Singer-songwriter Lindsay Lou: Giving listeners ‘a bit of beauty’ on stage and in song

Local Spins revisits the Michigan native and bluegrass star, as writer Enrique Olmos and photographer Loren Johnson join Lindsay Lou for a sunny afternoon of thrift shopping and songwriter talk in Nashville.

 

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Lindsay Lou’s life is clearly an adventure.

She traverses the country with her carefully crafted songs and a guitar, gracing festival stages around the world while collaborating in the studio with superstars like longtime friend Billy Strings.

Some days are more exhilarating than others. Last summer, she found herself rambling down a river lined by a prehistoric canyon in a precarious raft at the mercy of a few angry rapids.

Believe it or not, this was for a gig: RiverWondergrass, an offshoot of WinterWondergrass, hosted its debut river rafting music festival in 2021, a lineup that Lou “eagerly” joined. Performers tote along their dry-bagged instruments and pile into a caravan of rafts along with fans and navigate a total of 44 miles down the Green River.

The route begins in Western Colorado and ends in Utah. The festival showcases intimate performances. Long days on the river are juxtaposed by relaxing evenings camped out under the stars along the river’s edge.

“The festival was a reaction to the pandemic as a way to get people out into nature. You float down the river for miles, get to the campsite and set up camp,” the singer and Michigan native says. “You sleep in tents every night. The guides make dinner and then we play a show around a little fire. One of the days we were going through this canyon and it sounded really amazing.”

When she’s not touring or ambling down canyon-lined rivers, she spends serene days at her cozy East Nashville home. It’s washed in natural sunlight and full of treasured instruments. She’s currently perched at the dining room table while her partner, musical collaborator and banjoist Kyle Tuttle stands at the kitchen counter over his laptop.

“We decided to come to Nashville because all of our friends were here, you know. It’s like, you go to all these festivals all over, but in Nashville, the festival comes home with you,” says Lindsay Lou, who grew up in the Upper Peninsula and spent years fronting the Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys bluegrass band.

“So it really normalizes this lifestyle that’s not actually all that normal. It gives you the opportunity to let those collaborative juices flow and we can do the work that we’re always doing. It’s a really beautiful home base.”

It’s the home base from which she’ll set out on tour next month with The Sweet Water Warblers, the all-female super-group which also features Michigan’s May Erlewine and Rachael Davis. The group plays Old Art Building in Leland on May 4, Listening Room in Grand Rapids on May 5, The Ark in Ann Arbor on May 6 and Ten Pound Fiddle in East Lansing on May 7. Later the same month, she’ll head overseas to Czechia for the IGE Music & Art Immersion 2022, followed by a series of appearances at U.S. music festivals — including RiverWonderGrass again in July.

‘THINKING OF CREATIVE WAYS TO MAKE THINGS AND PRESENT YOUR STORY’

Today, the songwriter is elegantly draped in an aqua blue dress that touches the floor. Her hands are wrapped in opulent rings and a turquoise bolo tie circles her neck.

Lou smokes weed occasionally and is transparent about it on social media. She takes breaks, usually when the plant isn’t “doing what it’s supposed to,” like aiding her creative process. But on days when music and weed get along, she writes songs.

“Part of being an artist is thinking of creative ways to make things and present your story. Art and music have such a role in connecting us to each other,” she says.

“When I smoke pot, a lot of times it’ll break down whatever sort of normal inhibitions are going on. Ideas come forward about how to connect my story with the way that I’m perceiving reality. And if I can put that into a song, it’s a service to somebody else who might feel less alone or give them a bit of beauty.”

Lindsay Lou currently is working on writing and recording a new record, a follow-up to 2018’s much-admired “Southland” and a 2019 EP, “Our Vinyl.”

It’s the first sunny day Nashville’s seen all week so we decide to take a stroll down the road for a little thrift shopping, a favorite activity of Lindsay Lou’s, who is always magnetically stylish – both on and off stage. She throws on a jacket over her dress and we make our way along a tree-lined sidewalk to Star Struck Vintage.

It’s pricey but trendy, the kind of place where you find statement wardrobe pieces like luxurious faux-fur coats or denim jackets with action-packed origin stories.

Lindsay Lou is in her element here. I turn my back for a brief moment to scope the selection of leather jackets, and when I look back, her arms are full of garments. She’s a ruthless thrift store hunter with deadly aim.

INCORPORATING THE VISUAL MEDIUM INTO HER CRAFT

“Visual mediums are 100 percent a part of the craft that I have engaged in. It’s creating a full-on experience for people. And I think that when you combine fashion and music, it’s just such a natural pairing,” Lou says.

“It definitely ties into the visual piece and into the whole story. I love working with vintage collectors. What a beautiful thing to take something that is a basic need and turn it into something you love, and something that you can really dive into and have fun with.”

She disappears into the dressing room to cycle through potential fits, remerging each time for a decisive glance in the mirror. She finds a vintage dress. The top half is tan with white polka dots; the bottom half is a ruffled shade of eggshell white.

Moments later, a jacket seems to find HER, beckoning from beyond the maze of clothing racks. It’s a dark suede coat with fur cuffs and a collar. And it works with the dress. She’s sold.

We bag our finds and trek back to the house for a front porch hang. Lindsay Lou sits on her porch swing to soak up the afternoon sunshine. Within minutes she’s glowing in the golden hour light like a spotlight on the stage.

Read more about The Sweet Water Warblers.

PHOTO GALLERY: Lindsay Lou in Nashville
Photos by Loren Johnson

VIDEO: “Live With Lindsay Lou” (2021)

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