https://youtu.be/LmnBTd3qcKg
at the kid's table. Am I real even if I stayed
in bed all day? Is love real even when it's
over or goes entirely unfulfilled? Are we real
after we die, even if no one remembers us?
Or is anything temporary merely a fake, a
phony, a stand in. I was thinking about this
a lot when I was writing these songs. What
makes someone, even someone lacking the
confident to show their true selves a 'real'
authentic person.
When I strip away my vices who am I
really? Am I only myself when I'm dancing
on a table and making the most vulgar
of wisecracks, even though I hate that
person, it gets a rise out of myself. The
party monkey side. But the side with any
amount of grace is often met with concern
or disdain. Who are you really, at the end
of the day, entirely alone, without all
the daydreams and the bullshit and the
performance art we go through all day
every day, even non performers or as we
call them, 'normal' people. Because I feel
like I spent my formative years flopping
around like a fish, masking pain with
substance abuse and somewhat ashamed
of who I was—a hayseed, a phony, I felt—
20
it was absolutely
necessary for me to
become a stronger,
more confident
human, or I was going
to die. Real is my sort
of love letter to that
realization, that my
existence was just as
valid as any other.”
Loveless is joined
on the album by
Todd May (vocals,
guitars, keys), Ben
Lamb (bass), Jay
Gasper (guitars, pedal
steel, keys), George Hondroulis (drums,
percussion, keys), Andy Harrison (guitar,
keys) and Viers (percussion, guitar).
In 2011, Loveless released her second full-
length album, Indestructible Machine,
which The Chicago Tribune said, “she
conveys toughness, tenderness and humor
with off-handed conviction.” Two years after
the critical success of her breakout second
record, Loveless released Somewhere
Else. On Somewhere Else Loveless is less
concerned with chasing approval—she
scrapped an entire album’s worth of
material—and more focused on fighting
personal battles of longing, heartbreak and
the aesthetic that comes along with them.
Loveless has toured with artists such as
Jason Isbell, Iron & Wine, Old 97's, Drive-
By Truckers, Scott H. Biram, and the
Supersuckers. Her music has been praised
by Rolling Stone, NPR, Pitchfork, SPIN,
Stereogum, Chicago Tribune, and more. She
was the subject of the 2016 documentary
Who Is Lydia Loveless?, directed by Gorman
Bechard. ✽
April 2018
INSIGHT