A friend of mine from Portland, Maine, told me about Lady Lamb the Beekeeper. Apparently Portland (I know it’s strange to think of a Portland other than the one in Oregon) has a very small, yet happening music and art scene, where everyone knows everyone who should be known. My friend spoke so highly of Lady Lamb as one of Portland’s shining stars, that when at the last minute I found out she was playing in New York at The Living Room, I had to see it for myself.
The show at The Living Room was a birthday party for The Wild Honey Pie, a New York-based music blog. This party involved a lineup of several singer/songwriter types, with stickers and extremely sugary cupcakes passed around. The Living Room is a great place to do hold an event like this, since the stage is surrounded by little tables where people can sit, drink, and have an intimate listen to the live music.
I have to admit that most of the acts merely ran together for me. Most of the bands I didn’t even catch the name of. Sorry guys, but when you have one after another of very similar sounding bands, it’s hard to stand out.
One act did stand out above everyone – Lady Lamb the Beekeeper. She took the stage quietly, but when she began to sing, she had the attention of every person in the room. For her first song, she sang a captivating acapella. Her voice was unbelievably strong, making her sound wise beyond her years. Her singing evoked the gravelly blues of Janis Joplin, with the storytelling of Joanna Newsom. “I am no savior I am only your dog,” she sang with tension on “Between Two Tress.” Her poetic lyrics are full of nature metaphors and imagery. Like a winding river, her voice is at once calm and flowing, then powerful and roaring. The guitar was a solid extension of her, one she would pound with fury and then strum politely. All her songs are carefully constructed, building up to be released in a fury, to return to unresolved beauty. Lady Lamb the Beekeeper has stories to tell, full of sorrow and emotion, but with honesty that rings out and makes every person within earshot listen. “I’m as blue as blood before the blood goes red,” she belted out during her last song, “Crane Your Neck”
There is something very strong yet vulnerable about her, making her human but with more soul than most. This is an artist to watch, for sure. I predict she will take every audience by storm, one show at a time.
LLBK performing “Crane Your Neck” in Portland, ME
