I figure, the best way to listen to the traditional folk trio, Low Lily, is lying flat on your back, staring up into the blinking branches sparking off the ornaments on your Christmas tree.
Get right under there now, why not? Fire up a glass of red, find those old thermals, lock the kids in the basement and turn up the volume. Not too loud. Go easy. Low Lily will set the tone.
Listen to Flynn Cohen pick that mandolin – slow and steady and well studied in the craft.
Feel the pulse of your fingertips as Liz Simmons sings a ballad or two about old world Ireland.
Lissa Schneckenburger will fiddle you right into a trance before the brass of New Orleans comes calling.
But, if you haven’t bought a Christmas tree yet or only itch in thermal, then simply come down to New England College in Concord on Friday night and hear Low Lily for yourself. The show is free and the doors open at 7 p.m., show begins at 7:30 p.m.
The staff at Soundcheck pulled our heads from out under the tinsel for a few minutes to ask Simmons, a singer and guitarist, a few questions about the evolution of their smooth sound.
Was traditional folk music something you’ve been listening to since you were a kid?
Yes! I was always surrounded by trad music as my parents are musicians. I grew up on the West Coast and in Southern New Hampshire, the Monadnock region, and was reared on old ballads from England, Ireland and America, oldies rock, and New Orleans brass music. Lissa (Schneckenburger), our fiddle player, grew up in Maine, and has been a part of the New England fiddle scene since she was four. Our Ohio native Flynn (Cohen), a guitarist/mandolinist, found trad/folk music in his teens and has been a convert ever since.
What are some of the lessons you learned growing up playing music that you still lean on today?
I would say that folk music brings people and community together, and that it can be a central part of one’s social and family life. This is still true today, and is the reason we keep doing what we’re doing.
Do you enjoy the recording process or playing live?
I enjoy both, but they’re very different experiences. When playing live you get feedback from your audience, whereas in the studio everything is much more controlled, and you’re shooting for cleanliness and perfection. Artistically they’re both very satisfying, but very different settings.
How has your live performance evolved through the years?
I’ve gotten much more comfortable with stage banter and overall presence . . . it’s something that comes to most people with time and practice. It’s a very liberating thing, once you stop feeling nervous and can just be there with your audience. As a band, we’re all more comfortable than ever with each other as well – we play to each other’s strengths, and are in the moment with the music.
These days, what song in your roster is getting the biggest applause?
We have a mammoth fiddle medley that usually gets a loud response: it’s called the “New Mown Meadow,” and we recorded it on our penultimate album. It starts slow and builds to a big end with two guitars, and Lissa plays the heck out of it.
If there was one part of the music business you could change, what would it be?
Oh goodness! Well, if you must know, I think there should be better funding and for the arts in general. But there is a lot that is great about the biz too . . . and with the digital age we have so many tools for promotion, which is great. Social media allows our fans to keep up with us, while we stay visible. There’s so much we can say through our music as well, that can be spread through these mediums and get heard. It’s really an interesting time to be doing what we do.