Lindsay Lou talks with KGNU’s Dave McIntyre. She reflects on her latest album, “Queen of Time”, which she’s been performing in full as a way to celebrate its one-year anniversary. Lindsay Lou, based in Nashville, shares her love for the city’s bluegrass, folk, and Americana community. She highlights her collaboration with Billy Strings on the track “Nothing’s Working” and discusses the personal significance of the song “Love Calls,” which features conversations with her grandmother (Interview date: 9/6/2024)
Dave McIntyre: Hi. So where are you right now?
Lindsay Lou: I’m in Paonia, Colorado.
Dave McIntyre: Oh, I see. Is that where you’re playing today?
Lindsay Lou: We’re playing in Hotchkiss, actually. We stayed in Paonia, but the show is in Hotchkiss tonight at Big B’s Apple Orchard. It’s got a little music festival going on, and I think we’re playing the public part of it. Tomorrow we’ll be in Denver at Cervantes in the ballroom.
Dave McIntyre: Oh good. You are out there getting around. How’s the new CD doing?
Lindsay Lou: Great. It’s been really cool to see how it’s been impacting people and getting it out into the world. This is the last tour before its one year anniversary of being released. I’ve been on a few tours that we’ve done behind this record. I’ve played the entire record front to back as a piece, which feels like a good act of rebellion, almost, in the world we live in of singles and fast food music. I decided to do that on this tour as well. Just to round off the first year one last time on this tour, we’ll be playing the record front to back.
Dave McIntyre: Great. So you’re based out of Nashville these days?
Lindsay Lou: Yep, I’ve been in Nashville for almost a decade now.
Dave McIntyre: Oh wow, nice. How do you like it?
Lindsay Lou: I love it. You’re just surrounded by inspiration and community. It’s great. I came from Michigan and I had a lot of inspiration and community there as well. I feel like I always have one foot in Michigan. My heart never really leaves the home place. But it’s been really great to dive into the culture of Nashville. The culture that I’m a part of in Nashville is not necessarily what’s on TV or anything. It’s the bluegrass and folk and Americana niches. It’s a really supportive and collaborative community that is sweet to be a part of.
Dave McIntyre: Great. So you haven’t been swept up and pulled down by what they call country music these days? You found the niche. That’s great.
This tune that we got queued up from the new CD, Queen of Time, it’s called “Nothing’s Working”. You’ve got a lot of people on this CD playing with you. Who’s on this one?
Lindsay Lou: This track is one that I co wrote with Billy Strings, who’s an old Michigan pal of mine. We wrote it years ago, he put it on his record, Renewal. Ever since we wrote it, I’ve had this different arrangement and instrumentation that I was envisioning, so I asked him if he’d come in and help me bring to life what was in my head, and he did, and it turned out really nice.
Dave McIntyre: Great. Oh, that’s very nice. Is that Jerry Douglas playing with you?
Lindsay Lou: I wanted to mention that on that particular song, it’s Anders Beck on dobro. It was so cool to hear the interplay between Billy and Anders on that track. Jerry Douglas was on the first track of the record, so I got a couple really good dobro players.
But yeah, so tonight in Hotchkiss over by Paonia, Colorado, and then tomorrow in Denver at Cervantes Masterpiece ballroom.
Dave McIntyre: Great. When we’re done here, I’m going to give away a couple of tickets, as a matter of fact, with High Country and Emma Rose at the High Country Hustle that you’ll be playing at. We want to thank you for calling in this morning and being with us on KGNU. If I was going to play another song from this latest CD, what one would you like to hear?
Lindsay Lou: I liked the sound of what you were playing just before we got on air together, and it reminded me of the song “Love Calls”, which is just about halfway through the record, and it features some conversations that I had with my grandmother before she passed.
She’s a central theme in my life, so it’s around hearing her tell her stories to me over the course of my life. I think that would be a cool track, to hear another song with a different vibe, but that’s really important to the record.
Dave McIntyre: Great. I’ll play that for you. Again, we want to thank you for calling and being with us. Good luck on the shows coming up. Hope to talk to you again some time soon. Thanks, Lindsay Lou.
Lindsay Lou: Absolutely. Thank you for having me.
