Photo by Jody Domingue
Lilly Hiatt’s latest album, Forever, marks her fourth release with New West Records and is a deeply personal project. Recorded in her home studio with husband Coley Hinson, who also produced and played nearly every instrument, the nine-track album reflects Hiatt’s recent life changes. Since her 2021 release, Lately, she’s gotten married, adopted a dog, and bought a house—all experiences that have found their way into her songwriting. Known for her indie rock sound with a touch of Americana, Hiatt has steadily built a dedicated fanbase through consistent releases and extensive touring. Forever continues this trajectory with upbeat, charming songs, showcasing her inviting vocals and catchy guitar work. This interview, like previous conversations with Hiatt, feels more like a friendly chat than a formal interview.
What did your 2024 look like?
LILLY: 2020 to 2023 were ramping me up to 2024. I did a lot of behind-the-scenes work those years. So 2024 kind of felt like an action year for me. I started it by finishing recording my new album, then I went on a headlining tour. I had some dates in the summer and then shortly after that, I began prepping for the release of Forever. It was a pretty busy year overall even though it wasn’t a crazy amount of tour dates. I feel like I got a lot done.
When you say you finished recording in 2024, does that mean you were writing and recording in 2023?
LILLY: We started in the fall of 2023 and it bled into 2024. We were done, with a master, probably in May of 2024.
Is finishing up an album and then waiting a long time before it comes out pretty standard for you?
LILLY: Somewhat. When it’s going through a label, the album is usually done about a year before it comes out. The timing has worked out in my experience because I need a little time to build it up and figure out what I’m going to do with it, book a tour, all that.
The album kicks off with the song “Hidden Day.” I interpret that song as you singing about a day where you can just chill out, where you can put things on pause and relax without setting yourself back. What is your perfect hidden day?
LILLY: Speaking of 2024, I’ve noticed that we’re all very connected. There’s a lot of accessibility. That’s a good thing, a lot of pros come with that. But, also, you have to make some real boundaries for yourself. I’m an empath type. I let a lot of things in. I’m a storywriter. I spin a lot of things in my mind. So, sometimes I have to be like, “You know what? I don’t have to get back to this. I don’t have to check my Instagram and see who’s looked.” A “hidden day” is more of a mental peace and clarity that I’m searching for that I feel is harder and harder to come by in modern times because of the way things are set up. Maybe that’s my own weakness.
How much of what you write is fact and how much is fiction? I’m specifically wondering about the song “Evelyn’s House.” I think I saw that you moved in the last couple of years. Is Evelyn who you bought the house from?
LILLY: It’s hard to say how much is fact and how much is fiction. It depends on the song. There have been a few times where I’ve spun a story based on what I know. Most things are somewhat narrative in my writing but with “Evelyn’s House,” Evelyn was just a hypothesized name. The song isn’t about the house I’m in now, I’ll say that. It’s about a house we were renting. We think it had a ghost in it. We would hear stories about the woman—the old lady—that owned it before us. It had a tree in the yard that her husband had planted in the ’50s, and it had grown so huge. It was an amazing house. They had lived there for years, but both passed away from COVID. It was a sad story. They were older, but still. Anyhow, we would hear about these people, but we never knew them. And we thought a ghost was in our house. So, I named the ghost Evelyn. That’s that.
Did you have any experiences in that house where you may have seen or heard things that you couldn’t explain?
LILLY: Mainly, I think Evelyn the ghost lived in the ice machine. It’s probably just the ice machine and not a ghost, but who knows? There was an energy. That house definitely had a very anxious space to it, but it also was a productive, creative space. We made a lot of music there.
The song “Kwik-E-Mart” reminds me of being in high school and loitering in parking lots trying to talk adults into buying me and my friends beer. Is the song a nostalgic look back for you?
LILLY: “Kwik-E-Mart” is pretty current, but it makes sense that it would remind you of being younger and I like that. Something in my life that’s remained consistent, like being in a band and dating a musician who’s also been on the road, is stopping places together. You kind of have this relationship with Kwik stops over time where you’re used to them being a portal of life. You know when you’re traveling, you can get some snacks or get your drink, and they’re usually cheap.
