Bishop Lavey —26 June 2019 on Rocket Shop Radio Hour

Bishop LaVey joined host Tom Proctor on ‘Rocket Shop‘, Big Heavy World’s weekly local Vermont music radio hour on 105.9FM The Radiator. Catch up with him at facebook.com/archbishoplavey

Following Thomas Gunn’s performance on Rocket Shop, another performer from Montpelier slipped into the studio. Bishop Lavey dropped by with his guitar and a few of his alt-folk songs. Bishop began his second performance on Rocket Shop with a song titled “Man Afraid of Light,” which comes off of his latest album, Light. The song depicts the feeling of hiding from the snow and cold of Winter inside the safety of a home. With its rustic sound on a skillfully played guitar, it does make you want to sit by a fireplace in a warm house, even on a muggy summer day. The song is from an album that LaVey wrote and recorded himself in his home studio this past winter. The album was released in February and he has plans to release more songs over the course of the year.

“The album is a concept album about the apocalypse,“ he explained. LaVey described his musical style as “doom folk” since he, in his own words, said that he doesn’t “look the part of folk.” Despite feeling this way, he has released a single in April and one in May. “I don’t want to get writer’s block,” he said as his reasoning for releasing one song each month. He might take a break soon, as he has started exploring writing about myths while staying true to his version of folk. 

His next song, “The Myth Has Broken,” was in this theme. This powerful song is based in historical myth, which seemed to have a nostalgic call to not forget the past. 

LaVey explained that his music is meant to tell stories, focusing on the downtrodden. He combines this element of folk with history and myth. He creates his own version of folk through the eyes of those that were downtrodden within historic context, playing around with historical fiction through song. 

His last song, “Romulus,” told the story of the fall of Rome through a deep, heavy beat, which moved the entire studio.

As a Montpelier based musician, he gave credit to the other local musicians to his area. He depicted the Montpelier music scene as a “weird town with weird people…but we’re all friends…or at least know each other.” Montpelier is a place where “no two acts are the same.” He provided credit to another musician named Lilith, and Thomas, who is the only performer that he has asked to formally work with him (in the moment, on our show). 

He will be playing at Sweet Melissa’s in Montpelier this July, Desperate Annie’s in Saratoga Springs later in July, and then the Somewhere Out There festival in Worcester in August. He is also featured on Instagram, Spotify, Apple Music, and almost every social media platform under his name, Bishop LaVey. 

Text by Jenn Travers.

Photo by James Lockridge.