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While on tour together in 2022, Durham based folk duo Viv & Riley, and Nashville-based singer/songwriter Rachel Baiman talked about the recent records that they had enjoyed. Each time one person would bring up a beloved album or song, another would chime in with enthusiastic agreement With hours in the van to daydream, and hours on stage to enjoy harmonizing together, the three began to scheme about recording some covers together.
In June of 2023, producer Greg Griffith (Amy Ray, Vitapup, The Butchies) invited the newly imagined trio to spend a week in Connecticut at his home and studio. The idea was to explore some cover songs and see what the sound of the project might be, with no expectation of a finished product
As the three began working out an arrangement for Lennon Stella’s “Kissing Other People”, sitting cross legged on the floor in Griffith’s living room, Griffith stealthily placed microphones, as well as a vintage camcorder in the room. What emerged was a completely live take of the song, organic and full of magic. The recording set the tone for what followed, an 8 track album of covers ranging from cult favorites like Magnolia Electric Company, Dr. Dog and Joan Armatrading, to modern but lesser-known writers like Waylon Payne.
With Griffith’s influence, the project explored more analog, indie and grunge sounds than any of the individual artist’s previous work. The recording captures the beautifully uncaged feeling of the collaboration, as Leva switches to playing drums for “Hold on Magnolia”, and Baiman plays a wildly dissonant guitar solo on “Woncha Come On Home”. Every idea was attempted, and every song was captured in real time.
Kissing Other PPL is a project about openness to exploration, collaboration, and creativity above technicality. It finds a trio of accomplished musicians that seeks to unlearn boundaries of perfection and find the best sound for the given song in the given moment.