Two Sides of LP

The artist LP is a testimony to perseverance in the music business. She has been signed to labels, dropped, resigned, dropped, and every time continued to move forward. She never gave up and just recently put out her first full length album (or I could joke LP) and it has been getting a ton of attention. LP may be short in stature, but not in determination. When you hear her powerful voice you wonder how it can come out of her body. Her voice soars and brings you into her lyrics immediately.

LP was born in NYC in the early 80’s. She likes to be a bit mysterious (hence using a moniker rather than her real name) and not giving a date of birth. Her dad was a lawyer and her mom was an opera singer who passed away while LP was still in high school. Music is how she coped with her mother’s passing. David Lowery from Cracker heard her and featured her on a 1998 Cracker song. Lowery produced her first full length album but if never caught on. In 2006 she performed at South by Southwest and a bidding war was started to sign her. She signed to Def Jam records but left the label before she put out an album due to artistic differences. She then signed with RedOne Records, but that also never materialized an album.

LP was however writing tons of songs and a few of these songs were picked up by major artists. These varied from Rihannah to Backstreet Boys  to Christine Aguilera to Joe Walsh. Millions of people were hearing her songs and not knowing who wrote them. LP had earned a great reputation as a songwriter in the industry and was sought out after for her hit songs. Because of the overwhelming demand for her songwriting ability, she moved to Los Angeles. In 2011 she started performing again with her traditional ukulele by her side and this time drew large crowds to see and hear her. LP signed with Warner Brothers who put out an EP in 2011 titled Into the Wild.  The title song got a lot of airplay and was featured on a national bank TV commercial. All of a sudden everyone wanted to know who was behind that voice. LP just released her first full length album on Warner Brothers Forever For Now. I am not going to play "Into the Wild" but rather chose  "Night Like This" for your listening pleasure:

I recently had the privilege of work an LP show when she recently came to Baltimore. I had not heard much about her, so I didn’t know what to expect. I can tell you that she was one of the most humble artists I have worked with. She appreciated everything I did for her at the merch table. What impressed me most was she signed merch after the show. The line was very long and she spent time with each person one on one. She asked their names, had a short conversation, took pictures, and made each one feel like a friend. She wasn’t doing it to sell merch, she was really interested in what each person had to say. Her honesty and kindness came through. I was very impressed with her positive attitude about life, especially since she has gone through a lot to get to where she is today.

UPDATE: The gorgeous harmonies of Sweden's First Aid Kit are back with a new release titled Stay Gold. I have written about them in the past and this album has some stronger writing but continue the mesmerizing sister harmonies. Do yourself a favor and check it out. 

The Roar From Sweden- First Aid Kit

Where does one go to hear the most authentic Nashville sound today? Why Sweden of course! The Swedish duo First Aid Kit is producing some of the most faithful country tinged Nashville music today (and that includes bands out of Nashville). They sing these incredible heartfelt lyrics such as “I’ll be your Emmylou and I’ll be your June/and you’ll be my Gram and my Johnny too” as a tribute to those who were there before them. They however don’t live in the past and are producing some of the best county and folk music I heard last year.

First Aid Kit is composed of sister’s Johanna and Klara Soderberg. They grew up outside of Stockholm and their father was a working musician who always had music playing. The two sisters can never remember a time when they weren’t singing together. This singing grew into a demo that they sent out in 2007 to radio stations in their native country, who immediately picked up on the sound and gave them airplay.  They were quickly signed to a local label and opened for Fleet Foxes when the group toured Sweden in 2008. First Aid Kit then signed with a larger label, Wichita Recordings who put out their first full length in 2010. Jack White and Conor Oberst  fell in love with their sound. Jack had them record a single for his Third Man Records and they toured with Conor. Last year the band released their second album titled The Lion’s Roar which featured a song with Conor Oberst/Bright Eyes. The album gained a lot of attention on Triple A radio stations who were in disbelief this Americana sound was coming from Sweden. Please enjoy this video of “Emmylou”.

They took their name from an English dictionary because it suggested both care and protection. I think it is hard not to fall for the charm of these sisters who are passionate about American country/folk and roots music from the 1960’s and who put today's spin on it. I hope you fall for them, as many have, and hopefully many others will. I know I have.