There’s a line in that song where you sing, “She looks good on high-def televsion / You’re the only one I know who’d watch a movie like this after a rock and roll show.” That seems to be a very real experience you’re talking about.
LILLY: Totally. That’s a very specific line. It’s about Barbra Streisand, watching A Star is Born and finding the beauty and the humor in that. It’s an amazing film. It’s a hell of a movie so it’s a big thing to take on post-concert. That’s what the bridge is about.
I like it when artists drop other artists’ names into songs. I think it gives the listener a little bit of insight into who you are. On the album’s closing track, “Thoughts,” you sing about listening to The Sundays while in the car with a friend. I can picture you listening to their music, looking out the passenger window and just getting lost in The Sunday’s world. Is that based on a real memory?
LILLY: Honestly, I have some memories with The Sundays music but I was more into The Cranberries and other stuff. Growing up, I didn’t know The Sundays’ music that well. I got into them later but I felt like the song needed The Sundays and it made me want to listen to them. That’s a band I’ve come to know and love in more recent years but I wanted to take them back in time with me.
Another band that I’ve just gotten into is Lush. I don’t know when they were big, but I was a little young whenever that was. I just started listening to them and I was like, “Whoa!” It’s cool when you can go back and check out a whole catalog and think, “This is a really good band.”
Is your songwriting voice a reliable narrator or do you take real experiences and, with time, see them in a different way?
LILLY: I think so. It’s kind of like journaling where you’re like, “I didn’t know I felt that way until it came out.”
Speaking of journaling, the video for “Shouldn’t Be” shows the past, present and future you writing a letter to yourself. It actually took me a minute to realize that the other people in the video are supposed to be a younger you and an older you.
LILLY: It’s a loose concept, even if you don’t pick up on that, it’s still really fun with all the women it. It was the director, Joshua Shoemaker’s idea which I thought was really fun. He said, “Let’s show three versions of you at different ages. I’m 40 which is kind of right in the middle there. You’re not one thing or another when you’re 40. I’m not old but I’m not young. It’s kind of weird but exciting. I’m like, “Let’s get into these middle ages!”
Did you know the women who played you before making the video?
LILLY: Joshua picked them out. He knew Miriam (Rashwan), the young woman. He was like, “She’s really cool. She goes to Rock School.” And I was like, “Awesome.” And then he mentioned Susie (Monick), the older woman. I knew her, she’s a friend of mine. I hadn’t seen her in a while, but we used to play together so it was cool. I love Susie. She’s a legend around here. I was honored to have a reconnection with her.
You’ve made two videos for Forever. Is that how most people find out about your music or have you found some other tool to get your name and music out there?
LILLY: I think the one thing that’s threaded throughout everything is me keeping hands on with my relationship to my fans, one way or the other. I have my Facebook crew. I have my Instagram people. I’m not going to get on 20 platforms to try to get my name out there. I don’t have that kind of energy or desire. The TikTok stars can laugh at me all they would like, because that’s proven really worthwhile for some. I do my social media thing. I’ve come and gone from my feelings for social media, because I get so addicted to it. I get so irritated. I’m just like, “Gosh, this is pulling me in again and again.” But it can be fun when I’m promoting my stuff if I put a pretty decent album out and then get a good band together and go on tour. It’s always pushed my stuff every time I tour. There was a little shift from pre-2020 to rebuilding stuff in 2021, 2022, but I’ve seen it pay off by going out and playing a bunch.
Are the people currently in your band the same people who toured with you last year?
LILLY: I have a different band. They’re all people who I’ve played with before, but it’s a new band that I’ve never had on the road. They’re really cool. This will be our first tour together, so it’ll be fun. I’ve never had a committed band, it’s all been a bunch of people coming in and out of my thing. I like it that way, honestly, because it makes it fun for everybody.
What can you tell me about the upcoming tour?
