Laura Reed and Laur Joamets are Lore, a genre-bending Nashville duo mixing elements of metal, grunge, blues, and rock into raw, electric Americana anthems. Pairing Reed’s gruff,bluesy alto wail with Joamets’s effortlessly agile guitar, Lore’s satisfying fusion feels completely attuned to the current moment: part smooth sailing, part careening chaos.
South African native Reed started songwriting as a street musician, later collaborating with funk icons George Clinton and Karl Denson before launching her solo career. In 2019 while recording a solo project at Sputnik Sound, she met Joamets, a classically trained Estonian guitarist who’d toured with Sturgill Simpson and Drivin N Cryin and was recording an instrumental record. The pair formed a natural partnership based on a shared love for roots, blues, and gritty rock’n’roll. By 2020, they’d combined their separate projects into one.
Lore’s soulful mid-tempo debut single “Surrender” premiered on Rolling Stone in October 2020, followed by the buoyant, anarchic “Gifts of Destruction and Disorder” in December. In October 2021 they released “I Walk Alone,” a driving, intimate track evoking the rough-but-delicate sound of Karen Dalton, and in November dropped “Woven,” a bracing psychedelic-grunge tune with howling vocals and revolving guitar riffs. Lore’s debut album, co-produced by the band with Vance Powell (Jack White, Chris Stapleton) and Dave Schools (Widespread Panic, Hard Working Americans), released November 2022.
WHAT IS LORE?
LORE is born of stories, coincidences that converge in an undeniable way that can only be fate. Laura Reed and Laur Joamets came together as if it was out of their hands, as if breadcrumbs had been laid out for them to follow and honor the songs they created together. Drawing from many different paths, experiences, and influences the music is an authentic testament to what happens when you combine diverse elements and get something new and fresh.
Laura, originally from South Africa, made her way to the United States as a child and eventually found herself making music in Nashville, her father’s birthplace. She had cut her songwriting and recording teeth collaborating with George Clinton and PFunk and various musicians from New Orleans and Asheville at the age of 21. She toured in various bands, and eventually carved out a solo career that took her around the world and the US, and caught the attention of country music icon Paul Worley (Dixie Chicks/Lady Antebellum).
Worley invited Laura to stay with him and his family in Nashville and introduced her to various collaborators, such as Shannon Sanders (Robert Randolph/Johnny Lang), who helped her secure her place as a independent writer and performer, securing multiple licensing spots and large festivals and tours. In the summer of 2019 fate brought her to the steps of Sputnik Sound to record a new solo project with Vance Powell (Jack white/Chris Stapleton) and Dave Schools (Widespread Panic/Hard Working Americans). She had a handful of songs ready to go, but still needed a guitarist.
Laur’s story started on the other side of the world, in Estonia. It was here he studied classical music and fell in love with American roots & blues and all things Rock n Roll. He eventually followed opportunity to Nashville. Laur found himself on the road and in the studio with Sturgill Simpson, after a recommendation by acclaimed producer Dave Cobb (Brandi Carlisle/Chris Stapleton). Cobb had heard the unique quality in Laur’s guitar playing due to Rival Sons drummer Michael Miley recommending him as a potential guitarist for Sturgill. Miley had married an Estonian woman, and discovered Joamet’s, as he was already garnering attention in his home country as a formidable musical force.
It was after a few years of playing guitar with Sturgill that Laur caught the attention of the Southern Rock outfit, Drivin n Cryin. He joined the band in 2017 & began touring with DNC across the US and Europe. In the summer of 2019 he embarked on his first instrumental record, comprised of songs he had been masterfully composing over several years. He brought the music to Sputnik to be mixed by Vance Powell, and was just about ready to put out into the world, when he decided he needed a singer.
Laura had made a public post on facebook indicating she was looking for a guitarist for a new project. A friend, passed this post along to Laur and implored him to check her out. Laur was impressed after hearing Laura’s soulful vocals and decided to reach out. He joined her at Sputnik that summer to play guitar on the session for her solo ep, whilst working on his solo insturmental album. The two found instant musical chemistry and began writing together, and booking local shows around Nashville.
Before long it was hard to distinguish which songs were Laura’s and which songs were Laur’s. It naturally progressed into an organic collaboration. As soon as 2020 began Laura went back to Sputnik to alter Laur’s instrumental album, singing on all but 1 song. The duo stripped the songs down to a guitar in her living room and crafted the arrangements and lyrics. By February of 2020 they decided to join forces and combine their projects into one.
This is where LORE thrives. In the space where ego melts away and collaboration pushes forth to honor the songs. Some things can’t be forced, and also can’t be stopped. The story begins here.