LadyCouch
Make no mistake: LadyCouch, the sprawling, posi-vibe-purveying Nashville groove collective — whose roster consists of up to 12 members at a time, and whose sources of inspiration include the Dead and The Band — is here to have a good time. That’s what makes their second album A Matter of Time, recorded with producer-engineer Dan Davis at Southern Ground Studios, such a fun listening experience: It documents a dozen incredibly talented humans enjoying the collective joy of listening to one another, making art that feels both carefree and deeply caring.
It’s easy to lose that magic in the churn of the Music City machine, but LadyCouch has held onto it since vocalists Keshia Bailey and Allen Thompson came together as a duo. With their full band, they’ve made a record that feels more like a vacation than a career move. The Scene caught up with the pair ahead of their release party Friday at The Vinyl Lounge, which comes amid a busy summer touring schedule. Our interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Has the way you collaborate changed since you made 2021’s The Future Looks Fine?
KB: It all just kind of depends on the tune. I mean, our first record … it’s in the middle of COVID pretty much, so there was lots of texting and voice memos back and forth [between Allen and me]. This go-round, folks brought some different tunes and styles of tunes, so it was a lot more — I won’t say individualized, but there was a lot more solo and smaller-group writing for this record.
AT: Yeah, the first record was definitely more collaborative between me and Keshia, but way less democratic when it came time for me and Keshia to present everything to everyone else. And in terms of production, Keshia and I knew exactly what we needed. I led the rehearsals and the sessions [for The Future], and that was about it. With this, the writing would start more individually, but the arranging process and everything else was definitely a lot more collaborative.
I think that was also kind of to be expected with us being five years into it: We all kind of know how each other play, we know what each other’s strengths are and limitations are theory-wise, and so we know what each other is trying to say. … So it’s weird — on paper, it seems like it was more of an individual type thing, but in reality it was 12 of us really working hard together to build [songs] from the ground up, as opposed to just two of us being like, “Here’s your tunes.”
KB: It’s always a reward to grow as writers and as a group. I think the biggest reward is seeing everyone’s talent individually a little differently than we did the last time.
AT: When Dan first approached us about wanting to produce, that was his main goal and his main sort of selling point to Keshia and I. He was like, “I want to try and get this as close to the experience I have at a LadyCouch show, but as a studio album.” I feel like that goal was achieved for sure.
With this much time under your collective belt, what’s the most rewarding thing about making records?
KB: Oh, that we’re still making them, 100 percent. [Laughs] It’s definitely the best part. I’m not sure that either of us would’ve thought that we would still be here five years in. But we have progressed in such a way that to stop five years in would be a disservice to us and everyone that’s listened.
AT: We just knew that it was something that the two of us really wanted to do, felt like we needed to do together — and it sounded like a lot of fun. And I think we’ve been really lucky that it also seems to sound like fun to a lot of other people.
Sometimes it feels like there’s a shortage of musicians having fun — both onstage and in the studio.
AT: [If you’ve] lived in Nashville long enough, you know that it’s the unspoken [rule]: You’re not supposed to enjoy it. If you do, then you’re either not making money or you’re not taking things seriously enough. That’s just not something we could really subscribe to. [Both laugh.]
KB: When you get a band like Jack [Silverman Quartet, who’s opening Friday’s show] and us — and all of our family and husbands and wives and all the things — it’s impossible to not have a good time, for sure. I’m sure me and Allen will cry at least three times each at different points in the evening. … It’s just nice to gather everybody and to have a real reason to celebrate. And to have a tangible thing you can hold to celebrate, with people who have been watching you, embracing you, really, for so long. It’ll be magic, I imagine.
AT: We are definitely all a family. So to have the whole gang there to celebrate, that’s the main reason we do it in the first place.
