Break out your baritone ukuleles - our guest on Peeling The Onion is no other than Mr. Lou Barlow !

Lou has been recording music since he was 12 years old and has been a part of seminal bands like Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr. and The Folk Implosion - who just released their first album in 25 years and are currently out on tour (tour dates at the bottom. Get your tickets here).

Lou cut his teeth in the mid to late 80’s playing bass for Dinosaur Jr. His strumming bass style is one of the most distinctive is rock history. Yes he was influenced by Lemmy’s  bass style but while Lemmy was doing mostly bar-chords Lou took that style and carved out a nuanced style of his own. Dinosaur’s second iteration from 2005 has been amongst the most interesting reunion’s in rock history.

Lou started doing 4 track recordings in the 80’s which became the basis for his early output with Sebadoh and under the moniker Sentridoh. The way he mixed alternative tuned guitars and a baritone ukulele (which he strung with 4 guitar strings) with lyrics, that mixed self reflection and honesty with deadpan humour and christian/messianic imagery, and samples has been copied but never surpassed. 

Sebadoh got more streamlined as they became a more prominent live act as the 90’s progressed and Lou seemed to get his more surrealist creative itch scratched by forming The Folk Implosions alongside John Davis. John seemed to draw out a relaxed and fun-loving side in Lou that hadn’t quite been seen before - you can practically hear them stifling their laughter on the opening track of their first album Walk Through This World W/ The Folk Implosion (now we’re talking about the 12 track EP version, not the 24 track cassette one).

As fate would have it Lou and John scored the movie Kids in the mid 90’s and got funding and studio time to realise a vision that spawned the top 40 hit Natural One. The Folk Implosion went on to release two great studio albums, 1997’s Dare To Be Surprised and 1999’s One Part Lullaby.

Lou has continued to release albums under his own name as well as in collaboration with numerous of his bands and other projects. Since November of 2022 Lou has been hosting the podcast Raw Impressions with his wife Adelle. They share a subtle humour and a genuine chemistry that makes them a wonderful delight to listen to.

Lou is one of my all time favourite artists. I feel unbelievably lucky that he took time to speak with me. 

The Folk Implosions upcoming tour dates are as follows:

August 6th at the Riverside Revival in Nashville, Tennessee

August 7th at the Blueberry Hill Duck Room in St Louis Missouri (all ages gig - starts at 8 pm)

August 8th at the Raccoon Motel in Davenport, Iowa (with opener Bats who just released an awesome album called Good Game Baby)

August 9th at the Cloudland Theater in Minneapolis

He’s going to Nebraska on the 10th to play with Dinosaur Jr. at Outlandia Festival in Bellevue, Nebraska

Then he’s back with John on August 11th were they’ll be playing at the Cactus Club in Milwaukee

August 12th at The Hideout in Springfield Virginia

August 13th at Nardo's Pizza, St Joseph Michigan

August 14th at The Lovin Touch in Ferndale, Michigan (all ages show)

On my birthday August 15th they’ll be playing at the First Congregational Church in Columbus Ohio

August 16th at The Treelawn in Cleveland

They conclude August 17th at The Government Center in Pittsburg

Take care guys !

Elvar

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