Single Review - Speed Of Anything - Two Ways Home

Rik has met Isabella and Lewis of Two Ways Home on a few occasions, and seeing them is like bumping in to old friends.  Appropriately then, their new song is about old friends and developing a relationship.  Listening to the song is quite like listening to an interview with the pair, as they both contribute in turn, adding detail, joining their experiences, much as they do when singing Speed Of Anything

I last saw Two Ways Home on stage at Country In The Afternoon where they performed with a full band, prior to that as a duo at Nashville Meets London, and prior to that as an acoustic pair at a songwriters round. Having seen them in different formats, I asked whether they had a preference. Isi replied

It’s cool to have the opportunity to do different things

Lewis added

When you play with the full band you try to roll from one song to the next, smoothly, but in a songwriters round it needs to be personable and you get to talk between songs…its great to be able to do both of them

Lewis and Isi support the #ImHere campaign

Although Isabella is from Austria and Lewis from the West Midlands, they met in London when Isabella needed a guitarist for her covers band. From there they developed their sound, leaning towards Country, visited America and soaked up the influences.  For Isi, music was always a part of her family life, with a Grandmother who was a singer her family would always be singing. Lewis’s father was a singer and guitarist, and “subtly” left a guitar laying around for a 5 year old Lewis to pick up, and by the time he hit his teens, Lewis wanted to learn to play it properly and take music seriously. When you hear Lewis let rip on guitar you can understand that this was clearly a good process!

Isi believes that they work well as songwriters because

It makes better songs when you are writing with someone you trust

Lewis agreed, saying that as a pair they can be brutally honest with each other – and apparently for Isi, not just when writing!

The new song Speed Of Anything seems to reflect them very well. Telling the story of a couple of

kids living down the street...just waiting to meet

the song starts as it means to go on.  Isi and Lewis combine to tell the story from both sides, swapping vocals just like an old married couple, and combines a pop opening with heavier instrumentation taking us through the tale.

Where were going, where we’ve been – once again, the song seems to reflect a chat with two Ways Home, and it will be great to see where they go…

The new single from Two Ways Home Speed Of Anything is available from 30 August

See the duo live on their Caffe Nero coffee shop tour in August and September plus extra live dates through October and November – or just bump into them, like old friends….

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Artist Profile - When Rik met Peter Calamera

After chatting with Jessica Lynn about how much her family mean to her and to her music, I obviously wanted to hear more, so I caught up with Dad Peter before they took to the stage.  

As with everyone, I wanted to know how Peter came to music. Interestingly it was at the same age as Jessica – Peter was just a teenager when he first heard the Beatles, specifically watching a Hard Day’s Night with his sister and he thought

That looks a lot of fun

In another similarity, Jessica’s teen band played exactly the same club as Peter’s teenage band 26 years to the day that Peter last played there

You can’t see Peter without seeing his wife Victoria, and they are such a wonderful couple, so how did they meet?  Well, unsurprisingly it was music that brought them together.  Peter was adamant that he didn’t write for the female voice when an agent suggested a singer for his band. Victoria walked in and was introduced and Peter right away said 

You know what, I think I can work with her

33 years later, 31 years of marriage I guess he was right!

Peter shares Jessica’s comments about the difference between performing in America to the UK and Europe. In his own words

We love the UK audiences – its completely different to US audiences.  As Tim has just said on stage  it is so nice to be in front of people listening to the music, whereas in America it is more of a social occasion

As a New York Italian, and an ex New York police officer, I was curious to hear about the family dynamic from Peter’s point of view – being the patriarch but being in his daughter’s band

It’s interesting, there’s two dynamics all the time. I’ve been working with her since she was 13, but I’m always the Dad. In the band you have to shelve the Dad hat, she talks to you like another musician. Jessica always has the final say, but she knows that I know music and she trusts me to this day. But we butt heads, because we are Italian! Five minutes later we’re hugging

Out of being on stage with your family, your US guitar showing your pride in being American, your NYPD background… what makes you proudest?

