See Lera Lynn’s Soul-Baring Take on ‘My Least Favorite Life’
Lera Lynn may have sported track marks and yellow teeth for her barroom performance of “My Least Favorite Life” on HBO’s True Detective, but in this live video streaming exclusively on Rolling Stone Country, the Nashville-based singer steps out of the darkness (and the dark circles) to reveal the artist beneath the mysterious character. And, even without Vince Vaughn’s weighted glances and Colin Farrell’s puffs of smoke, it’s just as alluring.
“It’s really interesting writing for a character and not yourself,” Lynn says about the song composed with Rosanne Cash and producer T Bone Burnett.” In a lot of ways it’s much easier, because you have a framework to work with. [The songs] more or less have to represent something that you will stand behind with your own identity.”
Though she may have been introduced to a broader audience through her appearance on the polarizing series’ second season, that very identity had been firmly formed through Lynn’s first two records, Have You Met Lera Lynn and last year’s The Avenues, which is full of sultry, roots-tinged tracks that hover just on the edge of danger. In other words, proof that she brought herself to True Detective, not the other way around.
And Burnett, who produced True Detective‘s soundtrack, undoubtedly has a knack for matching that mood with moving picture, but his method isn’t always the most straightforward.
“T Bone is definitely one of the most interesting people I have ever met,” Lynn admits — through the writing process, she never even peeked at a script. “I was very confused in the beginning. . . T Bone is a free thinker, and it may be difficult to understand certain connections or his approach in the beginning, but slowly, as you work with him, you start to say, ‘OK, I get it now. I know why he wanted to share that.'”
Currently at work on her third record with producer and steel-guitar player Joshua Grange, she’s also in the midst of her fall headlining tour, which runs through November. Here are the remaining dates.
Oct. 14 – Louisville, KY @ Headliners Music Hall
Oct. 16 – Knoxville, TN @ Square Room
Oct. 17 – Nashville, TN @ 3rd & Lindsley
Nov. 4 – Asheville, NC @ Mothlight
Nov. 5 – Rocky Mountain, VA @ Harvester Performance Center
Nov. 6 – Washington DC @ The Hamilton
Nov. 7 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Club Cafe
Nov. 8 – Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live
Nov. 10 – Boston, MA @ Great Scott
Nov. 11 – New York, NY @ Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater
Nov. 12 – New York, NY @ Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater
Nov. 13 – Ithaca, NY @ The Dock
Nov. 14 – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe
Nov. 16 – Ann Arbor, MI @ The Ark
Nov. 17 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
Nov. 19 – Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center
Nov. 20 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon
Nov. 21 – Bloomington, IL @ The Castle Theatre
Nov. 22 – Goshen, IN @ Ignition Music Garage