LILLY: Tour will be fun. I mean it’s gonna be long. It’s the longest tour I’ve been on, it’s five weeks long, but I’m really excited about that because I think we’ll just get out there and knock it out. It’s all headlining stuff. We’re going to have different people open the shows. We’re still kind of sealing the deal on that, but it should be really good. I work with my agents and my managers to pick out openers, I’m very passionate about that and very hands on with suggestions and advocating for people. This tour, I’ve had a lot of people ask me to be a part of it and I want to accommodate everyone. I’ve put a lot of people’s names into that hat.
When you’re on the road, it’s go, go, go. Is it ever tough to always be moving?
LILLY: It’s really fun. I’ve toured with a lot of different people and sometimes you see that this is not the lifestyle for one person but some people you recognize that they are meant for this. That’s the beauty of a troubadour. Something happens when we get on the road. You don’t have time for all the ego crap out there. I mean, of course, bands go through that but when you’re touring like I do, which is in a van and sleeping in a couple hotel rooms or Airbnb’s, it’s no-frills touring. You’ve got to be pretty on and you’ve got to hustle. That’s what we do. There’s not a lot of room for bullshit. And I love to go city to city. I love to be on the go, on the run. It feels good to me. The only time it’s really hard is when you reach those points where you’re like, “I’m really tired.” I get tired, but adrenaline helps.
Do you record in your house with your husband? Do you have your own studio?
LILLY: Yes, we’ve done that with the last two projects, we’ve made them in-house because he has a console and stuff.
Does that make it easier or harder to record? On one hand, it’s so convenient. On the other hand, sometimes you need to separate work and pleasure and that’s probably tough when you’ve got a studio in your house.
LILLY: It’s easier to do when you can just record in the other room. But, the mindset has to be there. We’re not in a project mindset right now. We were just talking about how it’s probably time to do that because when we are in that mindset, it’s open ended. But when we aren’t, it’s shut off for a minute, in a good way. But, yes, having the studio that accessible is awesome.
Is there anything catching your eyes and ears in Nashville right now?
LILLY: My friend Thayer Sarrano makes really cool records. She’s got a new one coming out this year and I can’t wait to hear what she does. I’ve been a fan of hers for a long time. She’s like Soundgarden-meets-Mazzy-Star or something and that’s really cool. And she’s also a gifted instrumentalist, a gifted piano player. So, I’d say check her out because I’ve not heard anybody really do what she does.
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2025 Tour Dates
2/5/2025 Bijou Theater, Knoxville, TN
2/22-2/28/25 Outlaw Country Cruise
3/6/25 The Masquerade, Atlanta, GA
3/7/25 Pour House, Charleston, SC
3/8/25 The Evening Muse, Charlotte, NC
3/9/25 The Pinhook, Durham, NC
3/11/25 Silk City Diner, Philadelphia, PA
3/12/25 The Middle East, Cambridge, MA
3/13/25 Baby’s All Right, Brooklyn, NY
3/14/25 DC9, Washington, DC
3/15/25 Mr. Smalls Theatre, Millvale, PA
3/16/25 Beachland Tavern, Cleveland, OH
3/19/25 Natalie’s Grandview, Columbus, OH
3/20/25 Off Broadway, St. Louis, MO
3/21/25 Duke’s, Indianapolis, IN
3/22/25 Fitzgerald’s, Berwyn, IL
3/23/25 Turf Club, St. Paul MN
3/24/25 Vinyl Cup Records, Des Moines, IA
3/28/25 Sunset Tavern, Seattle, WA
3/29/25 Trout Lake Hall, Trout Lake, WA
3/30/25 The Showdown, Portland, OR
4/1/25 Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco, CA
4/3/25 The Wayfarer, Costa Mesa, CA
4/4/25 Permanent Records Roadhouse, LA, CA
4/5/25 The Dirty Drummer. Phoenix, AZ
4/8/25 The Continental Club, Houston, TX
4/9/25 Meridian, Buda, TX
4/10/25 Magnolia Motor Lounge, Fort Worth, TX
4/11/25 White Water Tavern, Little Rock, AR
4/12/25 Hernando’s Hideaway, Memphis, TN
