# Classic Replay-Music Saved Me with Singer-Songwriter Holly Lovell

An episode of [Music Saved Me Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1703080557), 26 Oct 2025, 16 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/ee29bc0a-f712-47d6-a49c-b25700f0582e/fdd00495-a5ba-4d1a-8885-b38201296c5a/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=dfceda02-3624-42c7-b522-b25700f0584c

Join Lynn Hoffman for this replay with singer-songwriter Holly Lovell. She is a Denver based indie folk singer and she discusses the deeply personal story behind her album "Dear Chelsea" drawing inspiration from her complicated relationship with her uncle who lived in New York City. Support the show: https://musicsavedme.net/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Music Saved Me.
[0:01] Speaker 2: I remember the feeling when like my my CD player
[0:04] Speaker 2: and my CD collection showed up like six months later
[0:08] Speaker 2: and I got to listen to my music for the
[0:10] Speaker 2: first time in like forever, and I just finally was like,
[0:14] Speaker 2: you know, like grounded and again I'm myself again.
[0:17] Speaker 3: I'm Lynn Hoffman and welcome to the Music Saved Me Podcast,
[0:21] Speaker 3: the podcast where I get to talk with musicians about
[0:24] Speaker 3: how music and its healing powers helped save them and
[0:27] Speaker 3: discuss how music works its magic on us all in
[0:31] Speaker 3: so many ways. Now, if you like this podcast, you
[0:34] Speaker 3: might also really enjoy our companion podcast. Actually, I know
[0:37] Speaker 3: you'll enjoy it. It's hosted by my dear friend buzz Night.
[0:40] Speaker 3: It's called Taken a Walk. Please check it out wherever
[0:43] Speaker 3: you get your podcasts. Today, I am so fortunate to
[0:47] Speaker 3: get to speak with Holly Lovell, an Australian American indie
[0:51] Speaker 3: folk artist whose music is steeped in emotion, like her
[0:55] Speaker 3: song When Did I Lose You, which chronicles the confusion
[0:58] Speaker 3: of a disintegrating relationship. Her new album, called Hello Chelsea,
[1:03] Speaker 3: covers a range of topics that showcases her skill in
[1:06] Speaker 3: conveying the power of music in dealing with grief, addiction,
[1:10] Speaker 3: and healing. Holly Lovell, Welcome to Music Save Me. It's
[1:14] Speaker 3: so great to have you here.
[1:16] Speaker 1: Thank you so much for having me.
[1:21] Speaker 3: It's so well deserved. I have to say, first and foremost,
[1:25] Speaker 3: your voice is intoxicating. You know, you meet someone, you
[1:28] Speaker 3: hear their speaking voice. You're going to hear Holly speak
[1:31] Speaker 3: with me today. But when you hear her sing, I
[1:34] Speaker 3: just I didn't even have to know the words you
[1:36] Speaker 3: were singing. I immediately felt better, and that truly speaks
[1:42] Speaker 3: to the power of your voice. Your music is also
[1:45] Speaker 3: very soulful and meditative. My first question is what was
[1:50] Speaker 3: your first connection as a musician that taught you about
[1:53] Speaker 3: the power of music.
[1:55] Speaker 2: My first connection that taught me the power of music,
[1:58] Speaker 2: I mean mom first and foremost. I mean I think
[2:02] Speaker 2: a lot of our music connection as for our parents.
[2:04] Speaker 2: At first. My mom is deeply emotionally connected to music,
[2:10] Speaker 2: so she processes her days and emotions through music. I
[2:15] Speaker 2: know how she's feeling based on what was playing as
[2:18] Speaker 2: she was cooking dinner. A lot of her artists are
[2:20] Speaker 2: what I was originally steeped in. So one of my
[2:23] Speaker 2: all time favorite emotive artists is Patty Griffin. I don't
[2:27] Speaker 2: think anybody can write a song as steeped in like
[2:30] Speaker 2: true honest emotion as she can.
[2:32] Speaker 1: She conveys it with.
[2:33] Speaker 2: Her voice and lets her voice break a little in
[2:37] Speaker 2: like what sometimes would be considered like an ugly way.
[2:39] Speaker 2: But when you know what emotions conveying, it's like beautiful.
[2:43] Speaker 1: I love that. I love that balance.
[2:46] Speaker 3: What songs are. Musicians you just mentioned one of them
[2:49] Speaker 3: have come to your rescue during some of your difficult times.
[2:54] Speaker 1: I mean, Padi Griffin has to be like number one.
[2:56] Speaker 2: Funnily enough, when I first moved to Australia, I was
[2:59] Speaker 2: twelve and this artist who she's she's pretty known in
[3:04] Speaker 2: the world, but she's very known in Australia. Her name
[3:07] Speaker 2: is Missy Higgins. She was just breaking onto the scene
[3:11] Speaker 2: when I was twelve, when I had just moved there
[3:14] Speaker 2: and her her out, her first album came out I
[3:17] Speaker 2: think when she was like eighteen or nineteen. So I
[3:19] Speaker 2: was like very emotive, because that's what you are when
[3:22] Speaker 2: you're like that age, and.
