After returning from Scotland, the couple takes its folk/bluegrass duo project on the road, with plenty more Flatbellys travels on the horizon.
THE BAND: Time & Luck
WHAT THEY PLAY: Bluegrass, folk
WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM: 8 p.m. Thursday at Seven Steps Up in Spring Lake
AUDIO: “Come Clean,” Time & Luck
As the driving force behind Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys, Lindsay Lou and Joshua Rilko have steered the Michigan-bred bluegrass band through “very grueling” yet satisfying tours the past two years that have taken the band across the United States and Europe more than once.
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But the couple also has managed to take some time to explore their own music as a duo, Time & Luck, releasing their first self-titled album more than a year ago and, now, mounting a mini-tour of Michigan following a successful jaunt by The Flatbellys to Scotland.
“The idea was to have another project outside of The Flatbellys,” mandolinist Joshua Rilko told Local Spins. “When Lindsay and I first met we would sing together a lot as a duo, so this project gave us a chance to work up some of that material we played when we first met, as well as work up material that didn’t really have a place within the band context. “
The brief Michigan tour – which already has made several stops in northern Michigan – wraps up on Thursday at Seven Steps Up in Spring Lake, with bassist Max Lockwood and bassist John Driscoll joining Time & Luck on stage for what Rilko describes as “a variety of show of sorts with all of us switching instruments and taking turns singing original and cover songs.”
Tickets, $20-$30, for Thursday’s concert available at pindropconcerts.com.
Rilko says it’s the first time Time & Luck has toured as a full band and he hopes the duo will continue to operate that way in future years with a “rotating” cast of musicians joining them.
“So far, the shows have been well-received and the music has been very fun to play. It’s all very fresh so it feels like there are so many possibilities,” says Rilko, noting sets have includes duo tunes, Flatbellys songs, old standards and “material from other Michigan artists,” including Lockwood.
EMBRACING NASHVILLE’S MUSIC SCENE AND TOURING THE GLOBE
Of course, Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys remain the couple’s focus, with the group that also features resonator guitarist Mark Lavengood and upright bassist PJ George playing 150 to 200 shows a year. Over the past four months alone, the band has played the East Coast, Colorado, the West Coast and Scotland, with plans for two more European tours in coming months.
As physically and mentally challenging as the traveling has been, he says the band has met “so many different people from all walks of life. It’s also an upside to be able to see all of the musicians we have met in our travels and share some songs with them.”
Still, the band plans to cut back on its touring in 2016 “to open up more time to be at home and work on other projects, musical and otherwise.”
For now, that home is in Nashville, where the Rilkos moved from Ionia, Mich., in January. Although they’ve been on the road for much of that time, they’ve embraced their new surroundings.
“When we are in town, it’s pretty easy to find jams just about every night. There’s so much more to that town than it may seem. Aside from all of the commercial music that is associated with Nashville, there is actually a thriving folk/roots/bluegrass scene there,” Rilko says, noting the couple already knew quite a few Nashville musicians before relocating there.
“We plan on sticking around there for a good while and possibly exploring living elsewhere before returning to Mother Michigan, which we’ll likely do eventually, but down the road a ways.“
Copyright 2015, Spins on Music LLC