Larkin Poe Share Raw Cover Of ‘Hard Time Killing Floor Blues’

It's a potent version of the Skip James classic...

Times may change, seasons may come and go, but the blues remains the blues.

There's something about that 12 bar format while endlessly travels, communicating blunt emotional truths in such a starkly poetic way.

Larkin Poe have long been obsessed. The Nashville duo – descendants of Edgar Allen Poe, doncha know – are steeped in all kinds of American arts, from country to blues and beyond.

New album 'Venom & Faith' out now, a stark, at times almost gothic take on the mosaic of Americana.

With a London show incoming we've been handed a neat new video, featuring Larkin Poe performing a raw, powerful, ragged version of 'Hard Time Killing Floor Blues'.

Initially given a poignant, restrained treatment by acoustic master Skip James, it has long entranced the pair, who give it the Larkin Poe treatment in this new video.

They explain: "We are eternally obsessed with the music of Skip James. We originally learned 'Hard Time Killing Floor Blues' as a feature for our Tip O’ The Hat video series, but loved the song so much we felt we had to include it on the album. Most of the 'drum' sounds you hear in the recording are organic sounds: the thumping of dresser drawers, slamming of back doors, and stomping on hardwood floors."

"We wanted to keep it real – and the same goes for the video! We spent six months out on the road with Keith Urban this year and had a free afternoon to shoot this video with two of Keith's amazing videographers, Andy Snee and Sean O'Halloran. We set-up out behind one of the arenas (where all the buses and semi's were parked) and went to town!"

Tune in now.

Catch Larkin Poe at London venue Islington Assembly Hall on November 21st.

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