neo-trad kinetic roots trio
Tenacious, innovative string musicians, the Evie Ladin Band – Evie Ladin, Keith Terry and Erik Pearson – throws down captivating, truly entertaining live shows. Grounded in Appalachian old-time repertoire, seasoned in African-diaspora roots, writing from life in modern cities, blurring the lines between music and dance, the polyrhythmic heat of Evie’s clawhammer banjo, resonant voice, real stories and rhythmic dance have been heard from A Prairie Home Companion to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. Their performance experience is a stand-out. 2024 sees the release of their fifth album – Evie Ladin Band LIVE – an audience-fueled romp through original songs across all of the band’s previous releases, recorded at the esteemed Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, CA. The detailed interplay of instruments around Evie’s clever lyrics really shine, as live performance is the band’s forte.
“A truly original sound in new old-time Americana,” says fRoots, while Pop Matters says “Ladin possesses a keen songwriting sense and a stable of strong musicians to back her up.“
The title track leads off the new album with a shot of energy and sunshine… creating a relationship story line from first touches to last regrets, the record is as much a folk operetta as it is a story told in banjo and lyrics. But it’s the energy of the playing that keeps the listener engaged.
The best example I have seen of a Neo-Trad band’s sound being authentically anchored in old time music but extending it into new and entertaining directions.
Evie Ladin was born and raised on Southern music, from inner city Baltimore to Oakland, and has taken home ribbons in folk song from Mt Airy, NC Fiddler’s Convention, and Neo-Trad Band from the Appalachian Stringband Festival, Clifftop, WV. “She can write, she can sing, and she pulls back from the saccharine brink with wit – a sharp intelligence,” Grant Alden, No Depression.
Think Rhiannon Giddens with less publicity, and you will not be far wrong!
Keith Terry (bass, Body Music, vocals) is a renowned percussionist/rhythm dancer, and the founder of the International Body Music Festival. A pioneer in contemporary Body Music, Keith produces large-scale intercultural collaborations and education. Keith brings a cinematic ear to playing bass as tonal percussion, with bells, box, body and toys.
Erik Pearson (guitar, banjo, vocals) is a musician’s musician with the Crooked Jades, storyteller Diane Ferlatte, and his solo projects. His original banjo tune “Fork & File” was the soundtrack for a rapids rafting scene in Sean Penn’s movie Into the Wild.
Photos
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Inside Photos: Gudmundor Vigfusson, styled by Namita Kapoor / Mural Photos: Snap Jackson
