Catch up with folk singer-songwriter sister duo Beau + Luci and listen to their cover of Emmylou Harris' "Deeper Well" off their forthcoming EP, Fire Dancer, to be released March 3rd.
What made you decide to start this band together?
Luci: We've grown up singing in church choirs so we were always involved in music and we just always had music in our house. My dad is a massive rock and roll fan, so he had albums and records and cassettes that we would listen to and we grew up on it. As we got older, it went from being just a hobby to something that we were extremely passionate about and that we felt was a true calling for us and, well, once you get that bug, you just can't shake it.
Do you remember the first song you wrote together that you were happy with?
Luci: I don't remember the first song we wrote together because there was definitely a lot of trial and error at the beginning.
Beau: I think "War" was the first one. That's not even on this project but as far as a song where I felt like we had finally started getting what we'd sound like, that was the first one that really excited us. We were like, "okay, this is what we've been trying to get to," and really opened the door for what this project actually is.
Which musicians have you been influenced by?
Luci: The Allman Brothers have always been a huge influence on us. They're my favorite band -
Beau: We were raised on The Allman Brothers.
Luci: Yeah, we absolutely love them. The Allman Brothers, Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris. We have just a very eclectic background of music, as far as our taste goes. But The Allman Brothers have been a massive influence on us, probably one of the biggest.
Beau: Definitely. And then, obviously, Fleetwood Mac and, more recently, a band called First Aid Kit that we absolutely adore and they play a big part in the folk influence of our music.
Is there anything that you're hooked on now?
Beau: Kaleo actually, we've really gotten into them. Tedeschi Trucks, absolutely love them. Chris Stapleton's new album. Everything Jason Isbell has ever done, [laughs] pretty much.
Which words would you use to describe your sound?
Luci: We are an Americana band. We are heavily influenced by folk rock and blues.
Beau: And we get swampy soul a lot, too.
Could you tell us more about your cover of Emmylou Harris' "Deeper Well"?
Luci: The Wrecking Ball album is probably my favorite Emmylou Harris album; it was just such a break from her sound and it really opened a lot of doors - not only for her - but I think for Americana artists in general, because it wasn't the more traditional sound, it was more rock inspired and atmospheric. We were already listening to the album when we were actually working on writing and recording our EP's original music and then we got to "Deeper Well" and we were like, "why don't we do this one, too?". I mean, it's an amazing song.
Beau: It's beautiful, we love it.
Luci: And the story it tells in the lyrics and her performance of it... It's just one of those songs that catches you and really draws you in and wraps you up in it and we wanted to take it and do our own spin on it.
Is that style indicative of what we can expect to hear on your Fire Dancer EP?
Luci: I think it's definitely a look at what's coming. Since then, we have continued to grow and evolve and the sound has grown and evolved with us, but "Deeper Well" is definitely an excellent sneak preview of that. "Fire Dancer", that wasn't the first song we wrote in the studio with our producer Dan Hannon, but that was the song that was like, "oh my gosh, this is it. This is the sound, this is the story, this is the vibe".
Beau: It kind of became the sound that we ended up basing the whole EP around because it was the first thing that just absolutely blew our minds as far as setting the bar so high for this new stuff.
Luci: It was just one of those defining moments for us, as artists, and I don't even think that we had to consider for a moment which was going to be our lead single, because it was just such a definitive song and it's just our sound and everything that we've been looking for and the sound that we've been searching for since we started writing and singing. It was just an amazing experience and we're so excited about releasing it.
Is there a song that you're most excited to release from this new EP?
Beau: I almost can't even pick one, it's too hard [laughs]! There's so many of them and we're already so excited about them but so many people have not even heard them yet! It's so hard to pick. I'm just so excited about the entire EP that's coming out.
Luci: Definitely. And it's been really fun, we've been able to perform the songs before the EP is released so it's been really great to gauge the reaction of the crowd and see people get excited about the music; they've never heard it, but they're still excited about it. They're looking forward to the releases and so that just snowballs, it builds our own excitement, and we're just really, really looking forward to this release and being able to share our music
In one sentence, how would you sum up the Fire Dancer EP?
Luci: It was the most natural thing in the world for it to have played out the way it did and to have sounded the way that it did, but it also was the most unbelievable and incredible experience and project that I have worked on.
Beau: Yeah, I think Fire Dancer is just everything we've been working towards so far and were hoping for. It's absolutely, positively everything we hoped that it would be, and more.
What do you hope listeners are able to take away from your music?
Luci: For us, I know how I have been touched by other artists and listening to music that makes me feel like, "oh I'm not the only one that's going through this, I'm not the only one that has felt this way". And so I think, for us, our greatest hope is that somebody can hear this music that's genuinely from our hearts and souls - this is our passion and what we want to do, what we love to do - and I hope that they hear that and they can say, "I'm not alone in this," and that it can encourage and inspire and just make people happy.
Beau: We just always hope that it can touch people in a way that so many incredible artists have touched us and shaped who we are as people.
Luci: And that it also pays tribute to the artists that have inspired us in so many ways.
Beau: Right.
Is there anything you want to add?
Luci: "Fire Dancer" comes out January 27th and the EP releases March 3rd.