From country and folk traditions
The rules of writing can be capricious. My boss, for example, is really tired of pointing out to me that an adverb clause modifies, ah, something or other.
So I’m not being snarky when I tell folk duo The Lied To’s that the apostrophe in their name suggests a possessive rather than a plural. I can see why The Lied To’s — Susan Levine and Doug Kwartler — did it that way: Without the apostrophe, it looks like the band name is The Lied Tos — and most first-readers would think “Tos” rhymes with “Ross” and therefore makes little sense.
Actually, the band name comes from an Everly Brothers song, “When Will I Be Loved,” which includes the lyric “I’ve been made blue / I’ve been lied to.” But the important thing to note here is the Everly Brothers allusion. If the Everlys — or is it Everly’s? — are a sufficient inspiration that Levine and Kwartler would title their group after one of their tunes, we suspect The Lied To’s are in a good place.
And indeed they are. The self-titled debut recording by the Massachusetts-based act features easy-flowing harmonies and bird-flight melodies. The tunes resonate in both Nashville country and New England folk traditions, and probably sound irresistible live. Find out when they play Sunday in Old Lyme at the Bee & Thistle. The Lied To’s, 5-8 p.m. Sunday, The Bee & Thistle, 100 Lyme St., Old Lyme; free; (860) 434-1667.