New album, tour equals success for Amy LaVere

Amy LaVere

Amy LaVere found herself celebrating this past Fourth of July in a rather odd place -- England.

With her new album just out in Europe, the singer/bassist has spent the last couple weeks overseas talking to the press and performing a handful of concerts. "I'm playing arenas over here," says LaVere, laughing.

Jokes aside, for the past few years it's felt like LaVere has been on the cusp of major stardom. Her latest effort, Stranger Me, will be released in the U.S. next week, and she'll mark the occasion with a free concert at the Levitt Shell on Saturday.

Amy LaVere is pleased with her new album, though making it was not an easy process.

The new disc comes rather belatedly, some four years after 2007's sophomore LP Anchors & Anvils. "There was definitely a big gulf between records," says LaVere. "I was clawing at it for so long; it was upsetting. But I would've never made this kind of record had I not gone through a whole bunch of painful circumstances."

Making LaVere's third album was supposed to have been an easy process. She'd put together a crack band made up of longtime boyfriend and drummer Paul Taylor and guitar ace Steve Selvidge, and she planned to reunite with her Anchors & Anvils producer, Jim Dickinson.

"I'd had such a good experience with Jim and he was so nurturing to me. I just really wanted an opportunity to make another record with him. I wanted to pick up where we left off," says LaVere of the Memphis music legend.

But things took a turn when Dickinson fell ill in the spring of 2009; he died that August. "I was waiting on him to get well. He was sick for months and months," says LaVere, haltingly. "It was really sad."

For LaVere, Dickinson's loss meant starting from scratch. "When Jim passed away, there were all kinds of ideas of who might produce the record," she says. "But I didn't feel like I really knew any of the people being brought to the table. So it was hard."

In the interim, a friend in England had been talking about LaVere to producer/engineer Craig Silvey. An American living in London, Silvey was fresh off recording the Arcade Fire's Grammy winning The Suburbs . LaVere and Silvey met after a show and hit it off, and began making plans to work together.

But before the record could get started, LaVere's backing group fell apart. Guitarist Selvidge left to take a gig playing with New York rockers The Hold Steady; soon after Taylor and LaVere decided to end their personal relationship and, effectively, their professional one as well.

LaVere rebounded, joining forces with members of soul-jazz combo The City Champs. Although they gigged to much local acclaim for several months, LaVere says something was amiss. "With the City Champs, stylistically speaking, they're so wonderful, one of my favorite bands in Memphis. But they have such a big presence, and in some ways it was greatly altering the sound of the music," she says. "Not in a terrible way, but it wasn't the right fit."

LaVere hesitated about what to do until the first day of the recording sessions in Memphis. "It was awful, it was terrible. I completely shook the whole thing up and turned it upside down and decided I could not make that record with the City Champs," says LaVere.

"Paul (Taylor) was my first phone call; he and I were a couple for six years and we'd recently split up. But I just couldn't make that record without him. It just wasn't going to work."

With Taylor on board, as well as a new crew of collaborators, including Bluff City vets Dave Cousar on guitar and multi-instrumentalist Rick Steff, LaVere was free to start from scratch. "It became a lot more experimental, freeing and fun," she says. "It was an explosion of creativity with no agenda."

That spirit clearly takes shape in the 10-track LP, which finds LaVere moving away from orthodox roots-pop, and towards a more kaleidoscopic sound. From the slow burn of the opening "Damn Love Song," to the electronic pop touches of "Stranger Me" to the cover of Captain Beefheart's outré anthem "Candle Mambo," LaVere seems to have turned the upheavals of recent years into a creative emancipation.

With the new album about to hit stores, LaVere is preparing to undertake a year of heavy touring, starting with her CD release concert at the Levitt Shell on Saturday. "It's gonna be a big band show and some special guests are gonna pop out," she says.

The early praise for the record has been lavish: Stranger Me has already been given multiple four-star reviews by the UK press, gotten a glowing write-up from SPIN, and a feature spot on NPR.

And while she may not be filling arenas just yet, LaVere is content that she's on the right path. "I feel like I'm absolutely successful, because this is the lifestyle that I want. I am getting ultimate pleasure out of being able to travel and play music; it's wonderful," says LaVere.

"Do I hope that I can tour and not go in the hole? Yes. 'Cause it's not necessarily profitable all the time, and it's still a struggle. But, for me, it's worth the sacrifice."

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Amy LaVere CD Release

Saturday at the Levitt Shell at Overton Park. Doors open at 7 p.m.; show at 8 p.m. Admission is free.

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