Larkin Poe Bio FINAL

Larkin Poe "Kin" They say madness runs in the family. They say the same about creativity and passion. That's good news for Larkin Poe's sister duo Rebecca and Megan Lovell, the descendants of tortured artist and creative genius Edgar Allen Poe. "We have a very colorful family history," explains lead singer/guitarist Rebecca, 23, who also plays mandolin and violin. "There were a lot of creative, hotheaded, and intelligent branches that went against the grain in our family tree. Our paternal grandfather suffered from schizophrenia, while our great, great, great, great grandfather, Larkin Poe, was a Civil War wagon driver turned historian and a distant cousin to Edgar Allen Poe. Growing up with their crazy stories definitely shaded our perception of normal. As artists, I think some of those innate eccentricities, passed down from generation to generation, have been even further exaggerated in us!" Megan, 25, who contributes lapsteel and dobro to the line-up, chimes in, "As sisters, we just wanted to pick a band name that had familial significance, so we decided to give a nod to our ancestors and take on the name Larkin Poe." The Atlanta-based sisters celebrate that unique genealogy and their own eccentricities with their debut full-length album, "Kin," on Restoration Hardware's label RH Music, produced by Chris Seefried (Fitz and the Tantrums, Lana Del Rey) in Los Angeles and Damien Lewis (Rihanna, Rita Ora) in Atlanta. "I think our fans will be surprised by this album," states Rebecca proudly. "In our previous projects, there was always this pervading polish of "politeness." In this project, that polish isn’t present. 'Kin' is the first Larkin Poe album where we were able to bring a bit more of our stage show into the studio and capture some grittier, edgier stuff. We can rock-out on guitars like the boys… so why not go ahead and do it? We let our freak flag fly a little higher." "Musically," Megan, adds, "we've been a bit schizophrenic in our choices over the years; we've dabbled in many musical styles. We grew up playing classical violin and piano as little kids, our mom would drive us to weekly lessons - while at the same time, our dad was playing his classic rock albums: Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Band. In our early teens, we got turned on to roots music -- blues, bluegrass, folk -- we were a bit confused! But after a few years of searching and experimentation, we've finally found a way to piece the fragments of our artistic personalities and musical tastes together. We've found our voice." Developing as songwriters and honing their artistic voice is a theme of great importance for the sisters. A great example of this growth is apparent in the melancholy "Overachiever", a stunningly stripped-down piano-and-vocal ballad. "'Overachiever' is, by far, the most personal song I've ever written," says Rebecca. "I tried to channel the raw honesty of Leonard Cohen with this song; I needed to sing the words of this song for myself, and also for a number of people close to me." Megan adds, "When Rebecca sang 'Overachiever' in the studio, it was at the end of the evening and we had turned all of the lights in the studio off. She knocked it out in one take, and by the end, I was crying. That’s how personal it really was." The sisters' sound and voices came together for another reason as well: for the first time, they actually wrote together. "Before we started working on 'Kin', Megan and I would always write separately," says Rebecca. "There are always a lot of touchy factors at play in the creative process: ego, personal perspective - or in our case, sibling rivalry - but after one too many creative fights, we finally decided to buckle down and learn how to pull together on the writing side. As a result, we've become closer and the songs have gotten better!" One such example of this closeness is the retro indie folk song, "Stubborn Love". "It's a love song we wrote to each other," says Megan. Yet another huge change for Larkin Poe came in the form of signing their first record deal at the end of 2013. After years of being fiercely independent (i.e., they self-released five EPs and toured for three years without label support), they decided to sign with RH Music. "We signed with RH Music because they believe in our authenticity. They understand that we make music for no other reason than our need to make music and want to support that need," explains Megan. "They see our passion!" Others are clearly taking note of this passion as well, including Elvis Costello and Kristian Bush (of Sugarland). Both legends have taken the sisters out on the road to serve both as opening bands and backing bands; with Elvis Costello calling them "gifted instrumentalists," while Bush praises "the poetry they make with their strings, words, and voices." With years of domestic and international touring under their belts, and a large and loyal fan base already in place, the sisters want their fans to know that "Kin" is truly their coming of age project. "This is by far the most genuine piece of work we’ve ever released as a band," says Rebecca. "It’s our story, written in our way, played and sung by us. We call it roots-rock'n'soul. It's our whole heart and soul mashed up into a musical form." ###.

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