Blood Harmony is the sixth studio album from the guitar-slinging sisters Megan and Rebecca Lowell, collectively known as Larkin Poe. Those familiar with their progression will know that they started as a modern take on folk-based blues from the Delta. They are well familiar with the roots of the genre, having released blues covers of the masters of the genre from nearly 100 years back as well as those who kept the genre alive in the time since. By updating that sound and bringing it into their own, they are placing themselves in the same tradition and keeping the genre alive.
Their own sound is defined by their unique blend of guitars, Megan uniquely playing electric slide guitar in her own way, keeping the guitar sideways up all the time, with Rebecca augmenting that with a more traditional electric guitar which blends with Megan’s slide approach. While people have played slide for ages, this approach (not to speak of the look on stage) still becomes very unique. It becomes their very own brand of blues-based guitar-infused rock, with solid twists of southern Americana and vintage country. They were finding their feet on their first few albums, but sounding more confident with every release, clearly developing into something that could be truly special.
Two years ago, they released Self-Made Man, which I felt was their first great album from start to finish. It was a solid step up in every way, with both sisters giving fully confident performances as well as material that showcased their true potential. It was a delight to behold.
With Blood Harmony, a further massive step has been taken. It is time to stop talking about potential, because the rose is now in full bloom. We’re talking about musicians who have taken flight, ready to plant their flag on the highest peak, claiming the genre as their own. It is simply stunning how much they have developed in the two years since their last album.
So, once again, I can say that Larkin Poe have released their best album to date. But, that statement is not enough. It does not fully explain the magnitude of their progression. We’re not just talking about marginal improvement here. Blood Harmony is a massive step forward, more than ready to challenge other artists in their genre. They have taken the step up to the upper tier of southern-based bluesy rock’n’roll. In time, I think this album will be one of the classics of the genre.
Speaking of genre, there is always a minor shift in musical focus from album to album. On Blood Harmony, the sisters have cast their eyes on classic southern rock. The Lowells hail from Atlanta (currently based in Nashville), so the music of the south has always been around them. Seeing them veering more towards the rock music of the south is not a surprise, or even unfitting, as it’s just another version of the electric blues they’ve always played.
Interestingly, the album has as much in common with early Bad Company as it does Lynyrd Skynyrd, often mixing classic rock with more southern rock perfectly, but also embracing that 1970s classic rock sound on its own. This certainly gives them a new edge as well as pushing a more mainstream appeal, taking the band out of the blues clubs and into the larger concert halls. It’s a clever move, and less compromising than you’d think – didn’t Bad Company start out as a very blues-inspired band, after all?
At the same time, the music is remarkably true to where they’ve come from since the beginning. They are true to their roots, even letting them take center stage on a few tracks, making sure the album does not move completely out of the tradition that prior albums have also come from.
Opening track Deep Stays Down is a perfect example of just that. For an album that for the most part is loud and proud, this starts things off more low-key and in more of a classic blues vein, with the sisters playing simple licks and singing over them, with partial and minimal accompaniment by drums. That is, until the end section of the song, when it explodes into a loud, full-on electric band version. It’s almost as if the song is giving notice about what to expect on the album, going from naked blues to a full-on electric shakedown, but I doubt it was meant to be as convoluted as that.
Bad Spell turns up the volume quite a bit, featuring a particularly loud, mean, electric blues riff. It’s very raw, as is Rebecca’s vocal. She has developed a very powerful, wailing vocal style that fits these type of songs very well.
The song has the feel of an old-time classic of its genre that is hard to put your finger on. It feels very lived-in, like it’s written by someone significantly older than the sisters, which is meant as high praise for their songwriting prowess. Some good inspiration will always set you off on the right path, and this was inspired by one of the big classics of the genre. “Ever since I heard I Put a Spell on You by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins for the first time, I’ve wanted to write a female response to it” says Rebecca Lovell in the press statement accompanying the release where most other comments are also taken from. “I’d had the title Bad Spell in my journal for years, and it was so fun to create a song where the riffs and guitar tones have that singular purpose of nastiness and swagger.”
The emergence of classic rock in their sound arrives in full force on the following song Georgia Off My Mind. As the sisters relocated from Atlanta to Nashville some years ago, the title could be seen as a final goodbye to the state where they grew up and used to live, but it is in fact the exact opposite. Leaving Georgia for Nashville is always going to be hard, and the full line in the song is a plea for Tennessee to help make this easier. “Tennessee, keep Georgia off of my mind”. That line is the main premise of the song, as well as the starting point.
“Like 99 percent of my songs, that song came into being at my kitchen table late in the evening,” says Rebecca. “My husband and I stumbled into that line at the chorus – ‘Tennessee keep Georgia off my mind’ – and it turned into a love song for the stretch of I-24 that connects Atlanta and Nashville, which is a drive we’ve made thousands of times now.”
The title is a play on the well-known song Georgia On My Mind which comes close to being the state’s national anthem. It gets its own reference in the song as well: “I can drink a Coca Cola / I can eat a peach or two / Spinning Ray Charles records till the sun goes down / But I cry when he sings that song of you”.
Strike Gold is an upbeat song, filled with stomping grooves. It is a powerful, electrifying blend of southern rock and blues, serving as an ode to independence and carving one’s own path. Rebecca says: “After years of being out on the road, this song feels emotionally anthemic. Shout out to all the good souls out there who keep showing up for their dreams, even when the going gets tough.”
The song is one of many great showcases for Megan’s searing, sliding lap steel. She has become exceedingly good at building and releases tension effectively.
