Delvon Lamarr on His Band’s Tour Food Philosophy and Their Efficient Rehearsals

Photo credit: Benjamin Hullenkremer

Tell us about your tour vehicle. Any notable breakdown stories?

Ford E150 with 276,443 miles at this time but we are on our longest tour yet. 14,204 miles.

As for repairs, we have had a transmission, tune up, differential replacement, 4 new tires, new battery, front end and many oil changes later.

No break downs as of yet. Knock on wood.

How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?

We don’t. We eat what we can when we can. From restaurants to fast food.

How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?

To my surprise, I have never had a broken string on my Hammond B3. Lol. But our guitarists breaks one at least every show.

Where do you rehearse?

We don’t really rehearse very often, but when we do, it is usually in our living room. We normally get a lot done in a very short period of time.

What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?

I have been writing music since I was in high school. If I go back as far as I remember “Double D Dilemma” this is an instrumental band so no lyrics.

Describe your first gig.

We were a house band for a spoken word jam session.

What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?

My last day job was Pep Boys as a general service technician. My favorite day job? None of them. Just wanted to play music.

How has your music-related income changed over the past 5-10 years? What do you expect it to look like 5-10 years from now?

Substantially more income musically. It allows me to be full-time musician. I expect in 5 to 20 years I will still be a full-time musician.

What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?

Actually, nothing. People have been talking about the business side for many years, so nothing I already didn’t know or expect. Musically, nothing as well. What I didn’t know has never impacted me musically.

After years of playing in bands that inevitably fell apart, as bands so often do, keyboard player Delvon Lamarr landed in a different kind of group: one founded by his wife and manager, Amy Novo. She created the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio so her husband could fully focus on the things he does best: writing and playing music.

With a deep soul backbone augmented by jazz, rhythm & blues and rock ‘n’ roll, the trio – comprised of Lamarr, drummer Keith Laudieri and guitar extraordinaire Jimmy James – evokes a classic instrumental sound with a fresh, virtuosic sensibility all its own. Their chemistry stems from each musician’s unique abilities. Lamarr holds down basslines on the organ that are so vivid that audience members sometimes ask where the bass player is.

The group have released two albums in the past year – Close But No Cigar and Live at KEXP!. Connect with them online and on the road.