Seeing the name “Paris Hilton” being thanked in the liner notes of Yay!, the Loves It! CD, cries out for an explanation, and Vaughn Walters of the acoustic duo has one.
“She kind of gave us her name,” he says, explaining that “Loves It!” has often been uttered by the tabloid personality famous for being famous. Hilton, however, does not contribute any vocals to the album.
Walters and Jenny Parrot are on the road, doing what they love best, singing and playing. In his case, he plays banjo and guitar, and Parrot plays fiddle and guitar. Both sing, and, besides their 2011 self-produced, written and arranged CD, they have a four-song EP, only available online.
“Next week we start work on a new album,” Walters says. “We had a month off and wrote four new songs, so we have about 20 new ones total to work up in the studio.”
Walters is from Rowlesburg, W.Va., home to some 47 souls, he reckons, and Parrott is from New Haven, Conn., home of Yale University. The two musicians, whose influences include Sam Cooke, Shovels & Rope and Brandon Lee,met three years ago in Austin, Texas, while playing in different bands, which they soon left to work with each other. Though Austin is technically their home, they pledge their allegiance to the road.
“We pretty much just tour,” Walters says. “We haven’t really been in Austin since last April. We go out in our van with our dog, Boxie, and play our songs, plus some covers by folks that include Gram Parsons, George Jones and Johnny Paycheck.”
In 2012, Loves It! played 200 shows in seven countries on three continents.
“And there are still 10 or 15 states we’ve yet to perform in,” he says. “We’ll get to them !”Loves It!
7 p.m. today, Maxine’s, 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs Admission: Free (501) 321-0909 www.maxineslive.com
Weekend, Pages 36 on 03/14/2013