My personal highlight on the album comes in the form of Southern Comfort. This is the kind of song I could run out of superlatives discussing. It is the quintessential Larkin Poe song, starting out as a storytelling blues song, before morphing into a full-on southern classic rock song for the choruses and onward. The build is perfect, the hooks are infectious, Rebecca’s vocal delivery filled with confidence and strut, and the instrumentation carefully layered and performed with emotional heft.
A rugged rumination on their roots, the song boasts gruff, confident vocals against a quivering twang. Southern Comfort is full of fire, passion, and pride.
“Growing up in Tennessee and Georgia shaped my sister and myself in so many beautiful ways,” Rebecca says. “Now, as an adult, I feel grateful to reflect on that childhood and to call Nashville home. I loved writing this song, and getting to share southern hospitality, southern comfort, with all the sweet souls we encounter on our travels around the world, feels empowering.”
I’m missing that southern comfort
Deep water, I’m going under
Counting down, my days are numbered
Gimme gimme that southern comfort
Left my soul in the Nickajack
God willing, I’ll find my way back
Counting down, my days are numbered
Gimme gimme that southern comfort
Gimme gimme that southern comfort
There’s room on the album for intriguing characters as well, and Bolt Cutters & the Family Name tells a dramatic story of someone who seems to be in trouble (it’s hard to garner details just from the lyrics) set to an urgent and rollicking track. The person’s credo (and thus the song’s) credo is summed up in the chorus lines “You can take me outta the fight / But you can’t take the fight outta me.”
The title track Blood Harmony is huge on the album. It immediately feels more personal track with lyrics that hit close to home. The song explores the powerful connection of family heritage, which is touched on in several songs on the album but probably none more than here.
The significance of the family tree is played out here, as Rebecca sings:
God gave mama a singing voice
Mama passed it down to me
Always with me, near my heart
Beat in rhythm with her melody
More than flesh, more than bone
When you sing, I don’t sing alone
Rebecca’s vocals are at her most soulful on this track, which also has a somewhat haunting atmosphere which is extremely suitable for a song which looks across generations and pays tribute to those who came before. It contributes to making the song, including the lyrics, more emotionally powerful.
We get a more straightforward rocker with Kick the Blues, which has a nice blues lick, a heavy backbeat, and some mean slide guitar courtesy of Megan. Speaking of which, the slide attack comes in force on Summertime Sunset, which is a solid southern rocker with soaring vocals. Rebecca has an incredible vocal range, and frequently applies enough power throughout the album that the microphone seem to struggle to capture it all. It might be an effect. It might also be time to get more powerful equipment that can keep up with the pure talent which is on display.
Speaking of vocals, the vocal showcase on the album comes in Might As Well Be Me. The ballad really allows Rebecca to let her voice soar, demonstrating how it’s gotten fuller and stronger over the years. It’s not one of their newest songs, as it exists in live recordings going back to at least 2017, so it’s been around for a while. I’m glad to see it finally being recorded properly. And, you know, those earlier performance show that Rebecca always sang this one wonderfully.
This power-blues-ballad builds up some considerable momentum as it goes along, leading into an incredible end section with the vocals intensely crying out their desire to be the one, having revealed the full extent of the wish – moving from “might as well be me” into a more insistent “let it be me”.
Blood Harmony ends as it begins with a more naked, sparse blues track. Lips As Cold As Diamond features acoustic guitars, gothic themes of facing one’s maker, and an overall haunting ambience which is as powerful as it is chilling.
The pedal steel helps create an ambient richness and a haunting vibe, as melancholy vocals share the story. The lyrics take centre stage in this song, and they describe facing one’s death and meeting one’s maker, with the sum of your life’s experiences being weighted.
Meeting death and/or the devil is a well-known topic for the older blues classics. Many myths and legends have been spun around these themes over the years, going all the way back to the tale of when Robert Johnson met the devil at the crossroads and made a deal with him to become the master bluesman. This track certainly does not go too far into that direction, but it does feel like a good fit as far as being a traditional blues dirge – perhaps more in the tradition of Blind Lemon Jefferson’s See That My Grave Is Kept Clean (1927).
In any case, as an end to an album that has showcased all manner of modern takes on blues-rock, this is a fitting throwback to a part of that genre which has been less highlighted with time.
Tonight I go to meet my maker
Dig a hole, dig a hole
Her sweet love will be my undertaker
Never cold, never cold
Never cold no more, never cold
Lay my heavy heart on the altar, good Lord
Such a weight, such a weight
I have paid with pain for my every dollar
Ever brave, ever brave
Ever brave no more, ever brave
From start to finish, the album is a tour de force of most electric blues subgenres as they exist today. From raw, naked blues tracks to electric barnstormers, to full-fledged arena rock thumbers, this album has it all, and every song sound like a convincing and genuine attempt rather than dabbling.
The album is co-produced by Larkin Poe and Texas musician Tyler Bryant (Rebecca’s husband), who also co-wrote several of the tracks. The Larkin Poe live band for Blood Harmony provide musical backing, including drummer Kevin McGowan and bassist Tarka Layman.
Mainly recorded at Rebecca and Tyler’s home studio, the result is an electrifying new work that fully harnesses the fiery vitality they’ve shown in touring across the globe, imbuing their songs with equal parts soulful sensitivity and thrilling ferocity.
“When steering by your own stars, you never quite know where you’re going to wind up,” says Larkin Poe in their press release for the album. “Our true north is unique to us, and in following our true north without compromise, we have been out freewheeling this world on the ride of our lives. And it still feels like just the beginning. Blood Harmony is a creative step we are proud to have taken together as sisters. We grew these songs in a sweet part of our hearts and we hope they bring beauty.”
RELATED POST: Larkin Poe – Self Made Man (2020)
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