Lake Street Dive perform in The Current studio
by Bill DeVille
March 13, 2016
Mike "McDuck" Olson is the guitar player in the band Lake Street Dive; he's also originally from Minneapolis and is responsible for the band's name. When he comes into the Twin Cities, however, the band's name makes Olson a bit nervous. "Lake Street is a fine place, and I don't want people to get the impression that I believe it to be a seedy place," he says. "The Lake Street of dives for which Lake Street Dive is named is more of a past and perhaps mythological Lake Street that existed in a time of yore."
Having recently released Side Pony, their fourth studio album, Lake Street Dive — comprising Olson, along with vocalist Rachael Price, bassist Bridget Kearney and drummer Mike Calabrese — are touring in support of the album and were in the Twin Cities to play a sold-out show at First Avenue. Earlier in the day, they stopped in to The Current studio for a session hosted by Bill DeVille.
Side Pony was produced by Dave Cobb, a dynamo producer who gained renown for his production work for Americana artists like Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton and Jason Isbell. Although Lake Street Dive aren't typical Americana artists, they were captivated by Cobb's work. "We were struck by Sturgill Simpson record, Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, because of the way in which it was recorded," Price says. "When we listened to it, we were like, 'Obviously, the producer has a wild imagination to make a record like this'."
Price says Lake Street Dive are inspired by Americana artists and other sounds, but categorizing Lake Street Dive's sound remains elusive. "We don't really of a good job at defining ourselves by a specific genre," Price says, "which is just maybe something that isn't necessary to do at all."
Having met at the New England Conservatory of Music more than 10 years ago, Lake Street Dive's ascent has been slow and steady, but now they are really coming into their own as a band of note. One of their secrets of success is their strong friendship. "In a similar way that we spent a long time during our formative years kind of figuring out what kind of band we wanted to be, we spent a lot of those early years also becoming pals," Olson says. "There were a lot of really formative times when we would get together and eat nachos instead of rehearse."
Listen to the complete interview to hear how Lake Street Dive began their tradition of posting cover songs on YouTube, and how becoming one degree separated from Kevin Bacon on Twitter proved highly fortuitous.
Songs Performed
"Close to Me"
"I Don't Care About You"
"Call Off Your Dogs"
All songs off Lake Street Dive's 2016 album, Side Pony, available on Nonesuch Records.
Hosted by Bill DeVille
Produced by Derrick Stevens
Engineered by Michael DeMark and Sasha Druva
Images by Nate Ryan
Web feature by Luke Taylor
