The life of a touring musician is grueling. Miles of empty road await your future. Many more dot your past. Overpasses. Underpasses. Rest stops and restaurant chains. Each mile fades into the last. The next city getting closer, but the end still far from sight. It’s a long and tiring road, one that could easily jade any musician. Not Rebecca and Megan Lovell.
In a world that can move too quickly, it appears that the Grammy-winning sister duo known as Larkin Poe are not taking anything for granted. From the minute they take the stage, the sisters radiate a heartfelt gratitude for the moment. You can see it in their eyes, smiles and reactions to the crowd. It is an unbridled joy that is both endearing and infectious. On a purely human level, it’s enough to make anyone a fan. But then there is the music.
Larkin Poe is southern blues rock that keeps up with the modern highways of today, but remains rooted in the gravel roads of yesteryear, through the southern pines of Georgia, across the Mississippi Delta and along Route 66. Gritty, powerful and fiery songs for those times on the open road. Tender and loving ones for those moments when the summer breeze blows over the wildflowers and across the back porch.
It is also music that has earned the sisters well-founded accolades, including a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album in 2018 (Venom & Faith), a Grammy win in the same category in 2024 (Blood Harmony), and four No. 1 albums on Billboard’s Blues Albums Chart: Venom & Faith, Self Made Man (2020), Blood Harmony, and their latest, Bloom (2025).
Rebecca and Megan are currently touring behind Bloom, recently stopping in Chicago to cultivate their growing fanbase in the home of the electric blues.
They opened the evening with “Nowhere Fast,” a song from the latest album that Rebecca has described as an “invitation to party.” It certainly is that – an up-tempo southern stomp that presages a night of mischief: “We got just enough gas to get into trouble / Just enough trouble to start a reputation / Just enough torque to get the world shakin’.” And just in case anyone failed to get the message about the type of party they were attending, the sisters followed fast into “Summertime Sunset” and “Kick the Blues” – two songs from Blood Harmony that leave no doubt about Rebecca and Megan’s desire to rock.
Returning to Bloom, the sisters played “Easy Love, Pt. 1,” which Rebecca says “is one of the truest and most detailed love song” that she’s ever written, followed by “Bluephoria” and “Mockingbird.”
“Bad Spell” from Blood Harmony and a cover of AC/DC’s “Wanted Woman” rounded out the first electric set before the band huddled around a vintage microphone for an acoustic set comprised of “Southern Comfort,” “God Moves on the Water,” “Mad as a Hatter” and John Denver’s “Thank God I’m a Country Boy.”
Plugging back in, the band played “Little Bit,” another song from Bloom that epitomizes Rebecca and Megan’s gratitude for the moment and their ability to live in the present: “Why would I want to change my life / Why is it new is always better… I won’t let nothing weigh me down / I know that I could climb higher and higher / But I’m rich right here right now / ‘Cause when you’re moving down the line / Can’t put a price on peace of mind.”
The evening closed with “If God Is A Woman,” their self-described punk girl anthem “Pearls,” “Blue Ridge Mountains,” “Bolt Cutters & The Family Name,” and “Bloom Again.” The latter is the first song written for the new album and one of their most tender. It is a song about a lover tired of the fights, excuses, and crossed lines – apologetic for needing to see the other cry before understanding that what the partner felt was real, and then recognizing that love can bloom again. The song closes with a crescendo that Rebecca and Megan took to new heights in Chicago, imbuing it with a palpable emotion that surely left the couples in the audience heading for the exits, arms intertwined and hearts aligned.
Larkin Poe’s tour continues with headlining and festival sets in the U.S. through the fall, before the band departs to Europe to close out the year. For more information about the band, their tour and their music, head to their website.
