Lydia Loveless

he’s not guzzling whiskey, she’s not breaking hearts just yet, it’s too early in the day. Good lookin’ blonde country punk Lydia Loveless is at home in Columbus reading her paper and drinking coffee and talking to Buzzbin Magazine. Her name alone conjures up thoughts of Lyle Lovett, Loretta Lynn, Lydia Lunch, and Deep Throat’s very own Linda Lovelace (“That’s a common mistake,” she laughs). When I listen to her sound, that combination is a pretty great way to describe it. Her debut album, The Only Man, boasts songs about drinking, lost love and shooting her father and it’s a kickass country music record; the good country, not the God-Bless-Pat-Robertson-and-my-dog country. More Hank Williams Sr. than Billy Ray Cyrus. Loveless shares the stage with Ben Lamb (upright bass), Rob Woodruff (banjo), Todd May (lead guitar) and Parker (drums) and they’re all coming to Annabell’s on November 12th. I talked to her a little about who she is, what drives her, so on and so forth, you know the drill. - Buzzbin Nov. 2010

Lydia Loveless commands the stage from tune-up to the final bow, with a voice that carries to every ear, no matter how intoxicated the owner. This country musician from Columbus, Ohio, one of the more highly anticipated performers of the night, is already well accomplished at the young age of 20. She plays with the skill and stage presence of a seasoned veteran, and it’s my hope she returns to Beantown real soon. - The Noise

Though the comparisons are plenty, it’s hard not to think of legendary country music voices the likes of Kitty Wells, Patsy Cline, and Loretta Lynn when one first hears Ohio native Lydia Loveless strum her guitar, raise her chin, and sing into her microphone.

The energy, for the listener, comes not just from what we hear now from Loveless, but also from the expectations and anticipation around what her future discontented experiences may bring to the next song we hear. - Columbus Indie

So most people who know me know that I love to take photos. I love to shoot live action photography and put it out there for the entire world to see. I rarely get the urge to write though. Its just not something I do unless I get REALLY inspired. Well last Friday night at Daveys Uptown I was inspired!

Her name is Lydia Loveless and she is like nothing ive ever heard before. Looks a little like Pink, sounds a little like Cindy Lauper, just the right amount of fucked up like Shane Macgowen.
All night long during her show I struggled to find something to compare her to.
Okay, shes a country music singer. Then she played a Replacements cover. So its Cowpunk. Then they played a Def Leppard cover. After covering GG Allin and Loretta Loretta Lynn I gave up and thought, this is just a bad bitch!
And playing for an audience of about a dozen people she sang out like it was the Ryman. Songs about stealing another woman’s man, other women stealing her man, drinking, fucking and murdering her father.
As i heard lyrics like “Well he held me close and told me that I was the one, he said let me show you how to have some fun. And my Daddy didnt like that so guess what he done, Well he shot the only man I ever loved” or “as i recall the way that we were on that night that we met, we’d been lovers for a long time but we weren’t in love just yet”, i saw that she was young but had already lived a lot or at the very least spent her life listening to stories about people who have.
It was one of those night where I looked around and couldnt believe there werent more people there to witness such an amazing show. Those who were there, got a real treat.
- Midwest Music Foundation

"If these songs are all true life testimonials, it’s a wonder Loveless isn’t in a mental institution or, worse, jail – maybe it’s the gift of song that is saving her soul…”-Chip Midnight Donewaiting.com

“Tales of cheating lovers, jealous girlfriends, holy roller religion, and heavy drinking abound throughout The Only Man as Loveless – who sings with a southern drawl that sounds more Tennessee than Ohio – is backed by badass country musicians...Were it not for the randy language and tales of violence, I could easily imagine this record sitting comfortably amongst somebody’s grandparents record collection…”-Chip Midnight Donewaiting.com
- Donewaiting

Later that afternoon, I went across the street to Kief's Downtown Music, where they had a couple of bands playing. Opting to have some free stuff and bands rather than screw with exclusives, the crowd at Kief's skewed older, but no less intrigued to see Lydia Loveless play an in-store set. Loveless played with just her stand-up bass player, with a set that featured songs from her recent album, The Only Man, along with covers of Loretta Lynn's "You're Not Woman Enough to Take My Man" and the Replacements' "Answering Machine."

