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Larkin Grimm: The Naturalismo Interview
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NaturalismoI welcomed a notorious pervert to have his way with my songs...NATURALISMO: Your parents were members of a religious cult called The Holy Order of MANS. What were the guiding principles of this ³cult,² and how did your involvement in it, even as a child, influence your outlook today? LARKIN GRIMM: The people who joined ³The Order² were looking for an utopian community that protected their sensitivity and spiritual growth without isolating them from society. It was an urban commune, and people considered themselves spiritual healers, healing the environment and everyone around them. Many people living there had different belief systems and spiritual practices. This was encouraged because in general the group believed that all spiritual paths are leading to the same kind of revelation and enlightenment, seeing separate facets of the jewel that is ultimate truth and reality, so to speak. Basically it was a communist society in which all resources were shared, any kind of attachment was discouraged, and it wasn¹t supposed to matter where you were or who you were with because all beings are just one small part of one supreme universal consciousness, so no person was really any greater than any other and the differences......
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NEW FIRE ON FIRE - HARTFORD BLUES
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stereogum.com | Brandon Stosuy it's sparer, rawer, the harmonies/sound more back-porch raggedhttp://stereogum.com/archives/mp3/new-fire-on-fire-hartford-blues_035621.html When we first mentioned Portland, Maine's Fire On Fire as a band worth watching almost exactly one year ago, they had a limited-edition hand-screened 5-song EP under their belts. A November later, they've returned, again on M. Gira's Young God, with a full-length collection, The Orchard. These 12 "new" tracks were recorded before the EP -- it's sparer, rawer, the harmonies/sound more back-porch ragged. Another reverse: Instead of shifting from acoustic to electric a la Dylan, some of the quintet used to call themselves Cerberus Shoal when they plugged in, but now they mold all-acoustic sounds via stand-up bass, mandolin, banjo, oud, jembe, harmonium, accordion, guitar, tamboritza, jembe, dobro, etc., and those aforementioned harmonies. Here's their "Hartford Blues." Fire On Fire - "Hartford Blues" (MP3) Gira describes them as "A backwoods, fierce, psychedelic Mamas And The Papas or a crazed and joyously vengeful gospel string band." Remember, they all still live together in the same house: "A big blue house across from green oil tank # 28 in South Portland, Maine." Remember, too, they backed-up labelmate Larkin Grimm on her new one, Parplar. The Orchard is out 12/10......
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Larkin Grimm Debut Jumps Up Radio Charts
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vintageguitar.comGrimm's style reveals an iron willed strengthhttp://www.vintageguitar.com http://www.vintageguitar.com/newswire/detail.asp?newsID=1181 Larkin Grimm's story has all the makings of an American folk princess fairy tale; that is, if Hunter S Thompson and Jack Kerouac were writing it as a Tim Burton screenplay. Born to artistic and multi-cultural parents (who were also longtime members of the Holy Order of the MANS religious cult), Grimm was set early to become either another casualty of weirdness and The Struggle (Fringe Edition), or to morph into something unique and darkly vivacious that mainstream society could never hope to spawn or to understand. Fortunately for us she chose the latter. In addition to the hippy parents and extended cult family of her formative years, Grimm is in the incongruous position of having both corporate America and blue-blood New England aristocracy to thank for paving part of the way for her journey. Grimm's adolescent education came courtesy the Coca-Cola corporation in the form of a boarding-school scholarship for gifted Appalachian children; and another scholarship at the prestigious Yale University followed. She would take a few detours before finally completing her studies there though, including a trek across Alaska; studying the massage arts in Thailand; a stint living among eco-warriors......
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Larkin Grimm - Parplar
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phoenixnewtimes.com | Ned Raggetta cascade of fractured emotions and witSome artists emerge fully formed from the gate; others have to wait and see how their talents evolve. For some years now, Larkin Grimm, a singer/guitarist raised mostly in Appalachian Georgia who now roams about the country, has worked somewhere between those two descriptions: a compelling musician who has yet to make her breakthrough. It's partly due to her albums, which were enjoyable and showcased her obvious love and knowledge of various folk traditions with a sweeping theatricality and humor that seemed more Lene Lovich than Linda Thompson, but never quite equaled the sheer power of her live performances. Her set at the 2006 Terrastock festival in Rhode Island is still talked about with awe — and rightly so. Grimm's debut for Michael Gira's Young God label redresses this balance in full. Totaling 15 songs, Parplar, recorded with the assistance of a number of guest performers, is still straight-up Grimm, with the opening song's beautifully performed first lyric, "Who told you you're going to be all right?/They were wrong," setting the unsettled tone. This isn't winsome Never Neverland, but a cascade of fractured emotions and wit. At its best, Grimm's voice......
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Larkin Grimm (show preview)
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Philadelphia City Paper | M.J. Fine She's been a poor Appalachian child and an Ivy League hipster. http://www.citypaper.net/articles/2008/11/06/larkin-grimm She's bunked down in trendy cities and third-world countries, communes and boarding school, tents and vans. Most of all, Larkin Grimm's lived in her own head. Remnants from each stage of the 27-year-old's life turn up all over third album, Parplar (Young God), and not necessarily where you'd expect them. The title tune is cosmic free jazz; the closer, "Hope for the Hopeless," is spiteful and earthy. The first highlight, "Ride the Cyclone," makes the most of Grimm's soft, sinister inflections; later, she pivots from swoony to witchy with little warning. "Anger in Your Liver" and "Be My Host," with their sweet melodies and simple lyrics, are twisted lullabies that a scoundrel might sing to her dying mother. On record, a large cast of freaky folks contributes to the mystic vibe, but the village is a luxury for a wanderer like Grimm. She's used to being on her own, and she doesn't need much — an acoustic guitar, maybe a banjo — to conjure something dark and lovely....