David Lareau and the Copperpots

DJs are fun, sure. With just about every venue having at least a resident disc jockey, music lovers are hard pressed to go out on a Friday night and not listen to music that has been pre-recorded by someone who isn’t even present at the venue. Of course crowd-pleasers are perfectly acceptable music for a night out, but when performances that are just as exciting as blasting the top 40 in the car with your friends start to corner the market for live performances, that is when priorities need to be reconsidered.

Live musical performances of late have been promoting a trend that increasingly separates music from musician, and David Lareau and the Copperpots are successfully challenging this trend.

In terms of live performances, David Lareau and the Copperpots have it all. Talent, energy and above all, their presence. The band truly puts on a show and makes the music the destination, not just an excuse to visit the bar. Lareau himself is very in-tune with his music and his audience, which was apparent at his performance at Rehab on Feb. 8.

“I can sense people are really starting to appreciate live music again,” Lareau said. “Perhaps they are starting to scurry away from DJs as their primary source of music when they go out, and I like to think we can help people with that venture.”

Lareau was a Columbia recording artist at the age of 19. After taking time to gain footing in the professional world and even get married, Lareau eventually started writing songs for himself, and has been a professional musician for over a decade now.

The original songs written by Lareau were done somewhat passively with no real intent to develop a cohesive album; however, after a visit with an old friend in Nashville, Tennessee, the album Hugs from Distant Neighbors was born. Produced by Noel Hartough and mixed by John Kurzweg, the album has the nuance and full production one often expects from a singer-song writer’s debut. Originally just Lareau, the Copperpots were added after Lareau realized that he wanted to personally bring this music to audiences.

If anything, David Lareau and the Copperpots have been extremely busy since the release of Hugs from Distant Neighbors. The current members include Erik Wutz on drums, Tom Wilson on guitar, David Lareau on just about everything else, and a currently pending permanent bass player. While being interviewed, David was on his way to perform with Neil Alday and Further South (another Tallahassee home-grown) in Valdosta.

“In the time since the album was released, we have been touring all over the Southeast every weekend,” Lareau said. “We were awarded song writer of 2012 by WCTV, we have our own station on Pandora, and now we are going back to Nasheville in May to record our follow-up album. This next weekend will be my first weekend off in longer than I can remember.”

When asked what he would do with his well-deserved rest, Lareau simply said, “Absolutely nothing.”

Lareau is just a guy who loves his music. Sure he is an extremely talented, multi-instrumental powerhouse who has managed to stay afloat in the professional music world, but essentially he is a down-to-earth musician making down-to-earth music.

What is essentially Americana with dashes of alt-country rock, David Lareau and the Copperpots, as a band, capitalize on a masterfully layered swath of instruments that highlight the fantastic control Lareau commands over his voice. Hugs from Distant Neighbors is deep and thoughtful, but has just the right kind of energy that is infectious to crowds looking to spend a night out at a venue with friends.

The sound is massive and encompasses any venue. This music is meant to be heard live, and compliments a more genuine audience who are looking to be engaged with and by the music. There is a time and place for the DJs everyone loves to get down to but when the DJs start running out of other people’s music to play, where does the real music come from? David Laureau and Copperpots are putting music back in the hands of the musicians. - Sawyer Vanderwerff

David Lareau was only 19 when he was signed to a deal with Columbia Records. When the music machinery spat him out the other side, Lareau did not let it crush his spirit or his songcraft. Instead, he and his band The Copperpots recorded the rather amazing album “Hugs From Distant Neighbors.” It’s a collection of melancholy-flecked songs and gorgeous soundscapes that are greatly served by the lush mixing job done by Tallahassee music maestro John Kurzweg (who has worked in the studio with everyone from Creed to Jewel).

