Pasadena Independent, Arcadia Weekly, Monrovia Weekly, Sierra Madre Weekly and La Canada-Flintridge Weekly
October 5 - Ocober 11, 2006
Blues Band Provides Satisfying Adventure by Daniel Fritz
Southland Blues Magazine calls the Laurie Morvan Band a "white-hot guitar adventure," Blues Review Magazine hails Morvan's "aggresive fretwork," and the OC Weekly calls the group "a perfectly satisfying blues band." The Laurie Morvan Band, a Los Angeles based blues-rock band, has already grabbed the public's attention many times over.
Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Laurie Morvan leads the quintet, providing enough personality and showmanship to tug a cruise ship. With a Masters Degree in Music Education, Pat Morvan, the guy flying over a six-string fretless bass, is more than qualified to fill the position. Carolyn Kelly, the bands keyboardist and background vodalist, never fails to provide the dulcet and often subtle layers under the group. Lisa Grubbs provides vocal harmony while giving the band an extra punch with various percussion and keyboard hits. All these elements lay, however, on the shoulders of drummer Angie Tabor, a young woman who aggressively lays down a greasy groove that seems to bring the entire equation to fruition.
Growing up surrounded by music and experimenting with different instruments in grammar school, Laurie Morvan knew it was love at first pluck when she discovered the guitar in her freshman year of college. Since then she claims to be, for the most part, autodidactic, having only taken a few formal lessons in her entire life.
I generally learned by playing a song on the stereo and sitting for hours with my guitar trying to figure out how the heck he did that," said Morvan.
Though she did gain experience in various cover bands, as a femail guitarist, Morvan faced a bit of chauvinism from certain musicians who unfortunately held the keys to musical opportunity in the area.
"At that time I was getting the 'chicks can't play' line from so many of them, so I decided to make the boys come audition for me!" This was the beginning of what Morvan describes as a more "rock" oriented group in 1993, then called Backroad Shack.
Since then Morvan admits that the road hasn't always been paved smoothly, as she single-handedly runs the busy band. "At the level we're at, managing your own business and producing your own records, it's very hard to keep things running smoothly," said Morvan. "Every single thing that happens in the band is a result of my working a bunch of hours to make it happen. That's not something you complain about, it's just the way it is. If you don't like it, you quit. I choose to forge ahead."
Morvan chooses to forge ahead not for any masochistic reason however; quite the opposite in fact. Her feelings about her music and songwriting are most poetically described in her song, "One Little Thing," in which she proclaims that 'you've gotta find the one little thing that cures what ails ya."
Morvan never fails to deliver a heartfelt explanation of the message and story behind the tune before performing it live. "Writing music is the single greatest joy in my life," said Morvan. "I call it cheap therapy, a way to work out all the stuff I'm thinking about. It keeps me sane and happy."
The true joy and catharsis behind music-making is certainly a protruding theme, as the band's third album which is currently in production, Cures What Ails Ya, gained its title from the aforementioned song. This time around, Morvan has employed Grammy Award winning drummer, Tony Braunagel; Grammy Award winning engineer, Eric Zobler; and Sammy Avila, B3 organist from the Walter Trout Band. "This has been the best recording experience thus far," said Morvan. "It has been wonderful as everyone who has worked on the CD has walked away saying it's going to be a great album."
The Laurie Morvan Band continues to grow and prosper with such driving forces behind it. "This is not a hobby for me. I could choose to work a regular forty-hour job and not put untold hours into band stuff every week, but that wouldn't be much of a life for me. It wouldn't fulfill my soul."
With expectations and hopes to tour the world and attain financial stability through her music, we can only sit tight until the Laurie Morvan Band becomes a household name.
For more information on the Laurie Morvan Band, visit www.lauriemorvan.com. |
