Olivia Ellen Lloyd - Country, Folk and Indie Rock Artist | Rugged Revival
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There's a particular kind of honesty that emerges when a songwriter has absolutely nothing to prove. Olivia Ellen Lloyd possesses that quality in spades—the kind of artist who'll tell you a story so raw and intimate that you have to play the song twice just to fully absorb it, only to discover later that half the details might've been invented for the sake of the song itself.
That contradiction—between brutal autobiography and clever artistic fiction—sits at the heart of what makes Lloyd such a compelling voice in contemporary Americana. Speaking with Brad from Rugged Revival ahead of a recent show in Charlottesville, the West Virginia-born songwriter spoke with the kind of clarity that only comes from knowing exactly who you are as an artist and refusing to apologize for it.
I've just expanded on a sound and I'm getting curious about my sonic references, but it's still very much rooted in country and classic Americana.
— Olivia Ellen Lloyd
Lloyd's recently released second album, "Do It Myself," marks a significant step forward from her debut. Rather than abandoning the foundations that established her voice, she's expanded them—weaving in indie rock textures and New York City influences while keeping the country and Appalachian roots firmly intact. The result, she explained, has resonated deeper with audiences than she initially expected. "I've just grown my fan base with this record," she said, noting how the songs have been received positively on the road. It's the kind of growth that happens when an artist takes the risk of evolution without losing themselves in the process.
That evolution is rooted, in part, in Lloyd's relocation to New York City—a move that surprised many who assumed her trajectory would keep her tethered to the Southern roots music world. But New York harbors a thriving Americana and bluegrass scene that most overlook, populated by serious players like Remy Michaels, Tony Trishka, and the bluegrass community she's integrated into. "New York City is the everything city," she explained, and for Lloyd, it's become both inspiration and home base, a place where traditional sounds meet urban energy.
A good song is a good song is a good song—I don't think I need to have the experience to sing it with heart.
— Olivia Ellen Lloyd
What's particularly striking about Lloyd's songwriting approach is her refusal to be bound by personal experience. When asked whether she could authentically perform songs she hadn't lived through—a question Merle Haggard famously wrestled with—she was refreshingly unbothered. "A good song is a good song is a good song," she said simply. She cut her teeth playing three and four-hour sets in honky tonks, spinning through covers and classics, which taught her something essential: the song itself matters more than the autobiography behind it. "I never let facts get in the way of the truth," she quipped, speaking to that particular brand of artistic license that separates great songwriting from mere confession.
That philosophy reveals itself in tracks like "Beautiful Mess," a love song that sounds achingly genuine even as Lloyd acknowledges the performance involved. Her collaborators might remember the story differently, but that's precisely the point. The emotional truth—what the song *means*—supersedes the documentary accuracy of how it came to be written. It's a maturity that many songwriters take decades to reach, if they reach it at all.
Lloyd represents a particular breed of contemporary roots artist: rooted enough in tradition to understand what country and folk music fundamentally mean, ambitious enough to push those traditions into new territory, and honest enough to admit that the best songs sometimes require a little creative embellishment. With "Do It Myself" settling into audiences' hearts and her live shows attracting growing crowds, she's clearly onto something worth listening to. The pride of West Virginia has found her footing in New York City, and the rest of the country is only just beginning to catch on.
Hello, I am Brad with the Rugged Revival aka Slim Chance Cowboy. I am here with the Pride Joy of West Virginia, Olivia Ellen Lloyd. >> Hi. How you doing? >> Good. I'm doing great. Thank you. Thank you for taking time. I know this has been a crazy wet rainy day. >> Crazy wet rainy day. About to play a show in Charlottesville with my friends Ramona and the Holy Smokes, but happy to be here. >> Thanks for taking the time. >> Yeah. >> So, if you all don't know Olivia, you should definitely know her music. She's had um her second album uh Do It Myself came out back in March. How have those songs been playing out on the road? Because I think personally it's different set of of type of songs than your first album. So, what have the fans been receiving these songs out on the road? >> I mean, I feel like I've just grown my fan base with this record. Um because I've just expanded on a sound like I sort of had a foundational sound and um you know I'm just getting curious and sort of expanding my sonic references but it's still very much rooted in like country and classic Americana that um folks like. So what I've just noticed is like more people are coming to shows which I am liking. >> That's great. It's great. Yeah. No, it's uh I definitely there was there's definitely like a ying and yang to both your albums. So I love both of them but um yeah do it myself had some songs that hit home for me. out there. I'm like, man, this she's this the songwriter thing is is great. So, >> so you've relocated to New York City. Yeah. >> In the recent history. Um, and what people may not know is that New York has a pretty vibrant um folk Americana, but also country and bluegrass scene. >> I know cuz I'm a I'm a grasser that there there at least there was about 1015 years ago. Pretty good bluegrass scene up there. >> Yeah, it's died down a little bit, but there's still some really amazing players there. Remy Michael Dave still calls New York City his home base and Tony Trishka is in and out a lot and lives in the area and so we feel