It’s not easy to make a connection between classical literature and Keith Richards’ music, but local band Lady of the Barge does just that.The up-and-coming Baton Rouge trio sings about love, life and loss with influences ranging from the Rolling Stones to Screeching Weasel.And it does so with a fantastic vocabulary.”I’m aspiring to be somebody who can craft a song,” said frontman Kevin Casper, English graduate student at the University. “It’s a marvel to me that ever happens.”  Casper, the drummer for another local band, Flatbed Honeymoon, plays guitar and bass in addition to singing lead vocals for Lady.Tom Sowders, English graduate student, joined Lady as a bass player and back-up vocalist six months ago. “What I’m doing is a kind of poetry I guess. Every time I write a song, it’s a learning process,” Sowders said. “It ends up being what it is.”Casper was originally the songwriter for the group, but he said the process is becoming more collaborative as the band carves out its direction.  “It’s how we understand the music itself. We’re figuring it out as we go,” said Chris Shipman, the band’s drummer.Shipman, English instructor, joined with Casper to form Lady last year.  Part of the band’s unique appeal comes from the members’ shared background in poetry, which influences the members’ approach to songwriting. As in poetry, the band’s lyrics often rely on imagery. “We’re all definitely into literature,” Shipman said. “Tom’s songs are more narrative — they tell a story.”And the band’s name comes from the title of a collection of short stories published during World War I, “Lady of the Barge and Other Stories.” The members are hesitant to label themselves under any specific genre when defining their own sound. “Some people say we’re going to be this kind of band or that kind of band,” Casper said. “But the other way to go about that is to just write what you feel and see what happens … it’s unexpected.”The group’s sound varies from song to song, ranging from Spanish-inspired melodies to ’70s soulful rock, with country and pop influences.”We’re really all over the map, and that in itself is what holds us together — that we can go to all of these other places, even in one song,” Shipman said. And having only three instruments presents a unique challenge.”I think the three-piece [means] you have to do more vocal stuff just to make more sound,” Casper said. “You have to wring as much material as you can out of six hands.”Lady of the Barge had its first official gig at Chelsea’s Cafe in November.The band has only played a few shows around town, but it hopes to perform at a fundraiser for the University’s performance arts program next month.Casper said the group is focusing on writing new songs rather than playing gigs, as the members have plans to record their first album in the near future. “When we record, we’re going to bring in more instrumentalists. We’re not sure how that’s going to affect us as a band,” he said. “It’s a weird thing though. We have a nice chemistry … and it just works like this.”The band is still a self-described “work-in-progress,” but there are plenty of reasons to anticipate its full arrival onto the local music scene. 
“On the surface, we’re three sort of slightly older dudes in the English Department who play music,” Sowders said. “But we’re people who read a lot, think about words, art and poetry — what happens when those kind of people start rocking? We’re trying to answer that question.” Follow Elizabeth Clausen on   Twitter @ TDR_EClausen.—–Contact Elizabeth Clausen at [email protected]