Lindsay Lou

A multifaceted musician who has continually challenged genre boundaries while respecting tradition, Lindsay Lou is recognized for her work in bluegrass, folk, and adult alternative pop while incorporating several adjacent genres and styles. After self-releasing her solo debut LP, A Different Tune, in 2010, Lou became better known for her bluegrass group Lindsay Lou & the Flatbellys, which put out a pair of albums, Release Your Shrouds and Ionia, to some acclaim in the first half of the 2010s. Her first album after dropping the Flatbellys, 2018′s Southland, was a diverse effort that incorporated pop and rock as well as roots music. In the meantime, she co-founded harmony-rich folk trio the Sweet Water Warblers with Rachel Davis and May Erlewine; they delivered their debut album, The Dream That Holds This Child, in 2020. Lindsay Lou’s Kill Rock Stars label debut, the more personal and adult alternative-leaning Queen of Time, appeared in 2023.
The child of a coal miner and millwright, Lindsay Lou was born in Missouri and grew up in Michigan, where she compiled her self-issued debut album, September 2010′s A Different Tune. Among its stylistic influences were folk, blues, bluegrass, and swing. She soon launched Lindsay Lou & the Flatbellys, who made their reputation performing the songs live, and the outfit signed with Earth Work Music for June 2012′s Release Your Shrouds, which was credited to Lindsay Lou & the Flatbellys. After releasing 2013′s Time & Luck (Earth Work) — a duo album with the Flatbellys’ Joshua Rilko — and band EP Here Between EP (also on Earth Work), she co-founded the folk trio the Sweet Water Warblers in 2014. Consisting of Lou, Rachel Davis, and May Erlewine, all respected recording artists in their own right, they charmed the folk festival circuit with their harmony vocals and interwoven instrumental performances.
Lou relocated to Nashville in 2015 (to a home across the street from frequent stage-mate Billy Strings) but maintained her membership in the Warblers. She and the Flatbellys blended their bluegrass into acoustic pop on 2015′s Ionia, and the following year, she was nominated for Best Vocalist at the International Bluegrass Music Awards. Meanwhile, she toured internationally with her namesake group while working on personal material that was heavily influenced by leaving home. A Sweet Water Warblers debut EP that merged folk, Americana, gospel, and soul influences, With You, eventually appeared in 2017.
Although recorded with collaborators, the even more genre-defying solo effort Southland (which incorporated touches of rock and even punk), was her second album to be credited to Lindsay Lou alone. Produced by Sam Kassirer (Josh Ritter, Lake Street Dive), it was self-released in April 2018. The Sweet Water Warblers returned to action with their first studio album, The Dream That Holds This Child, in May of 2020.
With Lindsay Lou’s solo style remaining multifaceted but leaning toward more singer/songwriter- and adult alternative-fashioned fare, she signed with Kill Rock Stars for the stylistically and emotionally nuanced Queen of Time. With its inspirations spanning loss, divorce, and the pandemic, it marked her debut on the label in September 2023. ~ Marcy Donelson