Her sound is very reminiscent of Lynn's soulful country, as well as nods to acts like Patsy Cline, and an attitude that certainly takes more than its fair share from punk rock. Loveless is no Taylor Swift, unless Swift plans on having stage banter like, "If you smell whiskey, that's just my sweat" or lyrics such as, "If Miller High Life is the champagne of beers, then why I do I still feel like shit?" Loveless' voice sounds like Cyndi Lauper doing Loretta Lynn (so says Slimm Adkins, and I agree with him), and all her songs were remarkably heartfelt, to the point that I bought a CD from her, and I pretty much ceased purchasing compact discs two years ago. - Wayward Blog

Lydia Loveless turned in a lovely performance at Kief's Downtown this past Saturday, and we shot this video of her doing a stripped-down version of "Paid," off her recent album The Only Man. It's a plaintive number about touring and playing music. - Wayward Blog

Lydia Loveless might only be 19, but she sings as if she’s already experienced a great deal of life. She recently released her debut album and fans and critics alike are impressed. Loveless hails from Columbus, Ohio and regularly plays gigs at Annabell’s Bar & Lounge in Akron, but her twangy country voice seems like it could be more at home playing shows in the deep south. No matter where she is playing, Loveless manages to charm the crowd. A performer since she was a young child, Loveless is well prepared for the success that is sure to lie ahead with music like this.

The title track off the album is as country as you can imagine. Loveless sings about shooting her father because he shot the only man she ever loved. Then her mother turns around and threatens to shoot Loveless for killing the only man she ever loved. In the end, she kills herself instead because she is so heartbroken. It’s a pretty dark song for someone so young to be singing about, but Loveless not only does it, she finds a way to have fun with it as well.

Another stand out song on the album is the explicit song “Girls Suck” in which Loveless complains that another girl stole her man and then slept with him.

It’s hard to believe that this is only the debut album from this country singer/ songwriter. She already seems like she knows exactly what she’s doing and how she is going to get there. The sky is the limit for this talented young performer. - Buzzbin Magazine

By | D. BEALLloveless 300x115 Lydia Loveless

She’s not guzzling whiskey, she’s not breaking hearts just yet, it’s too early in the day. Good lookin’ blonde country punk Lydia Loveless is at home in Columbus reading her paper and drinking coffee and talking to Buzzbin Magazine. Her name alone conjures up thoughts of Lyle Lovett, Loretta Lynn, Lydia Lunch, and Deep Throat’s very own Linda Lovelace (“That’s a common mistake,” she laughs). When I listen to her sound, that combination is a pretty great way to describe it. Her debut album, The Only Man, boasts songs about drinking, lost love and shooting her father and it’s a kickass country music record; the good country, not the God-Bless-Pat-Robertson-and-my-dog country. More Hank Williams Sr. than Billy Ray Cyrus. Loveless shares the stage with Ben Lamb (upright bass), Rob Woodruff (banjo), Todd May (lead guitar) and Parker (drums) and they’re all coming to Annabell’s on November 12th. I talked to her a little about who she is, what drives her, so on and so forth, you know the drill.

She grew up on a farm in Ohio, Coschocton to be precise. “That definitely shaped the whole country music thing. My mom was into country, my dad really liked New Wave and pop. When I was a kid my mom would listen to country music and I would make fun of it, and then I started liking it as I got older, which is what usually happens, you make fun of your parent’s music and then you start liking it. I made fun of Patsy Cline, so that was pretty stupid”, she laughs.


“I went to Columbus when I was 14 and started going to this place called Bernie’s, (a cool punk bar at the time). It caused me to meet a lot of older people- I got into punk, had a lot of older friends and older boyfriends. I guess that shaped the ‘attitude’ aspect of my music (she says with quotations). And Columbus has been great; it’s really supportive of its own music scene.”

Her lyrics can be controversial to those that come to the bar expecting a little Kenny Chesney. “I have a song called ‘Jesus Was a Wino’ that made like three people just get up and leave the bar. For some reason when you play these redneck bars there’s always gonna be someone that wants you to play Johnny Cash- that’s annoying. There are people like ‘you’re a woman, play some Fleetwood Mac.’” She uses her best redneck voice on that last part. “They have their little weird hangups about women and country music and what they think you should be playing.”

It’s an all male backup band but Loveless explains it ain’t no thing. “Well, my drummer is my dad, my guitarist is a really good friend of mine and the bass player is my fiancé. It’s cool to have people that you’re close to in the band but it can get weird out on tour.” So what’s it like having your dad in your band? It’s not bad, she says, you just got to kind of get over that juvenile embarrassment (that we all have). She chuckles. “When you’re trying to chat up a guy or something and your dad comes out and puts his arm around you like ‘great show honey’.” C’est la vie, especially in the country music world where brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers often sacrifice potential embarrassment for love of family, friends and music.

