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| Brian Wallace / Juneau Empire |
 Dynamic duo: Lahna Deering and Rev. Neil Down will return to the Hangar on the Wharf for two weekends: 9:30 p.m. to close Fridays and Saturdays, Sept. 1-2 and 8-9. |
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When Lahna Deering and Rev. Neil Down take to the stage Friday and Saturday night at the Hangar on the Wharf, it'll be their seventh year performing together. The duo is touching down in Alaska for a short tour before flying off again to promote their first album in three years.
The album, still unnamed, is a collection of 12 original songs by Deering and Down. It's expected to be released in the next few months.
"We've got some real rockers on there and we have a couple of slower things, but for the most part, it's a rock-and-roll record recorded in Memphis, Tennessee," Down said. "There's no filler on this record. Every tune is important. I'm so entirely thrilled about every song," he said.
Down, born in Anacortes, Wash., came to Alaska years ago to play music for locals in Skagway, where he met Deering. The duo has toured Alaska, the United States, Canada and Europe, and recorded three previous albums, "Coupe de Villa," "When a Wrong Turns Right" and "Rough Cut."
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Performances
What: Deering and Down.
When: 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Sept. 1-2.
Where: Hangar on the Wharf.
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They spent the last few months recording in the hot and sticky Memphis summer with some of the best musicians there, Down said, including Rick Steff on keyboards, who has played with Cat Power, the Gin Blossoms and Hank Williams, Jr.; John C. Stubblefield on bass, from the band "Lucero"; and Harry Peel and Kurt Ruleman, both on drums (for different tracks). Ruleman once toured with Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs.
Deering is equally thrilled about the new album.
"Normally, I'm so critical of everything I do. Like I sometimes have a really hard time listening to myself," she said. "But this one, I'm pretty darned stoked about everything and can actually listen to it and not take it apart."
Down's favorite song on the album is "Sad Love."
"It's like 'Thelonious Monk meets Deering and Down'," he said. "Like a black and white rainy day film in New York City in 1960 or something. It's kind of got a jazz vibe about it - the old school jazz kind of vibe with a twist."
Deering named "Can't Wait" as her favorite.
"It's a fun song. It's kind of got this funk disco-y kind of thing, and I really like that one," she said. "It's different, you know."
"Can't Wait" started off sounding one way and by the end of the session had become "this completely different beast," Deering said.
"It took us for a ride and I'm really happy with how it turned out," she said.
Deering, born in British Columbia, Canada, spent her formative years in Port Townsend, Wash., before moving to Alaska at 16 and settling settled in Skagway.
For years, while still a minor, Deering sat outside the bars listening to Down play music before the two got together and started gigging. Until she turned 21, she had to be accompanied by her mom, Joan Deering, who owns the Paradise Café in Juneau, because state law only allows minors to be in bars with a parent. The duo eventually played Juneau and other Southeast Alaska towns, and performed in Switzerland and Ireland before moving to Memphis, their current base of operations.
"I think I've changed probably a lot with my vocals and singing, and hopefully have grown a bit," Deering said. "I think the Rev. and I have just become a lot stronger, and you know, like, really sticking to our guns and pushing through what we want to do."
Returning to Juneau, Deering and Down plan to spend a lot of time visiting with friends and relaxing after a long push to complete the album.
"Oh yeah," Deering said. "We're gonna drink coffee and eat cookies and hang out and go to the Triangle and the Alaskan and the Hangar and do it up right. Just every place that makes Juneau, Juneau," she said.
