September 1. 2000 »
T
heir names are ubiquitous.
They’re busy as heavers, with regular gigs
booked at Touchstone Coffee House, Bor
ders Bcxiks and Starbucks. They’re a com
munity presence, long-standing staples in the
scene, fixtures in the Just Out events calendar.
They’re Barb Galloway and Donna Luck-
ett—or, as Luckett charmingly sums up: “I’m
the short, cute one. Barb’s the tall, talented
»»
one.
After hearing about this infamous musical
couple around the office for almost a year, 1 was
excited to finally learn more about the duo
than just their names.
“Playing music is not a hobby, it’s how we
earn a living,” Luckett asserts in her Southern
drawl, compliments of growing up in Ten
nessee. In fact, they scoff at unpaid gigs
(including Portland’s pride celebration, which,
unlike Vancouver’s Saturday in the Park, only
pays out-of-town acts).
It’s apparent that music nearly encompasses
their lives. Luckett says her day job— as a social
services worker for the state of Oregon—
enables them to play their music. She spends
the rest of her time as the group’s txxiking
agent, promoter and bass player. Galloway is
the principal songwriter and lead guitarist (and
occasional home renovator). Oh yeah, and
they’re a couple.
met them on one of their rare nights off at
! their co-owned, modest home in North Port
land. I’m first greeted by the lesser-known duo of
the house: Keelah and Cedar, the couple’s
Labradors. Keelah, the older of the two, keeps to
herself while Cedar becomes well acquainted
with my lap.
Before Luckett has a chance to show me
around the house, I spy a neatly arranged, cov
ered pile of instruments behind the couch in
the living room (complete with a “Celebrate
one definitive word. “We’ll play anything— we
Diversity” bumper sticker on the bass drum).
see a person three feet tall, we’ll do ‘Itsy Bitsy
This area, I discover, is their practice space,
Spider’ at the drop of a hat.”
where they come together every Sunday night
Galloway, a former motocross racer who
to jam. “Our neighbor drinks a beer on his
grew up in the Portland area, gained some of
front porch and listens every time we practice,”
her first performing experience during the
Luckett says.
1970s and '80s doing Joni Mitchell cover tunes
and playing with the well-known Dyketones, a
The first thing to know about Galloway and
’50s-style hand with a leshionic kick.
Luckett—the entity— is that it’s not always a
duo. At several gigs and
on the group’s 1998 full-
length CD, When I’m
Galloway, Kelly and Luckett jam on the waterfront
With You, their friend
during Vancouver’s Saturday in the Park this summer
Cacy Lee accompanies
them on drums and Kiera
O’Hara plays piano. “We
kind of make a commit
ment to keep women in
the group," Luckett says.
Although O ’Hara left
the group in February to
fiKus on her new jazz trio,
Portland vocal authority
Maureen Kelly recently
joined the lineup, much
to Galloway and Luckett’s
delight.
“She can rattle the
windows without an
effort,” Luckett says.
“Maureen’s put a new
spark in the group.”
The second thing to
know about Galloway
and Luckett is that
they’re lesbians who play
music but who don’t play
womyn’s music.
"We play folk, blues,
country, bluegrass, rock,
jazz. We’re floozies,”
Luckett says, combining
folk" and “blues" into
Maureen Kelly
(left) recently
joined Donna
Luckett and Barb
Galloway as a
vocalist
When I'm With You is a mature, well-pol
ished set of Galloway’s tunes. It truly sheds light
on her mixed palette of musical influences,
which include Mitchell, Portland songstress
Connie Cohen and various jazz artists. Whereas
the title track is a folksy, bluesy jaunt, “Some
times I Love You” and “Just Because” are inspi
rational acoustic ballads, and “Lazy Sunday” is a
beautiful, introspective instrumental.
just out 33
Lyrically, When I’m With You just as easily
could have been called When I’m Without You.
The first two songs demonstrate an urge to
break free, with lyrics like “you wanna go / do
you wanna go?” and “I’m on the road to any
where.” Aptly enough, Galloway, a shy
woman in person, says music always has been
a release for her.
“Barb lets the music speak for her. I can
shut up and she still won’t talk,” Luckett says.
“She talks the music out of the guitar. She gets
in a trancelike state.”
Luckett goes on to explain her partner’s
writing style: “Barb just disappears into her stu
dio. I’ve even seen her wake up in the middle
of the night with an idea for a song.”
Galloway reportedly has written “volumes
and volumes” of songs. Luckett once unearthed
one of her partner’s recordings in their base
ment and began crying as she listened because
it was so beautiful. When she asked why they
never played it, Galloway said it was because
the song was written about someone else.
Luckett said she didn’t care.
When I ask her if she’s a songwriter, t(x>,
she replies, “I have written some of the corni
est, hokiest shit you’ve ever heard in your life.”
Luckett, whose first instrument was saxo
phone, says she’s happy just to play bass for the
group. “I just wanna keep things simple,” she
says, although she has been known to perform
a mean version of “House of the Rising Sun” to
the tune of “Amazing Grace.”
As if the couple’s plate isn’t full enough
already, Galloway and Luckett (who are both
“older than dirt,” according to Luckett) have
been chewing on two major life alterations: the
onset of a multiple sclerosis-type disease in
Galloway and the possibility of adopting a
child.
Galloway says her condition, called spastic
paraparesis, affects her lower extremities and
makes walking difficult and running next to
impossible. Fortunately, the disease doesn’t
affect her masterful guitar-playing ability.
Her fingers still rip the same solos, hut now
she sits down when the group perfonns. She
puts it simply: “It’s very exhausting."
Luckett says the idea of having a child had
been rattling around in her head for a while,
and the couple now
have entered the “long
and tedious” adoption
process. Because of legal
reasons, Luckett says she
can’t reveal too much
more information about
their soon-to-be child,
although she admits:
“We want a little girl.
We want to let her
become what she will.”
Despite these
changes, the music
remains the constant
force in Galloway and
Luckett’s lives. They
continue to practice
every Sunday. They
continue to play gigs
every weekend. They
continue to devote
their lives to music.
And who knows, as
Luckett says, “One of
these days, we’re going
to he on Oprah."
■ K aty D avidson is a
Just Out staff umter who
wants to he on Oprah—
hut for other reasons.
She can he reached at
katy@justout. com.