We’ve been grooving hard to the soulful power-vocals of Lake Street Dive’s Rachael Price (third from left) for the past two weeks. With their new album, Bad Self Portraits due out in a couple weeks, we realized how much we wanted to get on the ground floor with this crew – even though it’s probably pretty hairy business to do so (see barbershop pic – look, a funny!). Their album seems well-positioned to propel the self-described dive-bar quartet onto the larger music radar, with recognition from Rolling Stone and The New York Daily News. The non-barbershop quartet, with members hailing from Nashville to Iowa, is surprisingly hard to get a hold of, so much so that we threw our questions directly to their sophomore LP with surprisingly candid results. (Photo copyright Jarrod McCabe)
Note: Check them out on The Colbert Report (Feb 5th) and David Letterman (Feb 21). Check out their tour schedule; unfortunately they’re sold out in the NE until April!
Ravings: What a great album! You can’t just sit around and record all day; what have you been doing in your spare time?
Bad Self Portraits: I bought this camera to take pictures of my love. Now that he’s gone, I don’t have anybody to take pictures of. I’m taking landscapes, I’m taking still lifes.
RMMM: Bad self portraits?
BSP: I’m taking bad self portraits. I spent my life so lost on lovin’, I could’ve been a painter or a president.
RMMM: I know the feeling. Sometimes things just don’t work out.
BSP: I’m so sick of lying, telling myself it’s the end.
RMMM: I wouldn’t go that far. But yeah, there are good times and bad.
BSP: I could spend ages reading the news. I could spend days singing the blues. But I turn up the TV light. Give up without a fight. Better than pretending to know what is wrong and what is right.
RMMM: Speaking of which, watch any good shows? You get into Mad Men?
BSP: Another night wasted in my parents’ basement. Why did I ever go back home?
RMMM: To be honest, I never got into that show; I’m more of a Dexter fan. I just heard it was pretty good. I don’t think Mad Men’s for me. Fan of Mr. Draper?
BSP: I can say you are the only one I see, but I can’t stop at two or three. I am afraid to need you so. I am too sober not to know that you may be my problem and not my love.
RMMM: Oh, I didn’t realize you got into TV so much!
BSP: How long has it been since I’ve given in to what I see what is right in front of me…
RMMM: Probably not long at all.
BSP: Occasionally, some room to breathe is exactly what I need. And how long has it been since I’ve had a friend that’ll make me see what’s right in front of me?
RMMM: Haha, yeah, I prefer watching TV with other people, too. Speaking of watching, what do you want your fans to know for your shows?
BSP: Imagine each one’s a man, takes a number, stands in line. My door is always open if you find you want to talk. I’ll do anything for you, all you got to do is ask. So just ask. I know I have your love, baby, and you know you’ll always have mine.
That mostly worked, right? Listen to some live sets on Soundcloud.