Lindsay Lou Gives Billy Swans' 'I Can Help' A Breezy Makeover

08-31-2023

(MPG) Lindsay Lou shares "I Can Help," the latest track from her forthcoming album Queen of Time, out September 29 via Kill Rock Stars Nashville. Offering a breezy take on the Billy Swan original, Lou reminds us that everyone needs someone sometimes. The accompanying music video was featured this morning at Under The Radar, who praised the "gentle, swinging rhythms and easygoing guitar strums," and said "she retains a warm, effortless air, matching the friendly lyrics with her singular pastoral charms."

"I Can Help" follows the album's title track "Queen of Time" and the folk-pop ballad "Nothing Else Matters" featuring Grammy Award-winner Jerry Douglas. Guitar virtuoso Billy Strings also makes an appearance on Lou's dreamy new song "Shame," which was named an "Essential Guitar Track" by Guitar World, who praised the "'70s soft rock edge that calls to mind Fleetwood Mac in the airy chorus vocal and interspersed guitar licks."

Lindsay Lou on the new single: "My Grandma Nancy put music into two categories: bubble gum, or Bob Dylan. She'd declare that the latter actually has something to say and uses music to say it. I'm no Dylan. Not by a long stretch. I didn't even write this song. But, I chose it for this record because, as you may have noticed, I have a few things to say. I'm dispelling lies, as much for my own benefit as for whoever is listening. This song directs its gaze at the 'self-made person' lie. A friend introduced me to Billy Swan's rendition during a time when friendship was literally getting me through to the next day. Grief is real. Grief is love with nowhere to go. The only way out is through and we get through it together or not at all."

With an undercurrent of resilience, Queen of Time follows Lindsay Lou on a deeply personal spiritual journey that unfolds across eleven tracks of tender, heartbreakingly beautiful music. After the loss of her grandmother and the end of her marriage, Lou sought out a hallucinogenic ritual that not only informed the way she processes grief, but also opened her eyes to the throughline from her grandmother, to herself, to the art she creates. Her late grandmother even makes a special appearance on the album, with snippets from over 27 hours of recorded conversations between the two.

Lindsay Lou has become a beloved live performer, honing her style with her bluegrass-inspired band, Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys, as well as the Michigan supergroup, Sweet Water Warblers. As a songwriter, she's a mix of radical honesty and tender optimism, with a molasses-sweet voice that slices deep into the soul. Queen of Time finds Lou standing on her own for the first time, as she becomes unattainable in her own way-a vibrant, powerful woman who can share herself with the world, and yet define a mystic sense of inner self.

Queen of Time Tracklist
1. Nothing Else Matters (feat. Jerry Douglas)
2. Nothing's Working (feat. Billy Strings)
3. I Can Help
4. On Your Side (Starman)
5. Love Calls
6. Queen of Time
7. Rules
8. Needed
9. Shame
10. This Too Shall Pass
11. Silent

Lindsay Lou 2023 Tour Dates
September 13 - Cleveland, OH @ Music Box Supper Club
September 14 - Cincinnati, OH @ Ludlow Garage
September 15 - Columbus, OH @ Woodlands
September 16-17 - Louisville, KY @ Bourbon & Beyond
September 21-22 - Nashville, TN @ AmericanaFest
September 28 - Asheville, NC @ Asheville Music Hall
September 29 - Charlottesville, VA @ The Southern
September 30-1 - Annapolis, MD @ Baygrass Festival ^^
October 6-8 - Pelham, TN @ CaveFest ^^
October 19 - Ann Arbor, MI @ The Ark ''
October 20 - Kalamazoo, MI @ Kalamazoo State Theatre
November 7 - Oklahoma City, OK @ Tower Theatre #
November 9 - Houston, TX @ Heights Theatre #
November 10 - Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theatre #
November 11 - Dallas, TX @ Ferris Wheelers Backyard & BBQ #
November 12 - San Antonio, TX @ The Espee #
November 14 - Fayetteville, AR @ JJ's Live #
November 16 - Memphis, TN @ Minglewood Hall #
November 17 - Hattiesburg, MS @ Saenger Theatre #
November 18 - New Orleans, LA @ Joy Theatre #
December 6-9 - Puerto Morelos, Mexico @ Strings & Sol

^^ - Artist at Large & Band Set
'' - Michigan Night, Co-Bill
# - Supporting Greensky Bluegrass