My family. I’d like to think it’s the  work that  I’ve done as a father I’ve loved my job as a cop, I loved helping people in the NYPD, but above all its looking at my family and I see things that we’ve done that a pretty great accomplishments.  If you told me twenty years ago when I retired from the NYPD that 20 years from now you are going to be travelling the world with your family playing music, going to all these great places and meeting wonderful people, I’d think you were smoking something

That’s what I’m most proud of, we’ve accomplished something nice and I’m really proud of Jessica. When we meet people around the world, our family is growing, we’re doing something right.

Talking to Peter, you can feel as well as hear how proud he is and how much he loves doing what he gets to do with his very extended family, not just the family on stage!

When you see the band playing you can certainly see how much they love performing for their crowds, their fans, their friends, their family!

Jessica Lynn – with her Dad on bass – perform tonight (Tuesday) at Dronfield Civic Hall, on Wednesday 14 August Square Tower, Old Portsmouth and they finish their UK tour on Thursday 15 August at Old School Hall, East Farleigh, Maidstone

www.jessicalynnmusic.org

Artist Profile - When Rik Met Jessica Lynn

When I met up with Jessica Lynn ahead of the Birmingham date on her UK tour, the word that cropped up most in the chat was “family”  if you haven’t seen Jessica perform, you may not realise that basically her whole band is family – Husband on lead guitar, Dad on bass, Mom on backing vocals, “Uncle” Bob on pedal Steel and her percussionist was even a “bridesman” at her wedding

I had to ask then, how does the family dynamic work with the band

People feel the genuine love and connection we have for each other. People come to the shows and they feel like family because you’re with family

Having had some issues with previous bands, Jessica wanted to be a solo artist, in her own words

If anybody is ever going to screw this up for me again its going to be me 

and the later band became “Jessica Lynn”

As a family band, I had to ask how you resolve musical conflicts, especially as your dad is literally stood right behind you?

I’m in charge 

said Jessica with a laugh 

My family is great and respecting that it is my vision and my project and they are always there to offer support and ideas and everybody comes to the table with ideas.  It’s the pieces of everybody that makes the sound what it is

Is it harder to bounce ideas when the band is so close?

Its easier. Because you can be super honest.  With other people you don’t want to hurt feelings but we can just look at each other and say “that sucks” so it makes it a lot more honest and easy

Coming from a musical family – Dad Pete and Mum Victoria met through music – it was pretty inevitable that Jessica would take to music.  The story starts with her first band at the age of 13 with her parents driving her all over New York City playing Rock ‘n’ Roll in clubs that she was too young to actually go to, but always listening to country music. At age 18 Jessica formed a Wedding band which was the start of music being her living post high school. Incorporating family into that band then transitioned to become Jessica Lynn

The band tour Europe every year – so what keeps bringing Jessica and the family back?

Its really the people. The people here just love live music so much. There is a certain vibrance for live entertainment and music in Europe.  In the states a lot of concerts are a party, its about the atmosphere, the dancing and the drinking; here in Europe the crowd are just watching, they are there for the music not for  the beer and the dancing, it’s a very cool experience as a songwriter to have the undivided attention for something you have worked so hard to create

However, when comparing the audiences, Jessica doesn’t have a preference, she enjoys the different experiences, which adds to the excitement of a tour

Jessica Lynn plays concerts at US Military bases overseas, bringing a little bit of home to them which is clearly a source of great pride.  What does Jessica want to bring to the non-American audiences?

I’m bringing a piece of home, but also a piece of myself.  When you listen to my music its like reading my diary, and its kind of scary to read your diary out loud to thousands of people, but that’s what’s cool about live music. And that’s what I try to bring in my live shows is a genuineness about my life and my music – what you see is what you get with us

I was curious to know who has influenced Jessica the most.  Jessica had to give two answers – Gwen Stefani from her rocker days in terms of energy and performance, but for song writing, music and delivery her biggest single influence is Neil Diamond. Not quite the answer I was expecting!

Surrounded by family, influenced by the greats and an act honed in the clubs of New York Jessica Lynn is a delight to meet and chat with, and a sheer joy to watch performing.

Catch the rest of her UK tour if you can, and catch her online, on YouTube and for certain on a future UK tour