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Laurie Morvan Band, By The Virginiabluesman
Posted on 5/13/2010 by Virginiabluesman
( Washington DC ) The Laurie Morvan Band is based out of California, and is headed to the East Coast to play their style of blues to audiences who are sure to embrace their sound. Their sound is a little bit Stevie Ray Vaughan, a little bit Freddie King and a little bit good old fashioned Rock 'n Roll. Don't expect a set style in their shows though. Laurie is proud to say that she takes the style of the great blues people of the past and present, and mixes it all up to form their own style of the blues.
The fact that this band doesn't just try to copy the old blues players note for note is really quite refreshing to see and hear. Somebody needs to keep the blues alive, and the future of blues is safe with talented, creative artists like Laurie Morvan.
The Laurie Morvan Band is a good, hard rockin' blues band that is sure to make an impact on the national music scene very soon. Her creative songwriting, solid vocals, great guitar skills, and rock solid band will be sharing their own style of the blues from coast to coast this summer. Checking out her website ( http://www.lauriemorvan.com/calendar.asp) will give you an early look into her tour schedule. Laurie says that there will be more dates to add to the tour schedule, so visit the site often for updates.
I interviewed Laurie recently, and she shared some interesting views on the blues, the state of the blues, and the state of The Laurie Morvan Band. I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I enjoyed interviewing her.
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Bluesman : Laurie, I read on your website that you were born with no blues in the house.
Laurie : Actually, that's a true statement. It was not a form of music that my parents or my family or even my extended family was into. It's not that anybody had anything against it, it's just that nobody listened to it.
Bluesman : At what age did blues really start to mean something to you?
Laurie : I was in my late teens, early 20's actually when my best friend at the time said , hey have you ever heard this guy named Stevie Ray Vaughan, and I said no and he turned me on to his music, and I thought oh my gosh, this is just so exciting and passionate. It's like when you fall in love with a person. You can't always say well it's because of this fact or this fact. It's that you have a visceral connection to something and you fall in love with it.
Bluesman : I've been hooked on the blues for decades now ...
Laurie : It's an amazing art form, and honestly Geraldo, I love all the forms of it. What I love to perform is modern blues/rock, you know that Stevie Ray Vaughan influence. That's my thing. As a listener, I love every form of it , you know, front porch, back porch, delta you name it ... Louisiana . To me it's all so appealing and makes such a connection. It's such a beautiful art form.
Bluesman : Do you write your own songs?
Laurie : I write pretty much everything that we do. I've been really blessed. I write a lot of material, and i continue to write. For example, I've got 30 songs in the making for the next CD. I always have more material than I can ever use on my next CD, and , knock on wood, that will keep happening.
Bluesman : You mentioned Stevie Ray Vaughan. What other early influences in the blues world did you have?
Laurie : Well, of course I was familiar with the big names like BB King and Buddy Guy. You listen to those guys and you just think oh my God wow that's really cool and you start to explore further and I'm always amazed by guys like Freddie King who wrote such good songs. If you took a greatest hits CD of Freddie King and just let it play ... that's what always strikes me when I put something on like Freddie King and I just say , gosh this guy can just write great songs, song after song its just great song writing to go along with it. I'm a person who's really into the songwriting aspect of it, so when I hear a good songwriter, it just makes me sit up and take notice.
Bluesman : Laurie, how would you classify the style of your band's music? Do you consider yourself a blues band, blues/rock, southern rock ...
Laurie : We're really upfront with the fact that we're a modern blues/rock band. I make no bones about it, we are not traditionalists by any sense. It's not what excites me, I love traditional blues music as a listener, but as a performer what excites me is to push the boundaries. To me the blues is this exciting, limitless pallett from which one can explore this tremendously huge universe that's all related to the blues. For me what's exciting as an artist and performer is to push those boundaries and I'm definitely rockin' in the modern world you might say.
Bluesman : Laurie, do you have a recording label you record with?
Laurie : What we did was we formed a label. We're not with what you might call, quote unquote, established label like Alligator. We formed our own label years ago and we've put out4 CD's on that label. For me, it gives me all the artistic freedom to create the art that I hear in my head and I don't have anybody trying to push me one way or another, so that works for me.
Bluesman : If you had someone who had never heard your music before, which CD of yours would you want them to hear for the 1st time?
Laurie : I would say either of my latest two, and I suppose if I had to pick ... if somebody wanted to know where I am right now, I would have to say the Fire It Up CD . I'm really comfortable that if I had to be judged on only one CD and they listened to What Ails ya CD or the Fire It Up CD, they're going to know who I am. I'm very comfortable with either one of those.
Bluesman : Do you tour with the same band that backs you on your CD's?
Laurie : My drummer Kevin has been with me for about 4 years so he was on our latest CD. He wasn't on our Cures CD because he wasn't in the band yet. I love to make music with my bandmates, so I am touring with the same people who played on my CD. The joy of making music has always been in the sharing of it with the audience and my bandmates. It's the relationship that's formed through musician and songwriter and then extending that out to the audience and the experience of it. I really enjoy making music with my bandmates. We've used studio keyboard players with phenomenal success. They're touring musicians with other bands. On my last 2 CD's Sammy Avila from the Walter Trout Band played keyboards. He's such a phenomenal player I just love him. We just didn't have a keyboard player in the band at the time, so thats the outside musicians that I would hire.
Bluesman : Who do you listen to now on your free time?
Laurie : I have a really wide pallettof interests and not enough hours in the day to satisfy my musical needs My moods change ... I may listen to Bonnie Raitt , I may listen to a Big Mama Thornton album, and then maybe I'm going to listen to Freddie Green but then I might listen to Shawn Colvin or Cheryl Crowe or Heart Or John Cougar Mellencamp. I'll listen to AC/DC. I love good songwritingand great playing and I think there is much to be learned from every style of music. I'm a real fan of good songwriting. I'm always a sucker for a good song. The genre doesn't matter. I'll listen to a great song in any genre.
Bluesman : How was the experience of playing on stage with the Legendary Blues Revue show?
Laurie : A couple of years ago I did that Legendary Rhythm and Blues concertwith Tommy Castro and Ronnie Baker Brooks and Magic Dick and Deanna Bogart. It was basically the core of Tommy Castro's band. I just did one show with them that they did here in L.A., and that was fun. Being on stage with great players is always a wonderful experience because I'm always inspired by the talents of other people. It's never a threatening or stressful situation. It's always this cool thing. I've been on stage with Walter Trout. When you're on stage with Walter Trout, the band is so good. It's such a joy to share that kind of experience with people. It's really joyful.
Bluesman : You played college volleyball?
Laurie : I sure did. That's what paid my way through college. I didn't know how I was going to afford college. I walked onto the volleyball team and I earned a scholarship. This was at the University of Illinois. I was very fortunate to get that scholarship.
I could have talked to Laurie all night, but I am already looking forward to our next interview with her. For more information on this great artist, go to http://www.lauriemorvan.com/ . There are several videos of Laurie live on stage at youtube ... some good quality, some a bit more amateurish, but it will give you an idea of what Laurie is all about till you can catch a live show. There are also some videos of Laurie's onstage performances on her website.
The Laurie Morvan Band is a band well worth seeing, and Laurie's guitar slinging is as good as anybody out there these days. We at American Blues News expect big things from her in the near future, and I personally am looking forward to catching one of their high charged live shows when they make their way to the East Coast.
All photos used with permission of the artist
For questions or comments, feel free to EMail me at virginiabluesman@gmail.com
