Valley Queen

I was sitting on a airplane, flying away from my hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas. I was headed back to Los Angeles, California, ready to get back into recording my first ever LP with my band, Valley Queen. Listening to the rough mixes of our now newly released single, "Who Ever Said", on repeat on my iPod, I revisited the moment of my life I found myself when writing the song's story.

It was the very hot summer of 2014 on the east side of Los Angeles and a recent, tender love affair with a dear friend was not going the way I had planned. I wanted control of our relationship's outcome. The love we shared was not allowing itself to be clubbed into my submission. Fortunately, the inner-resistance I was experiencing was coincided with another kind of love affair, my literary romance with Tom Robbins. It was getting serious. I was in the middle of Still Life With Woodpecker (my second favorite only to Even Cowgirls Get The Blues) around the time I was tweaking the song's lyrics. A quote of Robbins had stuck out in my mind-- "Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won't adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is to sign on as its accomplice".
On that five hour plane ride, I began to think more about the idea of love as outlaw, a person group or thing excluded from the protection of the government.

While still in Little Rock before boarding the flight, I had learned of a recent bill, HB 1228, that had successfully passed through the Arkansas state senate, known as the "Religious Freedom Reformation Act", or dubbed by its opponents as "The Right to Discriminate Act". Through this legislation, Arkansas business owners would subsequently have the right to fire employees based on their sexual orientation. The thoughts of this legislation and its writers began to blend with my song and my own story. Love was not adhering to any of our rules.

It was on that flight that the idea of this music video was born. Since that day, the U.S. has made significant steps in the protection of its LGBT community. This video is a celebration and expression of that progress.

And Love remains the ultimate outlaw. - Huffington Post

Bands such as Valley Queen are too few and far between. The Silver Lake-based act began when Arkansas native Natalie Carol first collaborated with guitarist David Donaldson on a natural fusion of roots rock, Southern soul, and Motown blues. Here’s their latest single, “Who Ever Said,” off their forthcoming debut LP. - Free Bike Valet

Natalie Meadors almost returned to Arkansas after only one year in L.A., but she decided to stay after coming upon an acoustic jam session where she met guitarist David Donaldson. Six years later, Meadors and Donaldson, along with Neil Wogensen on bass and Gerry Doot on drums, have continued to collaborate and share their influences, such as Zeppelin, Duane Allman and Muddy Waters. The four members now record and perform under the moniker Valley Queen, and “Carnival,” the A-side to their debut 7-inch, is a thick, rollicking, smokey folk-rock tune. Produced by Lewis Pesacov (Best Coast, FIDLAR, Fool’s Gold), Meadors’ sweet yet compelling vocals weave in and out of spaghetti Western guitar riffs while the percussion gallops in the verses and the chorus soars and swoops back down just before another rip-roaring build-up. Ironically enough, this first single is also about creating a supportive artistic community in Echo Park. With arrangements like this, there’s no room for loneliness. Valley Queen’s “Carnival” 7-inch (with “Make You Feel” as its b-side) is out now via White Iris. - Buzzbands.la

Valley Queen brought ethereal bliss to our LA Music Blogcast back in August. During their visit, we not only got to know about the group’s roots, inspirations, and plans for the future, we also got an intimate, 2-song performance, and though space was tight, their soft harmonies and acoustic setup filled the room with melodious perfection that blew hosts Naomi and Mike away.
For their latest endeavor, Valley Queen teamed up with director Angela Izzo to create the visual partner to the group’s Western-influenced song “Carnival,” and we’re proud they’ve chosen LA Music Blog to premiere the video! Hypnotized by kaleidoscopic visuals and Natalie Carol’s voice, the video is sure to pull you in and make you want to put the track on repeat.
Check it out below, and be sure to get out to the group’s FREE show at The Satellite tonight! - LA Music Blog

Shit's about to get extremely LA. I don't mean that in a derogatory way, but as soon as you press play, it's clear this video couldn't have been filmed anywhere else. And when I write this I'm thinking about my muggy BK apartment where I chased a cockroach around the other night with the speed at which I normally ingest hashbrowns. And yet I still did not catch said roach and neither did any of the dinner guests enlisted to help. All of which is to say this video by Golden State quartet Valley Queen has me dreaming of dry heat and suede skirts (yes to the gauzy scarves, no to the dreamcatchers).

Driven by the impassioned vocals of Natalie Carol—tones that shiver in all the perfect places—"My Man" is a song that smacks of rolling hills and freeform dancing, a kind of pop imbued with Laurel Canyons vapors and alt country angles and a top down free spiritedness. So it stands to reason that the video hinges on one such free spirit carousing around a house, possessed by the desire to dance—all heavy lids and that need to keep moving forward. At one point she's compelled to hurl an avocado across the kitchen (poor avo). Keep playing through that gnarly-good guitar solo at the end.

This is the band's take on it:

"The song is about intimate relationship as conduit for internal transformation," explains Natalie. "For this piece, my roommates Eden Rose and Megan McIsaac, our friend Mitch deQuilettes and I collaborated to create a visual metaphor using our house in Silverlake exploring the internal 'rooms' of the psyche—sexuality, femininity, bliss, passion, masculinity, secrecy, addiction, chaos, divinity—elements of the self often isolated from one another for a sense of stability or control. Ultimately, we wanted to create a moment when all aspects of the self converge into a state of surrender or deeper level of personal understanding. Internal exploration despite inner-resitance and judgement is the path of the whole person. Leave no stone unturned, and don't be sorry."

Thus far the band have released two tunes and have an album coming soon, produced by Lewis Pesacov (Best Coast, FIDLAR, Fool's Gold). Plus their next single, “In My Place” / “High Expectations,” is due out August 12th via Canvasclub.

But for now press play and dance your way through every door. - Noisey

Valley Queen have shown considerable promise since they first began releasing harmoniously ripping roots-rock singles back in 2014. But the latest tease of the band’s long awaited debut album portends the Los Angeles quartet finally realizing their full potential. They’ve never sounded better than they do on “In My Place” — especially vocalist Natalie Carol, who wrestles with the wreckage of her faith and self-perception while anxiously considering her own youth “floating on great expectations” and “choking on grand illusions.”
“In My Place” is classic California country, filled with golden guitar tones employed in the search for salvation. “I’ve convinced myself my isolation’s holy/ I’ve wasted some time/ I was never yours, never mine,” she sings, shuffling through the words so gracefully that you might fail to consider how damning those lines really are. Like all drifting spirits, Carol’s “betting on some coming transformation,” the ripe basslines and soaring harmonies offered to prove the extent of her conviction. “Who’s gonna put me back in my place?” she desperately wails. But by the sound of it, she’s already right where she belongs. Listen and check out the band’s upcoming tour dates below. - Stereogum

July 8, 2016 by BOB BOILEN • At first it was simply the voice that shook me. I was in Austin, Texas, during SXSW, and my buddy Sean Moeller of Daytrotter told me he was recording a new favorite band and I should come by. The house/makeshift studio on Austin's East Side was saturated with the alluring voice of Natalie Carol and her solid yet rattling Neil Young-ish band. That was my introduction to Valley Queen, and I've seen them shake the walls at a few venues around the country now, one of which was here at NPR. When this band, which has only put out a few singles on Bandcamp so far, came to the Tiny Desk, its members played like veterans. Valley Queen's music is rich with nuance and depth, rooted deep in California country. They are working toward that debut record, and three songs they played at the Tiny Desk were unreleased. Here is an early glimpse of some growing talent. - NPR