Take that, Columbia Records. It is your loss. - Mark Hinson

It’s so much fun to critique a crappy record, ripping it mercilessly from start to finish. But that won’t happen here because I fricking LOVE every note of this album, from the opening swell of “The Rising” to the all too brief final moments of “Hotel Bar.” Thinking about it now I do have one negative thing to write....the album is too damn short. And yet, even that turns out to be a good thing, because I’m left wanting more. So much more, in fact, that I can’t stop listening to it. Like a chimp on crack, I keep jamming it over and over, and I’ve yet to reach that point of fatigue where I feel as though it’s run its course. In every case where I’ve had this sort of “instantly blown away” reaction to an album, I never really put it down for too long before I need to hear it again. Prime examples of this would be Stereolab’s “Dots and Loops,” The Orb’s “Orblivion,” Rush’s “Hemispheres” and “Moving Pictures,” Crystal Method’s “Vegas,” and The Rolling Stones’ “Goats Head Soup,” just to name a few. That’s good company, folks, and I have a sneaking suspicion that “Hugs From Distant Neighbors” has entered into my own personal elite pantheon of “Mount Rushmore Level” A-Listers.

In many ways “Hugs From Distant Neighbors” sounds like the 90s Brit Pop album I never heard, but always wanted. It reminds me of the best Oasis songs infused with a deliciously American flavor. Six of the seven songs are mixed to perfection by legendary producer and master engineer John Kurzweg (every ear drum tickling nuance and layer of sound is positioned in its ideal nook and/or cranny within the stereo spectrum), while production duties were carried out by Noel Hartough (who also mixed the final track “Hotel Bar”). The first song, “The Rising,” immediately hits HARD and gave me serious chills right down the spine, radiating out to the epidermal layer with a warm, fuzzy glow. That’s the kind of natural high to which I’m eternally addicted and it’s nice to know I can pop my Copperpots pill whenever I’m in need. “Rainy Days” maintains the warmth, swaying back and forth with a genuine southern charm and layers of strings heightening the dramatic intensity. This dramatic climax ends in beautifully distorted chaos before “Coastal Highway” gently reassembles the shattered pieces, conveying the bitter sweet emotion in a heart felt song filled with glittering guitar fills which soothingly put the soul at ease. “Black & Blue” has an irresistibly memorable hook and musically communicates the melancholy subject matter of a failed relationship. As the track ends in a disillusioned fadeout, the soul feels the beaten and battered aftermath of a painfully scarring breakup without sacrificing an ounce of beauty which the album has thus far consistently maintained. “Good from the Start” lifts up the listener with a sense of unapologetically hopeful optimism, while “High & Low” reconciles the positivity with the seemingly contrary yet interconnected, interdependent and inevitable darkness (high and low…such is life). “Hotel Bar” brings this gem of an album to a satisfying conclusion with an acoustic guitar passage reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s “Goodbye Blue Sky.” But, whereas Pink Floyd abandons the listener mired in soul-sucking disillusionment, “Hotel Bar” mercifully leaves us feeling the aforementioned “radiating warmth” of familiar thoughts, gently delivering us back to the peaceful, protective, inviting origins from which we came….back to friends….back to family…”back home.” - Clay Urquhart

The band recently released their debut album "Hugs From Distant Neighbors." Produced by Noel Hartough (Mile) and Mixed by John Kurzweg (Jewel, Puddle of Mudd, Socialburn, more ...). The album consists of seven meaningful, beautiful, and sometimes infectious songs. The layered arrangements are mixed to perfection with David Lareau's honest vocal and sustained distortion swells. The songwriting craftsmanship is obvious. The album's opener "The Rising" is surely one of the best americana meets britpop infectious choruses we've heard in some time. One truly gets the feel for the art in the haunting "Rainy Days." "The Rising" is the front runner for first radio single (if we were to guess). This is quality music the world needs to hear and experience.

Highlights:

Friday, April 19, 2013 the band will be showcasing on the Mainstage at Florida Music Festival in Orlando, Florida.
The band's debut album was recently accepted & added to Pandora Radio!
Featured A&R Pick (April 2013) at www.soundwerkz.com
To learn more about the band and to hear more music check out davidlareaumusic.com - Rob Gilmore