Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
Wilmington four-piece L Shape Lot has gone to great lengths to pay its dues on North Carolina’s progressive bluegrass circuit over the past few years, and the band’s new album, Go ‘Til I’m Gone serves as evidence.
L Shape Lot – John Kovalski (drums, backup vocals), Steve Todd (mandolin, vocals), Rick Williams (bass, backup vocals), and Eric Miller (lead vocals, guitar) – finds a comfortable but polished sound on its highly anticipated new disc of finely crafted originals, and it suits them like a pair of worn overalls. Stories and sing-alongs from celebrated live performances jump from the stage to the studio with remarkable ease, confirming that what makes this band so popular is based on more than crowd participation and lack of pretentiousness.
Miller’s vocal abilities would have the potential to eclipse the other members in a band of less talented musicians; standout tracks such as Shine and Tomorrow provide him with the opportunity to lend his distinctive voice to a straightforward message with some very solid backup.
Todd’s gifted mandolin playing fairly glows on She Left Me Singin’ and Gone, on which the band hasn’t missed the importance of creating a great hook. Devoted fans in search of the energy from LSL’s live shows will no doubt be drawn to the infectious sing-alongs Love is a Train and Walkin’ in the Holler. And while they’re not searching to break any boundaries with original themes, ramblin’ and lost love are an ideal path to take for folk and bluegrass music, and will score points with their traditionalist bluegrass fans.
All the best elements of the group seem to come together on tracks such as The Pass and She Left Me Singin’, which give the musicians a chance to stretch their storytelling skills and instrumental legs with some very fine picking. Making their way through an easy blend of folk and bluegrass seems to be second nature for the members of L Shape Lot, and Go ‘Til I’m Gone is proof that they can successfully evolve from a great live band to a first-rate studio band. - Jaclyn Piermarini
Star-News Correspondent
- Currents Weekly
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Audiences cant quite decide if its roots music, Americana, folk, rock, country, or newgrass. Whatever you call it, the truth is that L Shape Lot has discovered territory somewhere in the middle of these genres and set about the task of making it their musical playground. The sound they produce is foot-stomping, two-stepping, whoopin and hollerin music that is built on the familiarity of classic bluegrass and rockabilly rhythms and fueled by unique acoustic melodies and powerful vocal harmonies. The result is music that is familiar enough to dance to, yet interesting enough to fill venues to the point that dancing space is hard to find. L Shape Lot uses primarily acoustic instruments to produce an honest, earthy sound that allows the music to tell stories and paint pictures for their audience.
Those stories are really what made L Shape Lot come to exist in the first place. Eric Miller started out his musical career as a singer-songwriter touring North Carolina and eventually needed a full band to showcase some of his songs. After that, it was out of Erics hands, as his local following insisted that he do more shows with that full band sound. That sound now includes the blazing mandolin of Steve Todd, paired with the rhythm section of Rick Williams on acoustic and electric bass and John Kovalski on drums and anything else that sounds good when you smack it. The band is fortunate enough to have special guest Alex Lanier on electric guitar at many of their shows, who many music fans know as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the Fried Okra Band.
For the past two years, the Lot has kept the highways and back roads of the Carolinas hot taking their live show to as many willing audiences as they could find while developing the depth of their sound and personality of their live show. The offspring of all those live shows is their new studio CD release Go til Im Gone. The idea behind the project was to capture the energy and reality of a live show within the studio environment. This meant capturing four instruments and four vocals simultaneously rather than layering tracks and punching in fills, as is the standard with todays recording projects. The idea was that taking a lot of the technical wizardry out of the recording would leave more of the band in it.
The idea seems to have proven itself viable, as Currents Magazine had the following to say about Go til Im Gone L Shape Lot finds a comfortable but polished sound on its highly anticipated new disc of finely crafted originals, and it suits them like a pair of worn overalls. Stories and sing-alongs from celebrated live performances jump from the stage to the studio with remarkable ease, confirming that what makes this band so popular is based on more than crowd participation and lack of pretentiousness.
2006 will find L Shape Lot hitting the road again playing shows up and down the east coast in support of the new release.
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