Laur Joamets Joins Laura Reed in New Project, “Lore”

photo: Michael Weintrob

For those that like to keep up with the doings of guitar player Laur “Little Joe” Joamets—the Estonian ax slinger who set houses on fire behind Sturgill Simpson from 2015 to 2017—he’s formed a new project with Nashville-based and noted blues singer Laura Reed called “Lore.”

Forged earlier this year and playing their first few shows right before the pandemic hit, the duo has just released a new song called “Surrender” that Laura Reed co-wrote with Shannon Sanders. This is the first taste of a new album coming from the duo produced by a power duo of Dave Schools and Vance Powell.

The band formed when Laur recorded an instrumental album in 2019, and brought it to Vance Powell for mastering. Believing Joamets could benefit with working with a vocalist, Laur ended up pairing with Laura Reed off of a Facebook post, and the duo immediately hit it off as a vocal/guitar power duo.

Laura Reed was born in South Africa, but was raised in the United States where she started performing and collaborating early, including with George Clinton and PFunk. Reed has toured extensively as a vocalist with a wide array of artists from places like New Orleans and Asheville while also putting together a solo career.

Laur Joamets came to the United States after he was introduced to Sturgill Simpson by producer Dave Cobb, who knew of Joamets through Rival Sons drummer Michael Miley, who is married to a woman from Estonia. Laur played some of Sturgill’s most memorable performances, including on Saturday Night Live, and on the Grammy Awards before leaving the band in 2017. Most Recently Joamets has been playing guitar for long-time roots rock band Drivin’ & Cryin’.

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