[3:24] Speaker 1: I it was like.
[3:27] Speaker 2: Such a gateway into like me feeling my feelings because
[3:30] Speaker 2: I think I don't do that naturally very well. I
[3:33] Speaker 2: think That's probably why I sung, rite and lean on
[3:35] Speaker 2: music to help me understand what I'm feeling and thinking.
[3:39] Speaker 2: So Missy Higgins, in the early days, I was really
[3:41] Speaker 2: at accounting Crows just another one. And then also the
[3:46] Speaker 2: pianist George Winston. I listened to him a lot too.
[3:49] Speaker 2: Sometimes she don't need words.
[3:51] Speaker 3: That's so true. That is very true. Do you believe
[3:54] Speaker 3: music has healing powers?
[3:57] Speaker 2: Oh?
[3:57] Speaker 1: Absolutely yeah.
[3:59] Speaker 3: What has there been anything specific that you've been healed
[4:03] Speaker 3: from with the music that you've listened to and how
[4:07] Speaker 3: you've used it.
[4:09] Speaker 2: The healing power of music for me is really in
[4:13] Speaker 2: writing this like and making the music. Listening to it
[4:17] Speaker 2: does heal me, but it always pushes me to want
[4:20] Speaker 2: to go make something because then I get my whole
[4:24] Speaker 2: body involved and I can write and I can feel.
[4:26] Speaker 2: I mean, even in those early days when I first
[4:28] Speaker 2: started songwriting, I would be I first started songwriting writing poetry,
[4:32] Speaker 2: but I would be writing poetry while listening to something
[4:35] Speaker 2: that was like unlocking that little thing in me, you know.
[4:39] Speaker 2: And I think first and foremost music unlocks something in
[4:43] Speaker 2: you that then allows you to go and do the
[4:45] Speaker 2: work of it.
[4:46] Speaker 1: There was a song, there was a song that was really.
[4:50] Speaker 2: Important to me when my my uncle who passed away,
[4:54] Speaker 2: that this album is about that, we're going to talk
[4:55] Speaker 2: about that. When he passed away, I found this song
[4:59] Speaker 2: by songwriter named Donovan Woods out of Canada. It's called
[5:04] Speaker 2: our Friend Bobby, I think, And it was one of
[5:08] Speaker 2: those moments where it felt like he was writing the
[5:10] Speaker 2: song about my heartbreak and my what happened to my family,
[5:15] Speaker 2: And I just sent it to my whole family and
[5:19] Speaker 2: I sat in the car and cried, and yeah, those
[5:21] Speaker 2: moments where it's not like it healed me, but it
[5:23] Speaker 2: understood me. It saw me in a place where I
[5:26] Speaker 2: didn't feel like anybody saw me.
[5:29] Speaker 3: Speaking of what you early on in your life, you
[5:31] Speaker 3: moved from Australia to a new country. Did music come
[5:37] Speaker 3: to your rescue during that time as well?
[5:39] Speaker 2: So, yeah, I actually moved from the States to Australia
[5:43] Speaker 2: and so.
[5:44] Speaker 3: Sorry about that. I just reversed the two.
[5:46] Speaker 2: That's okay, And then I moved back. So easy to do. Yeah,
[5:51] Speaker 2: I mean I was twelve, so I was in sixth grade.
[5:56] Speaker 2: I just finished sixth grade and I moved and I
[5:58] Speaker 2: was about to turn thirteen, and I definitely turned to music.
[6:06] Speaker 2: Then I remember that like when we moved, all of
[6:09] Speaker 2: our stuff got shipped in containers, and so it took
[6:13] Speaker 2: like nine months for our stuff to get there.
[6:15] Speaker 1: Or something like that. Six months maybe, wow.
[6:18] Speaker 2: And I remember the feeling when because this is before
[6:22] Speaker 2: like streaming and everything, right, So I remember the.
[6:25] Speaker 1: Feeling when, like my.
[6:27] Speaker 2: My CD player and my CD collection showed up like
[6:30] Speaker 2: six months later and I got to listen to my
[6:33] Speaker 2: music for the first time in like forever, and I
[6:35] Speaker 2: just finally was like, you know, like grounded and again
[6:39] Speaker 2: I'm myself again. And then I don't know, I never
[6:43] Speaker 2: talked about Missigans, but I guess we're here in this
[6:45] Speaker 2: like small saga of my life. And she was a
[6:48] Speaker 2: real like grounding place for me when I first moved there.
