LISTEN TO/SHARE LADY LAMB THE BEEKEEPERS’ “ROOFTOP”:
http://soundcloud.com/badabingrecords/rooftop/
More than anything, Lady Lamb the Beekeeper (aka Aly Spaltro) has 20,000 second-hand DVDs to thank for her first album. Despite being recorded at a proper studio in her recently adopted home of Brooklyn, Ripely Pine showcases songs conceived during her tenure at Bart’s & Greg’s DVD Explosion in Brunswick, Maine. Little did customers know, the same store they’d drop off their Transformers movies was providing the ideal four-year cocoon for the development of a major musical talent.
During those nightly creative spells after working her shift, Spaltro’s music brought raw expressions of her lyrical thoughts. Anger, confusion, love, happiness, and sadness reigned, and the songs ran rampant, with little form or structure. Isolated for those many hours, this is how she taught herself to write music and sing. She had only two outlets for giving out her music: Bart & Greg’s and a record store next door, so she gave herself a band name. She would arrange her CDs on the counters of these two shops as free offerings, and seeing how she was often the employee at the register, didn’t tell people it was her music.
In a live setting, her performances were unhinged, as melodies followed an internal logic only apparent to Spaltro herself. She played guitar and sang, careening from hums to screams within seconds, but always maintaining self-control. That’s how Lady Lamb the Beekeeper became one of the most beloved performers in Portland and Brooklyn.
At 23, with five years of writing music and self recording her own demos, she ventured to the next milestone – recording an album. She wrote everything. All the songs, all the arrangements. Keeping the songs’ stark rawness, the record is a pure representation of her sound.
Ripely Pine shouts the introduction of a new talent from every groove. Here, finally, are recordings of Lady Lamb the Beekeeper that come as close as possible to conveying the intense majestry of her live shows. And, much like her performances live, a narrative breathes through the record’s progression. The album opens with urgency and anger, settles into reconciliation and reciprocation, and ultimately reaches towards resolution, realizing infatuation leads to a loss of self; instead, embracing one’s own strengths is the most powerful thing of all.
Lady Lamb the Beekeeper’s debut album, Ripely Pine, is out February 19th on Ba Da Bing! Records.
Upcoming Shows:
Tue. Nov. 13 – New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge *
Wed. Nov. 14 – Philadelphia, PA @ World Café Live *
Thu. Nov. 15 – Washington, DC @ The Howard Theater *
Sat. Nov. 17 – Durham, NC @ Casbah *
Sun. Nov. 18 – Charlotte, NC @ Tremont Music Hall *
Mon. Nov. 19 – Asheville, NC @ Asheville Music Hall *
Tue. Nov. 20 – Nashville, TN @ High Watt *
Fri. Nov. 23 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West *
Tue. Dec. 4 – Portland, ME @ Space Gallery *
Wed. Dec. 5 – Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall *
Thu. Dec. 6 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground *
Fri. Dec. 7 – Binghamton, NY @ Binghamton U
* with Kaki King