Her album, The Only Man, took her three years to complete due to “people flaking and not as interested as I was”. Buzzbin reviewed the album in August and we loved it. It’s partly her sweet voice that isn’t too hillbilly and the fresh, often tougher, take on the themes of the road weary classics- Cash, Cline, Williams Sr., etc. I wonder what she would recommend for the first time listener. “I’m glad you asked that because a lot of people just write about “Girls Suck” which is probably my least favorite song on the album. I would say “Paid”. It’s about talking to some guy at a bar who thinks he’s going to get into your pants, who thinks you’re somebody different because he’s listened to your songs and thinks ‘why aren’t you a huge slut’? I was thinking, why don’t I get paid to do this, so I wrote it about that.”

It wouldn’t be country without the booze, so what does Lydia Loveless like to drink? “Bourbon, Wild Turkey. I’m a huge wino.” She loves her Carlo Rossi. “In the summer, I drink the Paisano. It’s very comforting. And I’m in love.”

With whiskey, wine and time cometh wisdom, as the wizened Lydia tells me when I ask her about her philosophy on being a musician. “It sounds f*cking cheesy, but stay true to yourself. When I was making my album there was this large group of older guys telling me I needed to make my voice sound like this or do that. Or as you get older you get record labels telling you that you need to act a certain way; you can’t shave your head anymore because you’re an old fashioned country singer. I just think people are going to like you if they like you, and the people that want you to change don’t like you, so you need to sing about whatever you want to sing, say ‘f*ck’ and ‘shit’ in every song if you want to. There are people out there who will like it.”

Throw her some bourbon November 12th at Annabell’s.
- Buzzbin Magazine

Northern Kentucky News

Northern Kentucky news and opinion blog.


Monday, November 5, 2007

Anchors away

The Anchor Grill in Covington is an institution of sorts. In business for 60 years, the 24/7 diner never closes. We ended up at the Anchor Grill after checking out one more girl on a stage Friday night at Southgate House. The show rocked, with stand-out performances by the lovely Jordana and alt-country superstar Lydia Loveless.

I overdid it Friday. I have a three beer limit that went out the window at Southgate House around midnight. Thankfully, the pay lots in Newport will let you leave your car (usually until noon) if driving is out of the question. It was. Out of the question.

You can read the entire article here:

http://northernkentuckynews.blogspot.com/2007/11/anchors-away.html - Northern Kentucky News

To the -MUSIC EDITOR- For immediate release.

“Teen Outlaw-Country Phenom”
Lydia Loveless announces
‘The Only Man’ tour:
Packing her six-string, loaded with high-energy, foot-tapping music, Lydia Loveless is fully armed with an all-original song list fueled by whiskey, wine, murder and boys that daddies don’t approve of.

Columbus, Ohio’s, Lydia Loveless demonstrates a maturity far beyond her years by weaving tales of broken dreams, and shattered lives all containing just a whiff of whiskey and gunpowder. Through her music, Lydia Loveless reveals a mega-singing and songwriting talent, hooks, looks and influences by some of the greatest stars of country from an era long ago.

Lydia Loveless is hailed by critics with lofty accolades:

“Lydia Loveless is the heiress to Outlaw-Country
Queen Loretta Lynn’s crown.”
-Chip Midnight UWeekly Magazine
“Beautiful songs, beautiful voice.”
-James Wilsey guitarist for Chris Isaak

Producer David Rhodes Brown says, “Forget Jewel-Lydia Loveless reminds me of Patsy Cline.”
He pauses and adds... “All pissed off.”

Road ready and fresh from the studio with a full-length CD- Lydia Loveless showcases her backwoods upbringing, raw energy, and songs which leave you smelling and tasting the smoke and whiskey . In fact, you may even find yourself catching a whiff of stale beer from your favorite roadside tavern.

‘The Only Man’- The title track on her debut full-length CD, Lydia Loveless weaves a double murder suicide ballad of young love, lost love, bitter anger, and revenge.
‘Wishing On Her Star’ The perfect crossover single on the disc tells the tragic tale of star-crossed love, broken dreams and broken hearts.
(*)“Back on the Bottle” A gut-wrenching ballad of a boys life dependent on alcohol. This song really leaves you smelling like cigarettes and whiskey.
(*) “Paid” tells the story of life on the road as a starving artist and the trials of a female performer crammed into a crowd-pleasing, high-paced, foot-stomping tune.

While her youthful looks and teen-age years betray her, one listen and you’ll swear you are
hearing stories written by someone who spent decades riding with an outlaw.

