Pensacola’s Lyndsey Battle—Destin Welcomes a Unique Voice
Chris Manson March 23, 2005 Issue

I’d been hearing a lot of good things about Pensacola’s Lyndsey Battle, particularly from Space Medicine’s Justin Powell. Powell encouraged the 22-year old singer-guitarist to expand her performing radius to include Destin’s Funky Blues Shack and the upcoming Mossy Headz Festival. Intrigued, I googled her name and came up with about 2000 results concerning “Lindsay Lohan’s Battle with bulimia.” Next time, I’ll remember to spell her name correctly.

Her boyfriend and business partner Justin Smegelski on electric bass joins Battle at the Shack Monday nights. While she bemoans her lack of original material—“not quite four hours’ worth”—she’s only been writing songs for about three years. Her regular touring band includes Sean Peterson on upright bass and drummer Brandon Warren. “A jazz trio,” she calls it. The Lyndsey Battle Band appears at random gigs on the weekends and at Pensacola’s Gutter Lounge every Wednesday.

“I really do like Bill Frisell,” she tells me when I point out one of the many influences listed on her Internet site, lyndseybattle.com. I had been listening to Frisell’s double live album of jazz guitar East/West a lot recently, and this seemed like a good way for us to bond. “A lot of the local musicians have really inspired me, too,” she says, giving special mention to Pensacola’s Damien Louviere. “I steal things from him all the time,” Battle laughs.

She frequently came to town to see Dread Clampitt, and was galvanized by what she heard. “I like the scene here,” Battle says. “We did a gig at The Sound. Those are the kind of places I like.” Joe Crocker’s friendly record shop in Fort Walton Beach is a far cry from Pensacola’s punk rock clubs, where Battle’s relatively low-key musings were scheduled between a couple of very hardcore bands. “Everyone would be riled up, and here we are with our mellow stuff!”

Battle’s first album, The Prototype, was recorded with Col. Bruce Hampton’s rhythm section. (He was immortalized in white blues chick Susan Tedeschi’s song Hamptonized a few years back.) She is currently putting the finishing touches on a new disc, a “mellow and jazzy” set with her current band. “It’s a combination of new songs and older songs I never put down. It’s different, full of rhythmic explorations.”

Her music is “kinda like Ani DiFranco meets Joni Mitchell with a little less anger.” It’s a triumphant mixture of blues, jazz, and folk with just the right amount of funk touches. Battle is an interesting vocalist, effortlessly singing songs of love gone bad and other assorted pain. Her forays in and out of high singing are amazing and strike me as completely unforced.

I only recognize one song—Bob Marley’s Is This Love—but Battle delivers every song like it comes from the deepest, darkest corners of her soul. It’s hard to tell where the interpretations end and her original compositions begin. This is clearly music whose agenda has nothing to do with getting people laid and selling beer. She later tells me she’s been listening to a lot of Ella Fitzgerald and Bessie Smith records. I’m not surprised to learn Battle does not own an iPod and could not name one of the tunes in the current Billboard Top Ten.

“For the longest time, I didn’t know what keys my songs were in,” she admits. “I’m musically illiterate, but Justin is a great translator.” In addition to playing music for a living, Battle is an artist and graphic designer. She and Smegelski have formed a promotion company to book local musicians with the ultimate goal of “forming an alliance with bands around the region.”

Future plans include a tour in May. “I’m going to Colorado, Oregon, Washington, looking for a different scene. I feel I’ve reached my limit as to what I can do in Pensacola.” Not that playing in Destin has not been rewarding. “People really listen here, but in Pensacola, there’s maybe a core group of 20 musicians who play there. There are musicians that play every week, but they’ve got about five different projects going on. There’s a ‘rock’ scene, but it’s hard to push your original songs. They don’t like change much.”

SIDEBAR:
Attention Musicians! The time has come for another long-overdue CD roundup. Aside from Dread Clampitt’s new, excellent Geaux Juice, a pair of Ronnie Dents recordings, and a demo from the Mane Squeeze (loved the live Beatles Abbey Road medley, by the way) my stack has dwindled to nothing. Please send your stuff to me c/o The Beachcomber for a forthcoming article.

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