Lydia Loveless

Lydia Loveless

Lydia Loveless (right) with husband/bassist Ben Lamb (left) playing in Fort Collins, Colorado (2011)

Lydia Loveless (right)
with husband/bassist Ben Lamb (left)
playing in Fort Collins, Colorado (2011)
Background information
Born September 4, 1990
Coshocton, Ohio
United States
Origin Columbus, Ohio
Genres Singer-songwriter
Classic country
Honky tonk
Alternative country
Occupation(s) 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
Jay Gasper
Nate Holman

Lydia Loveless (born September 4, 1990) is an alternative country[1] singer-songwriter from Columbus, Ohio.[2] Her music combines classic country, honky tonk, and punk rock.[3][4]

Early life

Loveless was born in Coshocton, Ohio, in the Newcastle area.[5] She is the daughter of Parker Chandler and has two older sisters, Eleanor Sinacola and Jessica, who now performs under the stage name "Jessica Wabbit".[2] Loveless grew up on a farm in a rural area outside of Coshocton and was home-schooled.[6][7]

On this early life, Loveless says: "I grew up on an 80-acre farm, literally a farm girl, feeding cattle every day. That's always going to be a part of me, but I don't necessarily want to perpetuate the country music stereotype.... I just want to let all of my influences and all of my inspiration come through."[8] 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."[9][10]

Her family is musical: Loveless' father was a pastor, drummer, and later country-western bar owner for a time.[9] Loveless said that she and her sisters “were always playing some kind of instrument.”[2]

Loveless said she began trying to play the guitar at 12, but says that the thing that finally made it click for her was "when I was about 15 and I started learning Hank Williams songs. It made it easy and fun."[11][12]

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.[10] The band broke up in 2007.[2]

At a show in Cincinnati where she opened for his band, Loveless met producer David Rhodes Brown (500 Miles to Memphis)[7] 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 made the record when she was 15 years old.[13] 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."[14] Loveless clarified that she likes the songs she wrote, but the super long length of time it took to make the record affected how negatively she felt about the process.[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.”[14]

In 2012, signed with Bloodshot and 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][15] 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][14] 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."[16]

Indestructible Machine received praise in publications such as the Chicago Tribune, Spin, AllMusic, and The Washington Post.[3][4][17][18] Greg Kot wrote that Loveless' "defiant tone is matched by songs that put country and punk on equal ground, unvarnished and direct".[3][19][20]

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."[21]

In the Spring of 2013, Loveless did an extensive Canadian tour supporting the Supersuckers.[22] 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".[23] Loveless describes the buoyant, freshly delivered[24] upbeat EP as reflective of those innocent boy-crazy days, calling the title track her "rock and roll tribute to baseball pants and youth.”[25] Consistent with her fascination with popular culture, one of the songs, "Lover's Spat," is about the notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.[26]

Rolling Stone cited Loveless as one of its "10 New Artists You Need to Know: January 2014."[27]

In February 2014, Loveless released her third full-length record, Somewhere Else, on Bloodshot Records, which has a dark, "poppy" vibe.[28][29] 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."[30] Loveless was listed as one of "5 Best New Artist for January 14" by SPIN magazine.[31] The record includes a single Loveless wrote with her guitar player, Todd May, a fellow songwriter, called "Head."[32] The album had an overwhelmingly good reception[33] and entered Billboard's Heatseekers chart (new entries to Billboard charts, compiled by Nielsen SoundScan) the first week of its release at position number 7.[34][12]

In April 2014, Loveless released the Mile High/Blind 7" record for Record Store Day. The record had a non-album cut titled "Mile High" on the A side and a cover of Kesha's "Blind" on the B side. It was a limited edition release on lime green vinyl.[35] The tracks will be released in digital album format May 27, 2014.[36]

In January 2015, a Kickstarter campaign was begun for an upcoming documentary on Loveless called Who is Lydia Loveless? -- a new rock doc from Gorman Bechard.[37] Documentarian Gorman Bechard (Color Me Obsessed, Every Everything: The Music, Life & Times of Grant Hart) will document the making of Loveless' next record.[37]

In April 2015, Loveless was part of a Record Store Day release with label-mate, Cory Branan. The two artists cover two Prince songs: Loveless doing I Would Die 4 U and Branan doing Under The Cherry Moon. The 7" limited edition releases will be pressed onto purple vinyl.[38]

Songwriting

Lydia Loveless performing at SXSW 2014

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.[9] Loveless is an avowed fan of Kesha, and has played "Blind" in her live shows.[39][40]

On her writing process, Loveless says that most of her songs start with the lyrics: "I keep a journal pretty religiously and I'll look through and sort of take things that I've written. I write poetry, a lot of that gets converted and turned into songs, and then I'll sit down either at my piano or my guitar and start sort of fumbling around. Sometimes I'll try to let a melody come to me for a while, till that gets stuck in my head and then when I'm pretty sure it's good, I usually play it for my guitar player [Todd May] and we start working on our parts and what sort of vibe we want to have."[41]

Discography

Albums and EPs

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

Singles

Year Title Label
2015 I Would Die 4 U (Prince cover) Bloodshot Records
2014 Mile High / Blind (Kesha cover) Bloodshot Records
2011 Bad Way To Go / Alison (Elvis Costello cover) Bloodshot Records

Notable performances

Hand-made wood coaster in shape of Lydia Loveless' heart tattoo -- with an X through it. Made by Ben Lamb, her husband.

