It’s not often that you find inspiration for a band moniker on the door of a public restroom. But a cheeky third floor restroom sign at NEC labelled The Ladles Restroom – an improvised edit by a male student too lazy to walk to the other end of the building – is exactly where The Ladles found their name.
We’ve been keeping an eye on this female folk trio for a while now; we named them one of our Artists to Watch in 2016, and even had the privilege of recording some of the songs off this EP in our Neighborhood Session video series. The Ladles EP is the first official recorded release by these lovely local ladies, a mix of traditional folk, neo-soul-folk, and “downer love songs.” Though, if you’ve heard them live you’ll know that even those are somehow sung with a smile.
Though the all-women band arrangement is something The Ladles take pride in, their final track (a jazzier number called “Kidding Me”) is proof they aren’t afraid to expand their sound when necessary, bringing on bassist Isaac Levien and drummer Aaron Edgcomb to build a stronger sense of rhythm. But even with the expanded setup, it’s the female vocals that are the driving force. Banjoist Caroline Kuhn and fiddle player Lucia Purpura-Pontoniere lay down a bed of harmonies as Katie Martucci sings, “Don’t worry, I’m an artist, I’m sure I’ll turn this into something beautiful.”
Well, they sure did.