Levi Douthit is a singer songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and filmmaker from Richmond, Virginia. Born into a family of musicians (his mother had guitar lessons with famed Piedmont Blues player John Cephas, and his father has worked as a producer since the early 80s), Douhit’s solo music draws on the rich American folk tradition. Inspired by everything from the Joni Mitchell and Gram Parsons records his parents played, legendary fingerpickers like Mississippi John Hurt and Maybelle Carter, and contemporary acts like Elliot Smith, Wilco and The Microphones, Douthit’s new album Lucky Pennies (his first with Citrus City Records) displays his easy lyricism and knack for melody.
As is evident on the subtly upbeat ‘Beneath the Pines’ or the bittersweet sway of ‘Face in the Stars’, Lucky Pennies is a collection of songs that use a classic folk blueprint to build something personal and singular. The title track is a standout, which like all good folk songs is equal parts sunshine and rainclouds, folding hope and sadness into three and a half minutes of bright acoustic guitar and soft vocals.
[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=2436045322 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small track=3715505887]
That said, Levi Douthit is not your average folk musician. He also plays with Richmond synth punks Teenage Cenobite and has recorded music for post punk band Black Buttons, and this behind the scenes experience of the local DIY scene is a big influence too. With the help of Tanner White, Will Fennessey and Kevin McCormick, Douthit turns what could be simple guitar and vocals songs into something heavier and more complex. Songs like ‘Losing Time’ lean towards shadowy indie rock and even the sweet strum of ‘Dog Song’ has peaks of wailing atmospherics.
But it’s lead single ‘Water the Plants’ that’s the perfect illustration, a gently turbulent lo-fi folk rock song which uses the metaphor of caring for a houseplant to explore intimate themes of recovery and self-care. “At the time, I was having some past traumas blow up in my face,” Douthit explains, “I thought I had finished dealing with them but I was reminded that you don’t ever finish dealing with them, you manage and tend to them, just like watering a plant.”
[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=2436045322 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small track=2246253773]
This theme of dealing with past trauma is a recurring one on Lucky Pennies and adds another dimension of depth and darkness. “There’s death all around me and more to come” Douthit sings in a moment of vulnerability on ‘Move On,’ a track that combines reflective folky moments of acoustic guitar and fragile vocals with moments of noisy and stormy anxiety. But, as on much of the album, the enduring emotion is one of strength and resilience, as captured in the final lines.
so keep on moving on
just keep on moving on
[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=2436045322 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small track=2801397738]
Lucky Pennies is out now and you can get it from the Levi Douthit Bandcamp page, or on cassette via Citrus City Records. Proceeds will be donated to Richmond Mutual Aid.
Photo and album art by Kevin McCormick