For Booking inquiries and other information contact:
Lydia Loveless Management at:lydialovelessmgmt@yahoo.com
Tour information and show dates are available at: myspace.com/lydialoveless

“The Only Man” full-length CD is available online at: ITunes, CDBaby, MySpaceMusic and select retail outlets.

*WARNING! -Some songs tell stories which convey real-life situations and contain adult lyrics which may be
offensive to some listeners. These songs are appropriately marked (*) for your convenience and protection.
- Lydia Loveless

Some of you may recall Pat Radio, the home of my very own radio show for several months back in 2005/2006/something like that. At that time, Pat was streaming a weekly show featuring tunes he liked, indie and otherwise, along with a 24/7 feed of songs plucked randomly from his music library.

Pat has since formatted his site around the local music scene in his hometown of Columbus, OH, and has done some tremendous work in covering area bands, recording live performances, and generally acting as a good radio host should, in terms of helping listeners find good tunes that they may not otherwise hear. It’s really God’s work when it comes to web radio, especially since I’ll be the first to admit that it’s way easier to just drag shit out of your CD collection and put it on the internet.

Anyway. He’s hipped me via his podcast to Lydia Loveless. She’s seventeen and sings like she’s got sixty-odd years of broken beer bottles and dead lovers in her voice. Writes her own songs, too. Yowza.

Listen to her recent live set on Pat Radio here. - Popgeek

Fest finds
Lydia Loveless
7:20 p.m. Friday
Offramp Stage
Power-pop fans will recognize Lydia Loveless' name from ingenue quartet Carson Drew, but they probably won't recognize the sound: Loveless has ditched Carson Drew's new-wave beats for a stripped-down country twang that's more June Carter than Belinda Carlisle. Still, the lyrics are anything but retro. Songs like "Girls Suck" pair the plaintive strum of a cowgirl's guitar with the sort of high-school relationship angst that's launched a thousand Facebook feeds. - Columbus Alive

Outlaw heart
Local Gold
By Reyan Ali

Lydia Loveless began making music because when you grow up in "the middle of nowhere," that's pretty much all there is to do. Where is the middle of nowhere for her?

"I'm from Warsaw," she said. "Or better yet, Newcastle."

Warsaw is a village in Coshocton County with a website that's barely functional. Search for "Newcastle" and the first Google result you'll receive comes from ePodunk.com. More evidence of Newcastle's diminutive size comes from its lack of things to do.

"There is a restaurant, a strip club, and a church," said Loveless.

However, while these locales might be unfamiliar to even people well acquainted with Ohio, rural towns provide an excellent source of inspiration for Loveless. It's what led to her interest in outlaw country music (think of the work made by Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, and other hard up, hard working souls) and where she'd like to be living right now.

"But it takes a lot of money to do that," she said.

Loveless grew up in a music-friendly household, and she got her start by playing with other family members. She tried the piano, but moved away from that when she didn't feel much attachment to it. After that, she temporarily ditched instruments to strengthen her voice. When she decided that she wanted to write music herself, she got into guitar.

"Pretty much everyone in my family [plays an instrument] except my Mom," she says. Loveless took up bass duties in Carson Drew, a new wave-esque band composed of her two sisters and her dad, who still plays drums for her.

"I'm used to it by now," she attests. "It used to be weird. You want to mouth off to the drummer about something and you can't because it's your Dad. But yeah, it's not that bad. He pretty much does what I say. It's nice: I've never had to worry about where I'm going to find a drummer because I don't really like drummers. I think they are kind of arrogant so it's nice not to have to meet them too often."

Before she became enamored with the outlaw country aesthetic, she was interested in pop music-namely, Britney Spears.

"I think that's what made me want to play music in the first place," she adds with a laugh. As she began experimenting with composing music as a 15 year-old, she would practice her vocal abilities by singing along to what was in the CD player ("Ace of Base or something") and tried to write "pretty songs on the piano but I never got good enough at it."

What she did become good at was crafting country songs that benefit from a stripped-down sensibility. Armed with an ardent cry, colored with both a slight Southern accent and a tinge of sadness, she overpowers her guitar, vigorously cutting through strings and letting loose tales of redemption and sorrow.

"I didn't really have any time writing music before I started doing this," she mentions.

Her writing process is based on taking some cues from other everyday problems ("It's usually other people's concerns that inspire me the most"), looking for some seclusion (lots of ideas come when she is in the shower), and occasionally getting a little liquored up ("Sometimes, getting drunk helps because you think of funnier things you wouldn't normally say or melodies come easily"). There is always a lot of give and take, though.

