carts before horses (& free download)

My favorite part of being on "the interwebs" is getting to meet all sorts of beautiful and talented people. A couple of my favorites that I've found in my adventures thus far are sisters Lauren and Elizabeth Reisig and their band Carts Before Horses. I fell in love at first listen with their witty melodies and ethereal harmonies. I asked Lauren to share a little with you guys and here's what she had to say:

My sister, Elizabeth (Beez) and I started Carts Before Horses in September of 2012 after spending the summer street-performing in our small town of Oxford, Michigan. We loved playing music together and wanted to keep it going so, we decided to start writing our own material and doing something more serious with it. It wasn't until after a friend asked us to play a benefit concert for his non-profit that we wrote our first song, “Pipe Dreams,” however. Because of this, we joked that we put the “cart before the horse” when it came to getting started and that is how we got our name!  Since then, we've opened shows at some well-known Detroit venues for national acts such as Jenny Owen Youngs and American Opera and had the awesome privilege  of recording our first E.P., “Allegories” with another Detroit artist, DL Rossi. 

As far as influences go, we say that fellow “sister-band” Eisley taught us everything we know about harmonizing and, they have probably been our biggest influence. We also draw a lot of inspiration from “folk-rock” artists such as Sufjan Stevens and Iron & Wine as well as greats like Carole King and Carly Simon.

Overall, we tend to be drawn to and gain a lot of inspiration from artists who write very honestly about their life because we tend to do the same. Most of our songs are written about relationships (romantic and otherwise) that we have or have had in the past. “Caulfield,” the song available on the blog for free download to Lark & Lace readers, is what Beez describes as her “last angst-y high school” song about some struggles she had with friendships during that time while “Brave” is my take on overcoming self-doubt in order to make room for new love despite being hurt in the past.

Currently, we are playing a few small shows and taking some time to write more. We're really excited to hopefully keep the momentum going and record more soon. We're very excited about the future and to see where this takes us. 


I can't get enough of this duo and can't wait for a full-length album. (And an East Coast tour... ladies?) They were kind enough to share my favorite song off of their debut EP, Caulfield, which is available to be downloaded here. If you're like me, you'll find yourself singing it quite often.

xo,
e.m.

p.s. To stay up-to-date with what Carts Before Horses is doing, follow them on twitter!

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