The Lowlies – Caleb and Carolyn Spaulding – have a debut album coming out soon (October 6th), but it almost didn’t happen. But for the pandemic and a little synchronicity they may well have decided that music wasn’t their thing after all. They’d tried, goodness knows they’d tried, but it seemed to be their fate to always be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Things came to a head after a tour in 2015 had them in 20 states, opening up a long evening of punk and post-hardcore bands with their quiet acoustic guitar. Singing before the sun went down and to the wrong audience (if any had even arrived) sowed a deep seed of discouragement, even if they did enjoy the people they met and the adventure of it all. Underneath, it didn’t fit, and it was obvious. The dream had already died. Carolyn swore off touring for good. Caleb was convinced that twenty-three straight audiences couldn’t be wrong. The couple didn’t have it, and perhaps their songwriting deserved to be talked over. Maybe it was time to be realistic, settle down, start a family. Caleb began labouring as a carpenter. Carolyn started in the local bakery and cleaned offices to make ends meet. And their home became a real refuge, a place to sink roots down deep and craft a life together.
And then the good fortune arrived in the form of the pandemic when a few of their old phone memos and kitchen demos made it to the ears of producer Tyler Chester, and he heard something special, as he explained : “To me it’s all about the voice, they have one of my favourite harmonies I’ve come across.” He invited the couple to spend a week at Sonic Ranch Studio in the desert on Mexico’s border. Far away from their Western NY cabin, their day jobs, and their little babies, a new chapter started beneath the dark desert sky, and a name for these hidden songs: The Lowlies.
On ‘Drink From The Well‘ you can hear Caleb Spaulding – vocal, guitar; Carolyn Spaulding – vocal; Tyler Chester – electric guitar; Kyle Crane – percussion; Joe Plowman – bass; Jacob L’armand – fiddle.
