Southern rockers Larkin Poe gave a new edge to Pink Floyd’s classic “Wish You Were Here”, adding a country vibe to the legendary song. Sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell performed the song as a duo, with Rebecca singing lead and playing acoustic while Megan absolutely rocks the slide guitar.
On the original recording, Dave Gilmour’s intro solo is done on an acoustic, while his sedate outro solo was accompanied by his scat singing. Megan instead plays both solos with an overdriven slide guitar, adding some more grit and a touch of a heartland vibe. Check out the girls’ take on the song on YouTube below.
Larkin Poe formed in 2010 and are based out of Nashville, Tennessee. The four-piece are fronted by multi-instrumentalists Rebecca and Megan, aged 32 and 34 respectively. The line-up is rounded out by Nashville session cats Tarka Layman and Ben Satterlee on bass and drums.
The sisters originally hail from Calhoun, a country town in Georgia. Therefore it’s no surprise to hear the girls – often called the “the little sisters of the Allman Brothers” – add a Southern feel to the song. This refers to legendary Southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band, featuring Gregg and Duane Allman – the latter often considered to be one of the greatest slide guitar players of all time. You can hear the sisters play The Allman Brothers blues rocker “One Way Out” below.
Larkin Poe, which is named after sisters’ great-great-great-great-grandfather, have produced seven studio albums in their career so far and extensively toured internationally, often to sold out shows. Their barnstorming live show has also translated to chart success, with their 2018 and 2020 albums Venom & Faith and Self Made Man both reaching #1 on the Billboard Blues Albums chart.
The pair also have excellent taste in classic rock, as evidenced by their choice of “Wish You Were Here”. The song was originally released as the title track of Pink Floyd’s 1975 album of the same name. Guitarist David Gilmour and bassist Roger Waters worked together to write the music for “Wish You Were Here”, while Gilmour provided the soulful lead vocals. This is somewhat unusual in the history of Pink Floyd, as Gilmour and Waters rarely collaborated with each other during song writing.
The song has enjoyed enduring popularity with Pink Floyd fans and is currently the band’s second most streamed song on Spotify, with 612 million streams, behind international megahit “Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2”, which has 746 million streams. “Wish You Were Here” was a setlist staple for the band for many years and has remained a popular choice on classic rock radio playlists.
“Wish You Were Here” has also gained widespread critical acclaim, being listed as the best Pink Floyd song by Billboard and ranked at number 302 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list in 2021.
Many fans consider “Wish You Were Here” to be a tribute to original Pink Floyd frontman and acid casualty Syd Barrett. This is supported by Gilmour, who said that whenever he performs the song live, he thinks of Barrett. The lyricist Roger Waters however said that he directed the lyrics at himself, with being present in one’s own life being the main theme. If you would like to see more from Larkin Poe, you can subscribe to their YouTube channel or follow them on Facebook.