About Lily Meola
Lily Meola just can’t stop thinking about the odds. From the odds of where she was born to the talent she’s been gifted, the singer-songwriter says she is very much Lucky to Be.
On her debut album of that name, Meola celebrates all the universal dots that had to be connected to make her the person that she is: a Hawaii native, a beloved daughter, a friend of Willie Nelson, and one of the most stunning vocalists you’ll ever hear in country music and beyond.
“While writing the songs that became Lucky to Be, I came across this statistic that said the chances of you being born are one in 400 trillion. That stopped me in my tracks,” Meola says. “It made me realize the chances of simply being alive are so slim. And despite all the good and bad things I’ve had thrown my way, I’m lucky to be experiencing it. We all are.”
The odds of encountering someone like Meola are themselves fantastical. She is a true bohemian artist, a woman shaped by the verdant, ancient nature in which she was raised on Maui and the eclectic people, from her free-spirited mom to a country music legend, who surrounded her. She is both a hippie and a fashion plate; she has a pet deer named “Doenut.” All of those facets inform Lucky to Be, an album of smart indie-country with a discernible Western flair.
“Hawaii is as west as it gets” Meola says. “Country music is extremely popular in Hawaii and always has been. We have such a huge ranching scene here, and everyone knows the paniolo, the Hawaiian cowboys.”
Listen to the dream-folk mood that she and primary producer Nick Lobel summon in the title track, “Lucky to Be.” Like many of the songs on the album — produced by Lobel, Steve Solomon, and Hunter Metts, and recorded in East Nashville — it was influenced by Meola’s mother Nancy, her north star, who died after a battle with cancer in 2020. “I could have been born anywhere in the world/ but I got the mountains and I got the pearls,” she sings, ruminating on her existence. “How lucky, how lucky, are we.”
The song came from a moment of self-doubt for Meola, who has been releasing music since she was in her teens. At first, it was her recordings of jazz standards, an easier path she thought for someone who struggled with dyslexia. But after she met music publisher Leslie DiPiero, who guided her toward writing her own material, Meola threw herself into developing her own unique songwriting approach.
“I was so dyslexic I could barely string together an email,” Meola says. “I had taken a break from writing, and on the plane to Nashville, I was wondering, ‘Do I still know how to do this?’ And at that moment, I saw a shooting star out my window. It was a reassurance that I was on the right path, and I like to think it was from my mom. Lucky to Be is the story of my life and how I’m finding the ‘lucky’ in all things. I may have lost my mom, and that was the most heart shattering thing to go through, but how lucky was I to get to have such a wonderful mom and how grateful I am for the time we had..”
In “Tumbleweeds and Chewing Gum,” Meola creates another ethereal reality with help from her mentor Nelson. Meola grew up on the island with Nelson’s sons Lukas and Micah, and the families became close; Nelson would bring Meola on tour to open shows. Here, he lends his distinct voice to a song about cherishing the innocent moments of life.
“Willie has taught me so much. He's so in love with what he does, and he's so genuine, and kind and caring. Watching him move through the music industry and through his shows has been a beautiful thing,” she says. “‘Tumbleweeds and Chewing Gum’ is all about loving what you do, like Willie does, and living more carefree. The lyric goes, ‘Love me just because.’ And that’s the only reason you really need.
On another track, the lilting “Never Want This to Change,” Meola sings with modern-day outlaw Jamey Johnson, his river-deep voice mixing with her yearning croon. “I met Jamey for the first time at Farm Aid, and he has always been the sweetest, kindest, most encouraging person to me,” she says, laughing at a colorful lyric she asked the gruff Johnson to sing. “It goes, ‘cotton candy clouds of hope,’ and I told him he can change it if he wanted to, but he said, ‘No, it’s perfect the way it is.’
Meola was raised on what she calls “old Seventies gems,” devouring albums by Carole King and Cat Stevens, and the songwriter she listens to most often, Joni Mitchell. But Meola isn’t a throwback artist. In the Lucky to Be track “Daises,” she draws inspiration from the mainstream country hit “Flower Shop” by Ernest. Over steel guitar and strummed acoustic, she puts her own spin on receiving flowers from a lover who sometimes misses his mark but is determined to improve. “He’s finally acting like he’s got something to lose,” she sings. “I guess those daisies will do.”
“I remember hearing ‘Flower Shop’ for the first time and thinking it was genius, and I really related to the lyrics. I wanted to write this song from the woman's perspective, because it feels very similar to some things that I've been through,” she says.
Elsewhere, in “Should Have Known Better,” Meola sings about those early heady days in a romance where the emotions can feel scary. And in “You and I,” she returns to the album’s throughline of being lucky — “I got lucky enough to find, you and I,” she sings.
And now, after going through what she calls “different cycles” on her musical journey, Meola is lucky enough to have found her voice on Lucky to Be. It’s a country one, with hints of pop and even some dramatic spaghetti western vibes. When fans are finished listening, she hopes they’re left with a new appreciation for their own existence.
“It took years of searching for me to finally get to this point of making Lucky to Be. I was fortunate to have the freedom to make an album without any pressure — only the realization that life is precious,” Meola says. “We hear so often how ‘life is short,’ but life is also very rare. I’d love for people to celebrate that when they play these songs.”