Aly Spaltro, the lovable eccentric also known as Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, is saying farewell for now to her home state, and not without a little longing and sorrow.

Spaltro, who oozes soul like most of us sweat, is ready to bust out of the chrysalis and take her transfixing act to the wide world. It’s a good thing, because the world needs the push; for as beautiful as the musical wrapping paper in LLTB’s songs can be, the essence of the project is in the words. To lead your mind to fantastical spaces, witness Spaltro, and her precious authenticity, at Space Gallery in Portland at 8:30 p.m. Friday. (I won’t say “one last time…”)

 

OK, let’s get it out of the way: you’re drifting down that dusty trail, we’re all beside ourselves what’s the deal?

Before I say anything about the dusty trail drifting that will soon commence, I have to start with this letter I wrote:

Dearest Maine:

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It’s not you. It’s me. I just need some time away for a little while to sing to other states and maybe even one day, other countries. Please don’t be upset. I love you the very most. You are so beautiful, and for the record, I think you have the most attractive shape of any state in the country. I promise I’ll come back and visit you. I’d write to you every day and await your replies with bated breath, but sadly, you don’t have hands.

Yours,

Lady Lamb the Beekeeper

 

Tell some stories of your roots in Brunswick.

I moved to Brunswick from Germany when I was 14. The move was such short notice and so swift of a transition that when I look back on it, I feel as though I sort of just blooped to Maine in the blink of an eye.

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I started high school less than a week after moving here, and spent all my free time painting and listening to Neutral Milk Hotel and Beatles records to help make sense of my new, sudden circumstances.

Right after I graduated high school, I got a job at Bart and Greg’s, an independent DVD rental store on Maine Street in Brunswick.

Shortly after beginning working there, I began writing and recording music for the first time. Bart and Greg’s not only became my family, but my practice and recording space after hours. I had free reign in the building from 11 p.m. to 9 a.m. Lady Lamb the Beekeeper has its roots in that basement, and almost all of the recordings were made there. I made a handful in my room, but loved my space in the store so much, that I would drive the 15 minutes in a blizzard to record there at 3 in the morning, which I did many a night over the past three winters. I’ve even gone as far as to fall asleep curled up in my electric guitar hardshell case on nights when I’ve been too exhausted to wrap up my cords and go home.

 

How did the Farewell Show at Space come about?

Space Gallery is my favorite venue in Portland. It was my favorite venue before I ever played it, and remained my favorite venue after I started playing it. Ian Page and the whole crew that book it and keep it running, and clean up after it, and help hang art shows for it, and volunteer for it truly make it a special place to be.

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The “Farewell For Now, Lady Lamb” extravaganza came about because I had been on a very long Portland show hiatus while I situated myself to begin making my new record.

My plans shifted a bit with my decision to move out of state, and I knew that there needed to be one last Lady Lamb show before leaving.

 

Who are the Maine artists that have permanently shaped your approach to writing?

OK, wow, I just got really excited. There are a handful of Maine artists who have completely slayed me in the most complimentary sense of the word.

The work of Sontiago and dilly dilly, both as soloists and as a duo, will be memorable and important to me for life. They are true and passionate artists, and I feel honored and humbled to know them and to have shared the stage with them and seen them perform together before dilly dilly moved to California. I’m also moved to tears and tingles by Jacob Augustine, D. Gross, Wesley Hartley and Samuel James. They are four forces to be reckoned with in Portland and the universe.

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Such careful and sincere songwriters, those men. They each have their own unique voice, and each voice has the power to make my eyelids shut instantly at the mere opening of their mouths to sing. I will also always be inspired by Big Blood. They astound me. Colleen Kinsella has been a major inspiration to me as someone who weaves her different mediums of art into one tremendous mess of genius.

 

What are you cookin’ up in the studio these days?

I’m cookin’ up a feast in the studio, is what I’m cookin’ up.

You can expect this new Lady Lamb record to be comfort food. The kind of meal in which you might need a little nap afterwards to recuperate from being slightly gluttonous.

This record will straight up be your mom’s homemade mashed potatoes. Every song will be like a bite of your favorite kind of pie.

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When will you come back and visit?

I probably won’t come back and visit for a bit while I get situated, but I will eventually be back pretty frequently. I already know wicked separation anxiety is a given.

 

What’s in Maine that’s nowhere else?

The very first thing that comes to my mind are Gil and Coco Corral’s’ Hog Farm Studios Annex venues, both what is now The Oak and The Ax in downtown Biddeford, and their home barn shows. They are two of the most passionate people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting, and they’re in Maine and nowhere else, unless they’re somewhere else, in which case authentic salt water taffy, lobster-eating experiences on red park benches on the ocean in the summer, and lastly, my second letter:

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Dearest Maine,

There is one thing I neglected to mention: Do you know what else is in you that is nowhere else? My heart.

Eternally Yours,

Lady Lamb the Beekeeper

 

 

Mike Olcott is a freelance writer who lives in Portland and Boston.

 


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