Deering and Down

Reverend Neil Down launched his musical journey during the closing years of the 1960s by performing alongside blues legend Albert Collins. Across the subsequent three decades he worked alongside artists and producers that included Henry McCullough and Jerry Scheff, before issuing his own solo project titled American Friend. Lahna Deering spent her childhood in Port Townsend, British Columbia, where she started composing and playing songs while still in her early teens. At fifteen she moved to the small Alaskan community of Skagway. Following stints as a maid and sales clerk, she secured employment at a tourist-oriented recreation of a gold rush settlement; there she performed vintage numbers for visitors while portraying a madam known as “Miss LaLa.” During this period she encountered Reverend Down, later acknowledging that he had reshaped her views on music. Although their ages differed markedly—Down likened the pairing to Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf—their tastes in music aligned closely. Down possessed a set of songs that required a vocalist, while Deering brought additional original material of her own. Their partnership produced the album Coupe de Villa, which was tracked in Alaska and the Yukon before appearing in late 2001.