Personal life

Loveless is married to her bassist, Ben Lamb,[18] who is also a graphic artist.[42] They currently reside in Columbus, Ohio.[3][4]

Loveless' older sisters, Jessica Wabbit and Eleanor Sinacola, also have their own bands (The Girls! and Dead Girlfriend, respectively).[2] Loveless' younger brother, Nate, is the drummer of Shores of Elysium, a death metal/deathcore band from Columbus, Ohio.[43]

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."[9]

Loveless is an avowed fan of the IBM Selectric typewriter.[44]

She has at least two tattoos. One is a heart with an X through it. Another tattoo is in the shape of a key, inspired by writer Joe Hill's book, Locke and Key.[44]

References

  1. ↑ Oliphint, Joel (14 January 2014). "Lydia Loveless Probably Won't Kick Your Ass". Spin. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Henderson, Andrea (20 April 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 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 Deming, Mark. "Lydia Loveless Overview". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  5. ↑ Gibbs, Otis (12 March 2013). "Lydia Loveless" (PODCAST). Episode 23: Lydia Loveless. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  6. ↑ Olivia (1 February 2013). "Lydia Loveless". Kids Interview Bands. Big Fun - Columbus, Ohio. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Koppelman, Brian (16 December 2014). "The Moment - Lydia Loveless" (AUDIO INTERVIEW). Grantland - Pop Culture. ESPN. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  8. ↑ Hughes, Hilary (17 March 2014). "The Lawless Sound of Lydia Loveless". Elle. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Valish, Frank. "Lydia Loveless and The Machine". Interview Magazine. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Mateer, Chris (12 September 2011). "Interview: Lydia Loveless on "Indestructible Machine"". No Depression. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  11. ↑ Schlansky, Evan (10 March 2014). "Lydia Loveless". American Songwriter. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Saulnier, Jason (4 February 2014). "Lydia Loveless Interview". Music Legends. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  13. ↑ Davidson, Eric (13 February 2014). "Q&A: Lydia Loveless". CMJ. CMJ Holdings Corp. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 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.
  15. ↑ Danton, Eric. "Lydia Loveless Makes Men Cry, Professes Her Love for Britney and Booze". Spinner.com. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  16. ↑ Hogan, Marc (22 January 2014). "Lydia Loveless Blazes Ahead on Real-Talk 'Really Wanna See You'". Spin magazine. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  17. ↑ Stewart, Allison (28 June 2011). "Singles file: Bjork, Premonition 13, Lydia Loveless". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Joy, Kevin. "Profile of songstress rising outside Columbus". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  19. ↑ James, Matt (8 November 2011). "Lydia Loveless: Indestructible Machine". PopMatters. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  20. ↑ Book, Ryan (9 July 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.
  21. ↑ Sparks, Joyce (29 January 2014). "Lydia Loveless is Completely Unafraid to be "Somewhere Else"". Boxx Magazine. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  22. ↑ "The Supersuckers + Lydia Loveless". Suoni Per Il Popolo. 9 April 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  23. ↑ Deming, Mark. "Boy Crazy EP". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  24. ↑ Davidson, Eric (11 December 2013). "Lydia Loveless - Boy Crazy". CMJ.com. CMJ Holdings Corp. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  25. ↑ "Lydia Loveless to Release New EP 'Boy Crazy' (MP3) (Premiere)". PopMatters. 24 October 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  26. ↑ Munro, Stuart (18 November 2013). "Lydia Loveless, ‘Boy Crazy’". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  27. ↑ Hermes, Will (24 January 2014). "10 New Artists You Need to Know: January 2014". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  28. ↑ "Lydia Loveless - Somewhere Else". Bloodshot Records. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  29. ↑ Martins, Chris (11 December 2013). "Hear Lydia Loveless' Cowpunk Paean 'To Love Somebody'". Spin. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  30. ↑ DeVille, Chris (22 January 2014). "Lydia Loveless – "Really Wanna See You" (Stereogum Premiere)". Stereogum. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  31. ↑ "5 Best New Artists for January '14: Lydia Loveless". Spin. 2 January 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  32. ↑ Hyman, Dan (14 January 2014). "Exclusive: Lydia Loveless Gets Raunchy on New Single "Head"". Elle. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  33. ↑ "Somewhere Else - Lydia Loveless". Metacritic. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  34. ↑ "Heatseekers Albums". Billboard's. Archived from the original on 27 February 2014. Retrieved 27 February 2014. Peak position: 7; Last week's position: -; Weeks on chart: 1
  35. ↑ "Lydia Loveless Gives Kesha's 'Blind' An Alt-Country Makeover". Spin. 3 April 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  36. ↑ Sacher, Andrew (14 May 2014). "Lydia Loveless giving RSD single "Mile High" a wider release (stream it +++ updated tour dates)". Brooklyn Vegan. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 Hudson, Scott (21 January 2015). "Kickstarter launched for new Loveless documentary". Argus Leader. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  38. ↑ Ganz, Jacob (11 March 2015). "Hear Lydia Loveless Cover Prince's 'I Would Die 4 U'". All Songs Considered (NPR). Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  39. ↑ Mayer, Michael (30 March 2012). "SXSW: More great bands you don’t want to miss". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  40. ↑ Danton, Eric R. (27 February 2014). "The Hard-Living Kid of Alt-Country". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  41. ↑ Rich Mahan (2014). "Lydia Loveless - Living on the Bleeding Edge". The Direct Buzz. AirPlay Direct. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  42. ↑ Shaw, Chris (13 December 2012). "Ben Lamb Talks Bloodshot, Drunk Europeans, and Being Married to Lydia Loveless". the hot 17. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  43. ↑ Hermes, Will (9 February 2014). "First Listen: Lydia Loveless, 'Somewhere Else'". NPR First Listen. NPR. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 McIntosh, Justin (13 February 2014). "Things We Love: Lydia Loveless’ picks". Columbus Alive. Retrieved 19 February 2014.

External links