The challenge of starting a new band from the ashes of one popular enough to have appeared at the Grand Ole Opry and collaborated with Elvis Costello is not lost on the two younger Lovell sisters.
But the decision to disband the Lovell Sisters and start over, minus one sibling, as Larkin Poe, was, easily, the right one to have made late last year, said Rebecca Lovell, the new band's vocalist and mandolinist.
"I wish it was a juicy story... but it wasn't - it was an amicable thing," Rebecca said of the change.
The Lovell Sisters started in 2003, when Rebecca was but 13. With roots in bluegrass and classical music, and classical training in violin and piano, the trio went on to appear on NPR's "A Prairie Home Companion," in addition to Merlefest and other popular summer festivals.
In fact, Rebecca won the MerleFest mandolin competition in 2006, at the ripe old age of 15, becoming the youngest performer and first female to win the competition.
Yet despite the success, the group always said they would only continue if each sibling was fully committed to it. And so earlier this year, after a heart-to-heart between all three sisters, the decision came swiftly. The Lovell Sisters were no more.
Fact Box
If you go
What: Larkin Poe concert (local artist Todd Burge opening).
Where: The Adelphia, 203 Second St., Marietta.
When: 7:30 p.m. tonight.
How much: $15.
"I was happy (Jessica) was honest enough about not being 110 percent on board with being in the band," Rebecca said. "She said she'd love to try something else... and so we were all OK with some change happening. And now Megan and I are just having an awesome time with Larkin Poe now."
Marietta show-goers will get a firsthand look at this new band tonight when Larkin Poe becomes the biggest act yet to appear in the newly opened The Adelphia on Second Street.
Named after a distant grandfather and with only one EP to their name and a second set for release this month, Larkin Poe is already topping the charts in Europe, placing No. 1 on the continent's Americana charts.
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"When we come over (on tour) as Americans, playing traditional American music, it really works," Rebecca said, explaining why the young group is so popular there. "I think there's a special connection there."
Whether Larkin Poe can duplicate that success stateside remains to be seen, but judging from this year's plans, the band's not lacking for ambition.
February saw the release of their first EP, titled "Spring," which was a nine-track collection of Americana mixed with pop and country tunes that were recorded in their basement. The band plans on releasing three more EPs, all composed around the seasonal theme, before the year's over.
"We tried to figure out a way to best bring our fans with us on our new musical journey as we discover what our band will be about," Rebecca said. "And we decided to release four EPs in a year. It's very time-consuming and a bigger bite than I expected."
Prior to launching that undertaking, Rebecca was pumped to design the artwork for the albums and thought it'd be cute to have one package comprised of the seasons.
From there, Rebecca and her sister dared each other to write as much material as they could before whittling down the choices for a debut album. The resulting EP was filled with optimistic tunes and themes of rebirth.
This month's upcoming "Summer" EP is likewise fun and airy and very much has a summer feel.
"We are such a new band we don't have a wealth of songs to record, so anything on these albums are written days before we actually start recording it," Rebecca said. "In a way, we were influenced by the seasons subconsciously."