you know that's that's the scene that I initially found when I was looking for a musical community and I really love the bluegrass musicians in New York City. Cole Quest in the city pickers. Those are my best buddies. Really great musicians. Yeah. >> Is like Red McAdams there. >> Red is actually based in Austin now but he's from Jersey City so we sometimes claim him. Yeah. >> Okay. That's that's cool. Yeah. A lot of people wouldn't know that New York actually has that scene. Probably more so than DC, actually. >> Definitely more than DC. Although, you know, the Virginia area has some has some great music. Yeah. I mean, New York City is the largest city in the United States. It's the everything city. Um, and so I'm just proud to be a little slice of that um of that cultural offering. >> I wish DC had a scene. I'm trying. >> You used to have a really good scene. Hazel Dickens is my favorite songwriter and she was a DC person. >> I have a I have a post about it about bluegrass there in the 50s and 60s that my grandparents were a part of. So, it was it was pretty awesome. So, >> now As a songwriter, I can appreciate that a lot of your songs are obviously autobiographical and some of them are brutally honest and and you joke about it on stage sometimes and that that helps a little bit, but I remember something that Merl Haggard has said in an interview one time that he found it hard to sing with any heart a song that someone else wrote. Now, of course, there's covers and I know you sing Hazel songs and yeah, >> you'll sing um uh Lucinda Williams songs, but >> is there if someone were to write a song for you, like like one of your friends at Olivia, the song is for you. >> Do you have a trouble singing that if you don't have the experience? >> Well, I don't think I need to have the experience because a good song is a good song is a good song. Is a good song. And I came up doing three, four hour sets and honky tonks playing 40 or 50 of my favorite songs. >> Exactly. >> Um >> and country songs are covered to to no end. To no end, which is a good thing. But um I think it's just a question of whether the song is any good. Uh I don't think I need to have experience. In fact, a lot of my songs sound more autobiographical than they are. I never let um >> I never let facts get in the way of the truth, you know. Yeah. >> Or of a good song. So sometimes >> Yeah. So sometimes my stuff sounds like it's directly from my journal and um people who participated in it might disagree. >> Hey, you have to you have to massage it a little bit. >> Artistic license is what it is. Yeah, that's right. Is was Beautiful Mess autobiographical? I love I love that song. >> Yeah. Yeah, that's a love song. That's about somebody I was falling in love with. Yeah, >> it's it's it's a really sweet song. When I I heard that the first time I had to like play it again and thank you. >> I like get the lyrics. I'm like, man, that's that's an honest song. I I knew that had to have had to have come from some experience. So, some of those songs you can just tell. So, >> now you are recently a member of the Resistance Revival Course, which is in New York. Can you explain some of that because I was reading up on it and it looks really interesting. >> It's really cool. It's a collective of artists and political activists. Um we sing at protests at social activist moments. We sometimes create um moments for social change. We recently sang with Big Freda at Newport Folk Festival and Big Freda is amazing. And the new record, she's putting out a gospel record. It's really good. Okay. >> And she gave us a moment on the stage to sing for a ceasefire in Palestine. um on that stage. Um Newport is like sort of a famously fancy festival with fancy people who have a lot of access to uh power and influence. So that was really cool and that's what that choir is all about. And it's a collective. So there are like a hundred of us and we all are sort of a different from different walks of life, different backgrounds. I might be the only country singer in the New York City chapter, but I could be wrong because I haven't met everybody yet. Yeah, >> that's good. That's it sounds really cool. Sounds like their their mission. and you guys are kind of helping out each other and also doing it for a cause whether it's women's rights or you know any kind of you know uh societal society human rights kind of thing. >> Yes. >> We dress in white as a as an homage to the suffragettes. So that's sort of our roots are there. >> That's awesome. Yeah. >> Uh what did it take to become a member of that? >> You know I had a friend who was a member and they needed new members and um she asked if I was interested and I came played a couple gigs and really enjoyed the community so I joined. >> Nice. Yeah. >> So, I guess what's next for for you on the artistic and creative trail? Any new songs you're writing or >> Oh, yeah. I'll play a couple new songs tonight. Um, I'm always writing. I'm I'm about to head into a season of writing. Honestly, I've basically been on the road since I released the record at the end of March. I have not been home for more than two or three weeks >> since then. So, I'm really looking forward to a quiet, soft fall. >> It's uh soft girl autumn. Uh, I'm yeah, I'm really looking forward to just like relaxing, enjoying my apartment and my dog, getting back into a routine. Um, and then um >> yeah, hitting it again. I I want to make a new record next year, so I need to finish up all of these songs. >> So, I can do that. Yeah, >> that sounds great. Well, >> thank you for your time. >> Yeah. >> Again, everybody, Olivia Ellen Lloyd, find her on all the streaming. Um, >> although I know you're not a Spotify girl. >> I'm not. I I'm on Spotify, but I I would prefer that you looked somewhere else uh for my music. Yeah, >> buy the vinyl. I'm actually going to buy Loose Cannon on vinyl today because that's that's an awesome record. So, >> buy the vinyl, buy the merch, see her live. Her album Do It Myself came out back in March. Check it out. Thank you. Thank you, Olivia. >> Hey, thanks so much. >> No problem. Dad.
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