"I try to make songs a certain way but they never really end up that way," she reveals. "If I'm trying to make a song fast, it gets darker. If I try to make a song dark, it gets peppier than it should have been. Sometimes, something dead-set in my head gets written; sometimes, I have to work on a line for months."

Loveless ended up in Columbus after she and her family moved out of the rural setting in which she grew up. She frequently circuits a range of local venues, (she's often found at Bernie's, but Rumba Café is her favorite spot) yet she doesn't feel any deep, abiding love for Ohio's capital.

"It's an all right place but it's definitely not where I feel my heart is," she admits. "I'd rather live in the middle of nowhere." After all, the rural town or village is the source of her preferred style of music, not the city. "That's where country music is made: anywhere where there is nothing to do but think and write."

As of right now, Loveless is in the process of wrapping up a new record, one that she likens to the work of Conor Oberst and describes as "a little slower, a little folkier." She wants to give rock and pop music another go even if it's not linked to her current material. "With my music, I'd like to dominate everybody and be famous," she says with a little chuckle. "Hopefully, that can happen."

see original here: http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:2zAFo8gTNOYJ:uweekly.com/newsmag/09-23-2009/12387+Uweekly+Lydia+Loveless&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=safari - UWeekly Magazine

Men and other people's problems make her mad: Lydia Loveless
Kinda like a pissed-off Patsy Cline
By Jon Theiss
Published: Sunday, August 23, 2009 7:52 PM EDT

Don’t be fooled by her small stature.

Lydia Loveless (yes, that’s her real name) is cute enough to trick you into thinking she’s a demure, patchouli-smelling, coffeeshop guitar-playing girl. Hear her sing, however, and you’ll find she’s not at all interested in ripping off “Who Will Save Your Soul”-era Jewel.

Standing a few inches over 5 feet tall, she’s normally the quiet type who flies under the radar. But when she picks up her guitar, she wields a brand of bravado that can stand up to some of the most energetic musicians in Columbus.

Oh, and she can probably drink with the best of them, too.

Loveless got into the game early, growing up in a musical household and taking piano lessons before she was even a teenager. But her piano teacher insulted her one day, she said, so she wasted no time swapping the keys for guitar strings.

Seeing as how she cites Hank Williams III, the Ramones and Loretta Lynn as her standby favorites, it’s no surprise that she started writing outlaw-country music years ago and playing it loud and fast to roomfuls of barflies.

“I was always trying to figure out what kind of music I wanted to play,” she said of her formative years. “I guess I’d been listening to country for a while, and that’s probably what influenced me the most.”

“The whole idea of ‘the outlaw’ and going to shows and singing around the fire—that kind of thing—that’s what inspires me.”

When asked how she describes her sound, she said, “Loretta Lynn when she’s really drunk.” Then she laughed and added, “I’ve heard people say a really pissed-off Patsy Cline.”

These comparisons make sense. Her voice has a certain Chrissie Hynde-meets-Neko Case quality, focused through the lens of folk and country.

Visit TOP Live & Local at theotherpaper.com to see footage from this interview and watch Lydia Loveless perform unplugged.

Her lyrics, which are mostly loud and proud declarations of iron-clad, Annie Oakley femininity, stem from her own personal experiences, as well as the trials and tribulations of others. She said there are three common threads that run throughout her songs.

“Definitely my hatred for men, my tendency to drink too much and other people’s problems,” she said with a chuckle.

“Basically, I get mad about something, or somebody else gets mad about something, and I write all the lyrics out and play some chords, and whatever works works.”

Loveless has recorded a demo that’s available at her shows. She’s also working on her first full album, which has been a year and a half in the making. If all goes as planned, it should be completed in the next few months. - The Other Paper

September 2007
Friday @ Bernie’s

Of the dozen or so artists performing at the two-night Underground Fest ‘07 this weekend at Bernie’s, Lydia Loveless stands out as the one not to be missed under any circumstance. For Loveless, this solo diversion from her regular gig fronting Carson Drew (who are playing the Fest on Saturday night) pays homage to her hillbilly upbringing: tragic tales of bleeding hearts and broken dreams, fueled by whiskey, cigarettes, and the types of boys that daddy doesn’t approve of. Track down Loveless before the show and you might be able to score a CDR of demos the heiress to Loretta Lynn’s outlaw country crown has been recording. Otherwise you’ll have to settle for the streaming tracks on her MySpace page.
- UWeekly Magazine