydia Loveless: Indestructible Machine". PopMatters. Retrieved 2 January 2014. 
  13. ↑ Book, Ryan (July 9, 2013). "Lydia Loveless Finds Her Country Music At The Hands of Nick Lowe and Richard Hell, Not Another Redheaded Alt-Country Chanteuse". Music Times. Retrieved 2 January 2014. 
  14. ↑ Sparks, Joyce (January 29, 2014). "Lydia Loveless is Completely Unafraid to be "Somewhere Else"". Boxx Magazine. Retrieved 31 January 2014. 
  15. ↑ "The Supersuckers + Lydia Loveless". Suoni Per Il Popolo. April 9, 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2014. 
  16. ↑ Deming, Mark. "Boy Crazy EP". Allmusic. Retrieved 2 December 2013. 
  17. ↑ Davidson, Eric (December 11, 2013). "Lydia Loveless - Boy Crazy". CMJ.com. CMJ Holdings Corp. Retrieved 2 January 2014. 
  18. ↑ "Lydia Loveless to Release New EP 'Boy Crazy' (MP3) (Premiere)". PopMatters. October 24, 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2014. 
  19. ↑ Munro, Stuart (November 18, 2013). "Lydia Loveless, ‘Boy Crazy’". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2 January 2014. 
  20. ↑ Mayer, Michael (March 30, 2012). "SXSW: More great bands you don’t want to miss". A&E Interactive. San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 4 January 2014. 
  21. ↑ "Lydia Loveless - Somewhere Else". Bloodshot Records. Retrieved 2 January 2014. 
  22. ↑ Martins, Chris (December 11, 2013). "Hear Lydia Loveless' Cowpunk Paean 'To Love Somebody'". SPIN. Spin Music, a division of SpinMedia. Retrieved 2 January 2014. 
  23. ↑ DeVille, Chris (January 22, 2014). "Lydia Loveless – “Really Wanna See You” (Stereogum Premiere)". Stereogum. Retrieved 24 January 2014. 
  24. ↑ "5 Best New Artists for January '14: Lydia Loveless". SPIN. SPIN Music Group, a division of BUZZMEDIA. January 2, 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2014. 
  25. ↑ Hyman, Dan (January 14, 2014). "Exclusive: Lydia Loveless Gets Raunchy on New Single "Head"". Elle. Retrieved 15 January 2014. 

External links

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