Coupe de Villa

Deering and Down | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 15, 2001)
• Original Release Date: October 15, 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Burn Barrel Records
• ASIN: B00005RZJO
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #659,365 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

Lahna migrated to the tiny Alaskan town at the age of fifteen. Upon her arrival she had the good fortune to encounter rock ‘n’ roll journeyman The Reverend Neil Down. A noted producer and slightly left-of-center guitar player, Down had composed a cache of killer songs that were in need of the right singer. Enter Deering. “When The Rev suggested this project,” Lahna recalls, “I knew creative juices would be flowing in the same room.” The Reverend has a slightly different perspective. “It’s kind of like Little Red Riding Hood meets the Big Bad Wolf.”

The initial spark of Coupe de Villa, the second album produced by Burn Barrel Records, was conceived, recorded and produced out of Alaska and the Yukon Territory. “The emphasis here is the music,” Down notes. “It’s pretty hard to get caught up in all the hype and ‘outside noise’ that can attach itself to making an album, because up here during the winter, there is no hype - there is no noise.”

Deering was born in Vancouver, British Columbia and raised in Port Townsend, Washington. She became enamored with music in early childhood. As Lahna reached adolescence she began to write songs and perform in public. “I sat on a stool in the corner of a volunteer coffee shop and sang to the teenagers and young professionals sitting on thrift-store furniture.” During the summers Deering had discovered Skagway, an historic gold-rush town turned tourist haven at the top of Alaska’s inside passage. “Skagway reminded me of Port Townsend. I felt like I was home.” Deering toiled as a maid for a local hotel, a jewelry salesperson in a trinket shop, and a cast member for a daily stage performance. Then she found her niche as Miss LaLa, a “madam” dressed in scantily clad costumes who enticed visitors with her brazen attitude and vocal prowess as a part of a recreation of a gold-rush trail camp. “We sang songs such as ‘Goodnight Irene’ and ‘You Are My Sunshine.’ Old fashioned tunes certainly strengthened my voice. Then I’d come home and belt out rock ‘n’ roll with The Rev.”

The Rev, a friend and working musician with such legends as Jerry Scheff (Elvis Presley, The Doors), Henry McCullough (Paul McCartney, Joe Cocker), and Albert Collins maintains that their age difference has never been a hindrance. Down proclaims “she’s 19 going on 35! She’s an old soul!” Deering: “I heard The Rev playing during my first summer in Alaska. My mom and I were taking a walk one night, and we heard his music out on the street. We started dancing on the boardwalk. He’s a maniac! I was stuck in this folk, three-string, sad song rut and then I met The Reverend Neil Down. He’s the ultimate rock and roller.”

At nineteen, alcohol control laws prohibit Deering from working in clubs that feature live music. However Deering has performed short sets from the boardwalk outside of local establishments and has parlayed visits from her mother to bend the rules. Lahna confesses, “last summer, the window sign of a local bar read ‘Tonight only! Don’t miss it! Lahna’s Mom is in town!’ “Everyone knew what that meant and the place was packed.”

Gigging in Canada, where the legal drinking age is 19, has helped alleviate the problem. “Now that I have something to focus on, I think this year is the first year that I haven’t been bummed out about not going into the bars and getting to listen to and play music.” she said. “I was always standing outside listening to people play music in the rain and the cold.”

Coupe de Villa is legal. And lethal. Lahna Deering will not find herself outside the music scene looking in for long.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely fantastic..., January 30, 2003

By 

Sprout (Port Townsend, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Coupe de Villa (Audio CD)

I have to say, out of all of the CDs I've bought in my life, this one is surely all around the best. The music is very well done and original. Lahna has one of the best singing voices I can recall ever having heard. The range and body of her voice allows conveyence of a lot of different emotions and energies, and is very smooth and very very nice to listen to.

I've also played this album for quite a few different people, and everyone has enjoyed it so far. I really look forward to future releases.