At any given time, you’re likely to find Jim Lauderdale making music, whether he’s laying down a new track in the studio or working through a spontaneous melody at his home in Nashville. And if he’s not actively crafting new music, he’s certainly thinking about it. “It's a constant challenge to try to keep making better and better records, write better and better songs. I still always feel like I'm a developing artist,” he says. This may be a surprising sentiment from a man who’s won two Grammys, released 34 full-length albums, and taken home the Americana Music Association’s coveted Wagonmaster Award. But his forthcoming album Game Changer is convincing evidence that the North Carolina native is only continuing to hone his craft.

Operating under his own label, Sky Crunch Records, for the first time since 2016, Lauderdale recorded Game Changer at the renowned Blackbird Studios in Nashville, co-producing the release with Jay Weaver and pulling from songs he’d written over the last several years. “There's a mixture on this record of uplifting songs and, at the same time, songs of heartbreak and despair—because that's part of life as well,” he says. “In the country song world especially, that's always been part of it. That’s real life.”

Lauderdale would know: He’s been a vital part of the country music ecosystem since 1991, when he released his debut album and began penning songs for an impressively long roster of country music greats. “When I was a teenager wanting to be a bluegrass banjo player, I never would have imagined that I would get to work with people like Ralph Stanley and Robert Hunter and George Jones and Elvis Costello and John Oates,” he muses. “Getting to work with them inspires me greatly to this day, and I know it always will.”

From rollicking guitar riffs on “That Kind of Life (That Kind of Day)” to the slow, sweet harmonies of “I’ll Keep My Heart Open For You,” Game Changer shows off Lauderdale’s ingenuity as a singer, songwriter, and producer—while reestablishing him as one of Americana’s most steadfast champions.  "Country music is constantly evolving, but I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for steel guitar and a Telecaster," he says. "I have done my job on this record if people who love classic country feel like they can put it on, or have it in their collection, and it would fit right in."

Respecting the past doesn’t mean he’s not breaking new ground. “We’re All We’ve Got,” a co-write with Mary Gauthier and Jaimee Harris, offers a timely message about healing torn relationships at home and across the world. And “Friends Again,” a grinning number about rekindling a friendship, is fresh and forward-looking. At every turn, Lauderdale’s collaborative spirit and genuine love for the creative process reveal themselves in thoughtful, well-crafted songs sure to stand the test of time. "When everything works right, it's just magical to be able to hear them back," he says. "You feel, at least for those three-and-a-half minutes, like life makes sense.”

 

Music has always been a major part of singer/songwriter/guitarist/fiddle player Lillie Mae’s life.

At the age of 3, Mae started performing and playing with her family band at churches, fairs,
festivals and theme parks. The family moved to Nashville when she was 8, expanding their
profile —and her own experience. They were soon playing at bluegrass festivals and at Dolly
Parton’s dinner theater show in Myrtle Beach. Traveling and performing became the norm. The
family would work with Cowboy Jack Clement, in addition to recording and touring consistently.

By the time she was a teen, Lillie Mae and her siblings were tearing it up. They formed Jypsi
and were signed to Arista Records when she was 14. The group experienced success with two
Top 40 singles on the Hot Country Songs charts.
However, that success didn’t last. The fickleness of the major label system caused Jypsi’s
album to be shelved. But Lillie Mae would go on to success as a studio musician, performing
with many top musicians, including Dwight Yoakam, the Grammy-nominated Michael Kiwanuka,
Dean Fertitta and Jack White.

Mae met the Third Man crew when White’s long-time engineer Josh Smith suggested that she
and her sister Scarlett record for The Lone Ranger soundtrack. Around that time, White was
putting the finishing touches on his solo debut, Blunderbuss, and enlisted Mae for “Take Me
With You When You Go.” After that, White invited Lillie to join his all-female touring band. With
Jypsi on hiatus, she accepted the offer.

Those journeys with White brought her to some of the biggest festival and concert halls in the
world. One show, in particular, stands out. In 2014 as part of White’s Lazaretto tour, Lillie Mae
performed at Neil Young’s legendary Bridge School benefit show. When all of the musicians
assembled for the show’s finale, Mae interacted with Young, a moment which remains a career
thrill — as was playing fiddle for Robert Plant. After meeting him while on tour with White, Plant
entrusted her to play in his Shapeshifters band when his fiddle player couldn’t make a show.
The ex-Led Zeppelin frontman appreciated the performance so much that he enlisted her for
more shows, and even had her open for him.

After she was off the road with White, she’d go on to release two albums, 2017’s Forever and
Then Some and 2019’s Other Girls, on Third Man Records.

In 2021, Mae went back in the studio, but knew she wanted to make a record outside of
Nashville — instead working out of Texas. She enlisted Beau Bedford to produce the album and
her family to serve as her backing band. Consisting of eight songs, Festival Eyes fulfills her vast
promise as a songwriter and performer. These heartfelt songs are drawn from her own
experiences, including the devastating loss of her 17-year-old dog (“Cherry Pie”). The title track
is a bit lighter, inspired by a conversation Mae had about how at the end of a festival day, your
make-up has as much wear-and-tear as the day itself. “Love Is Love” is Mae reflecting on love
equality and how it’s still difficult for people to be themselves within society’s parameters.
Festival Eyes also includes a cover of Neil Young’s “Razor Love.” The song was introduced to
her by Bedford, and quickly became a favorite. Inspired by her mother's maiden name, Razor,
the song’s pure look at love cuts through with Lillie Mae’s beautiful vocals and composition.
That album, however, wasn’t the only major change that occurred this decade for Mae. She
married guitarist Craig Smith, who has performed with her in the studio and with other artists like
Jim Lauderdale. In 2022, the two welcomed a child, which gave the young family a new focus.

As someone who was raised on the road herself, she understands the importance of family both
at home and outside of it.

In late 2022, Lillie Mae played her first show in several years on SiriusXM’s Outlaw Country
Cruise. She was excited to collaborate and perform with other musicians, but has even bigger
plans for 2023. As great as it has been to be in Nashville and playing on other records while
watching her home garden grow, Mae is ready to rock. Armed with this new album, she’s itching
to get back on the road to perform, ready to thrill both longtime and the new fans she’ll greet for