And their live shows are where this band thrives. They feature an evening full of Lanier’s Fender Telecaster country flavored picking style with Miller’s earthly, soulful vocals backed by a solid rhythm section. There is an undertone of rebellious spirit in L Shape Lot’s music. It blends a raw Buck Owens style “Bakersfield” sound with the energy of rock that translates well to the stage. “We love to perform,” states Miller.  In fact, the band rarely takes breaks during their shows. “We found out long ago that if we took a break we would lose some of the crowd,” Miller confesses. So the band keeps playing. Most nights they play three to four hours straight without a break.

L Shape Lot performs in the studio as they do on stage, with the same instruments and attitude they use in the live performances. They also pride themselves on not depending on elaborate studio production techniques. Their 2006 CD Go Till I’m Gone, was recorded live with minimal overdubs and their new CD, which as of this time has yet to be titled, was recorded in the same manner. Recorded at Audio Genesis, with producer/engineer Karen Kane over a three day period in March 2008, the new seventeen song collection captures the band’s sound and a distinct maturation in songwriting as well.  “Well first off, there are no songs about trains on this record,” states Miller with a smile as he eludes to the seven trains songs on the last disc.  Perhaps those trains represented some sort of worthwhile freedom for Miller. But now, he and the band are traveling on another mode of transportation and on a road where their earthy instrumentation and easygoing vibe finds them comfortable with themselves and their music. The disc is highlighted by gems such as, “Lonesome Dove”, a narrative based on the Western TV mini-series, “Carolina Moon”, a lovely ballad about a boy’s coming of age, and the somewhat confessional “Down to the Church’, about the state of the today’s music business.

For most bands, musical style is often a statement of backgrounds. Like the late Gram Parsons, who was among the first to combine country music with the energy of rock, L Shape Lot’s music is a synthesis of folk, country and rock n’ roll. And like many artists today, they face the challenge to be commercially acceptable without sacrificing artistic vision. Miller and Lanier constantly pepper their songs with references to their life experiences;  outlaws and heroes, loves lost and won, and make good music in the process and that, is no less stylish and intelligent for being straightforward – which, to most of us, is the purest and best musical style of all.