Lera Lynn & Miller Campbell: Live in London

A sold out Bush Hall welcomed two stars of American music on 5th October. One very much established, the other very much on the way up.

It was 4th September when Miller Campbell slid back into my DMs. I’m coming to London! 5th October! Supporting Lera Lynn! And so it went. On a Sunday night, a school night for muggles, as dusk turned to black, we waited in silence. We could hear the final sound check blasting through the walls. After things fell silent again, someone emerged from within to grab something off the van. I’m sure it was Lera Lynn, I quietly noted in a very English way. Nobody bothered her.

I had been blasting Lera Lynn’s (very) new album in the car on the way to West Ruislip. This was someone with a very interesting sense of humour. People sometimes note that I do my research, and sure enough, I had already watched Lera’s recent interview with the brilliant Korby Lenker. She revealed that her metal water bottle was twenty years old and once fell from the van in London. It sounded like it might accompany her to the grave.

Turns out Lera is an accomplished visual artist too, plus mother to a five year-old with her co-conspirator, Todd Lombardo. And by the way, she’s neither young nor old but “mid”. I say she’s young! But with an old soul. Does this matter? In some sense, yes. She’s one of music’s lifers and has been in the business twenty years. It’s not that she didn’t think of giving it up, it’s just that music wouldn’t give up on her. Thank goodness.

Regular readers will know that I don’t say an awful lot about the music. In the age of streaming, ten seconds on Spotify will tell you more than my words ever could. I tend to focus on the back story, the journey and, of course, those lyrics. Lyrics and storytelling are absolutely crucial to my appreciation of music or any musician.

Even before I heard Comic Book Cowboy, the title track, I knew this was for me. The video montage on everyone’s favourite streaming service shows her being slammed into a coffin, dead. Or undead? I’m having my best Gothic Fall ever and this just hit the spot after my deep dive into Dracula, Yorkshire’s most famous vampire.

Sometimes I fantasize the hospital
A place where I could get some sleep
Then I think about the people who endure so much more
Why am I so weak?

Every parent, every artist, has had this thought or a version of it. My own idea of heaven is prison rather than hospital. No cellphones. Total peace and a pencil, and some paper, even if toilet roll. Just think how quickly I could write a book! And a cooked English breakfast every day, perhaps.

We’re not weak, of course, but possibly different. Every turn and junction of life seems huge, every little challenge a mountain, some days. So addicted to creating that we don’t understand why other people have holidays: prison and hospital seem attractive. (How the hell am I to write 150,000 words on Fleetwood Mac before next July?!)

Take it from me, you want to listen to Lera Lynn as soon as possible. She even has a hit song called Beige. There’s nothing beige about her. Lera’s music has been featured on so many shows but perhaps her best-known sync is with HBO’s True Detective.

Last night, Lera was on great form. We saw her give a whole body sigh a couple of songs into the set. This was her happy place, more relaxed than any of the audience. But still cautious. Would we love it? Yes. Did we want her to drop the slow ones? No! Did we mind the chit chat? No! Do more! (Tori Amos once tried to play a full show at Hull City Hall without chatting to the audience. “Talk to us!” someone yelled, in an encouraging way. Tori thought she heard “Octopus.”)

I was more than once reminded of the Roadhouse in Twin Peaks. The lighting, the vibe in Bush Hall, always does, but last night the music matched the ambience perfectly. The Nirvana cover was a moment for us all to yell. Get it out, whatever it is. Someone shouted out “dirty diapers” which amused the whole crowd in various ways, as she began singing Beige. It was a great night, and she’s up the road to Manchester tonight before the Ruin Me tour heads back home to Nashville. I didn’t know, but now you do, that “ruin me” is taken from Beige.

Lera Lynn has been recording music for a long time. You can read more on her own site. She is active on Instagram and TikTok and the Ruin Me tour is at full speed ahead across America.

MILLER CAMPBELL

I had learned a few things after a summer writing about Miller Campbell, and I have said most of them already. See below for a link to my three-part album review. It was quite a way into my journey when I first heard of her aborted CIA career, her highly regarded academic paper, and some health issues at the end of her teen years. I’m so happy I got to listen to her music before knowing these things, but in knowing them, you understand where her resilience comes from. She’s someone who could have followed a more traditional path into adulthood, but could not resist the lure of music. A musical career as an achievable idea only took full hold while she was at college.

She’s been in Bigfork, Montana for almost ten years. Has she read the novel Panama by Tom McGuane, another MT resident? Or seen his bizarre Western, Missouri Breaks? Miller grew up in Anacortes, Washington (no, me either), a promontory into the archipelago that at some point in history must have joined America to Canada. I picked out her Tom Petty inspo very quickly, but it’s to the fore in her song Little Things.

Miller does around 150 shows a year, three a week! But last night was a rare treat. Miller sans band, just her and a guitar. As she was the support act, I’m going to stick my neck out and say that I was the only person in the audience who had specifically bought a ticket to see Miller herself.

I knew she had a voice, and I stood as close to the stage as I could without being in the front row. She totally shredded that acoustic guitar, and her loud, crystal clear voice rang out. What a voice! You can get a little of the feeling from her performance of Hotel New Wave at the end of the podcast below. But you won’t get that full live volume… it was amazing. No microphone needed.

I’ll leave you with a few lines from Breathe, a song about many things on the surface. But there was a time when Miller had some breathing issues that required a spell in hospital. Hard to think of anything more frightening, especially for a singer. I think Breathe has just a nod in that direction in the subtext.

I’m your snapshot of a girl
Who can breathe without knowing what it means
What does that say about me

She told us all a little bit about a newer song, Every Headlight, which I really enjoyed hearing about. It was already one of my favourites on the new album. I managed to hit record just in time.

[It took] a long time to figure out if I wanted to do something with [Every Headlight], and I sit with it for a while, and this was one of those really, really rare ten-minute songs that just kind of happened. And so the fact that it made the record is really, really special to me. It’s one of my favourite songs because of that. Because the quick one made the cut. So this is about that tour run and hanging out with my band on the way.

What more left to say? I’m thrilled to say Miller recognised me in the crowd and we had a short chat on the merch stand afterwards. It had all ended too soon, but I will keep you posted. A more authentic, friendly, open and thoughtful superstar-in-the-making you will never meet.

The more you listen to Miller’s music, the more your opinion grows. You can even read about the chance she had for a career in the CIA here! Miller Campbell is going places. Take note. You can find all her stuff on her own site.

Vinyl out now in Europe and the USA, photographed at Shepherd’s Bush station