[6:53] Speaker 3: And now, one of the things that I read about
[6:55] Speaker 3: your newest release called Hello Chelsea, covers some you know,
[6:58] Speaker 3: some deep family history. Can you talk about your trip
[7:01] Speaker 3: to New York City on your twenty eighth birthday and
[7:03] Speaker 3: tell us a little bit about how that family history
[7:06] Speaker 3: of yours was involved. And the other thing is making
[7:10] Speaker 3: this album, you did something that it's almost like you
[7:13] Speaker 3: went back to the seventies. I was talking earlier with
[7:15] Speaker 3: Buzz about it. You did something that a lot of
[7:20] Speaker 3: artists don't do anymore, which is getting in the studio
[7:22] Speaker 3: with someone looking at them face to face and recording
[7:24] Speaker 3: and writing. And you went deep into the woods to
[7:29] Speaker 3: do it, which I think you must be an old soul,
[7:32] Speaker 3: because I don't think a lot of people even recall
[7:35] Speaker 3: when times were like that, when you could when you
[7:37] Speaker 3: did that, do you think that's a big part of
[7:40] Speaker 3: why your songs and your music resonates with people because
[7:45] Speaker 3: it was so emotional to make in and of itself.
[7:48] Speaker 2: I think that there's definitely something carried in the It's untangible, right,
[7:56] Speaker 2: like being in a room with other people and recording
[7:59] Speaker 2: in that way isn't something that you can really put
[8:04] Speaker 2: your finger on, but I certainly think you can feel it.
[8:08] Speaker 1: Over time.
[8:09] Speaker 2: All these artists that I love so much, the more
[8:12] Speaker 2: I would learn about their records, there would be that
[8:14] Speaker 2: through line of like and they recorded it all in
[8:17] Speaker 2: the same room or like, and they did it live
[8:19] Speaker 2: at the same time, And I started to just feel
[8:22] Speaker 2: like there's something there, like I haven't done that before
[8:25] Speaker 2: in recording, and I really feel like there's something there
[8:28] Speaker 2: and something that's stripped. When when that isn't happening, so
[8:31] Speaker 2: I wanted to try it, and I'm really glad that
[8:33] Speaker 2: we did it on this record. But yeah, I honestly
[8:38] Speaker 2: one of the reasons we did it was time restriction.
[8:40] Speaker 2: Like we had a couple of weeks three weeks, and
[8:44] Speaker 2: me and my producer Brian Joseph, we were like, you know,
[8:47] Speaker 2: if we're going to get this done, we're kind of
[8:49] Speaker 2: just gonna have to go for it. Like it's songs,
[8:52] Speaker 2: like we're just going to have to Like we figured
[8:54] Speaker 2: out how many songs a day that works out too,
[8:56] Speaker 2: and we're like, okay, we are all going to just
[8:58] Speaker 2: play at the same time and just.
[8:59] Speaker 1: Make it hap. And I'm completely glad we did. That's
[9:03] Speaker 1: so cool.
[9:05] Speaker 2: There's also something for me when I like am playing
[9:09] Speaker 2: my instrument and singing and I'm really in the lyric emotionally,
[9:13] Speaker 2: when I'm in that space, that it's really hard to
[9:18] Speaker 2: recapture that whole connection, you know, when I just do
[9:22] Speaker 2: vocal separate or just do guitar separate, like they inform
[9:25] Speaker 2: each other. And this is a very emotionally charged record,
[9:29] Speaker 2: so it needed that.
[9:32] Speaker 3: It definitely is I just watched a music video for
[9:34] Speaker 3: Lionsten which I also want to talk to you about
[9:39] Speaker 3: it's very emotional and you're definitely working through some things
[9:42] Speaker 3: that we all go through. And it's amazing that you're
[9:46] Speaker 3: so open to being so open in your music for
[9:51] Speaker 3: the community that listens to it. And it's what does
[9:55] Speaker 3: it feel like when you know how your music has connected,
[9:58] Speaker 3: you know, so deeply with with your fans and people
[10:01] Speaker 3: who listen to you.
[10:03] Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it feels incredible because I know I
[10:07] Speaker 2: know what that feels like as a listener to like
[10:10] Speaker 2: find an artist like I did with that Donovan Wood
[10:12] Speaker 2: song where it feels like I'm like being seen in
[10:16] Speaker 2: this place where nobody sees me and to.
[10:19] Speaker 1: Be I mean, that's an honor.
[10:20] Speaker 2: That's like something that when somebody tells me something like that,
[10:23] Speaker 2: I just don't quite believe them, you know, because I'm like,
[10:25] Speaker 2: really like, I saw you in that place.
[10:28] Speaker 1: That's so incredible.
[10:30] Speaker 2: But it's also, especially with this record, has been something
[10:33] Speaker 2: that's I'm having to learn how to hold for other
[10:36] Speaker 2: people and really learn how to understand how to handle
[10:39] Speaker 2: those moments because this whole record is about, like my
[10:45] Speaker 2: family is very specific loss with my a family member,
[10:49] Speaker 2: my uncle who had a drug addiction, and was, you know,
[10:52] Speaker 2: in and out of this drug addiction and in and
[10:54] Speaker 2: out of contact with our family until he died from
[10:58] Speaker 2: an overdose.
[10:58] Speaker 1: So when somebody came next to something like that.
[11:02] Speaker 2: Like that, you're already like in totally different territory than
[11:07] Speaker 2: if somebody was like connecting to I don't know, a
[11:10] Speaker 2: more easy topic like moving across country. You're like, oh, yeah, same,
[11:14] Speaker 2: I've moved across country.
[11:15] Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, yeah, Now you're already a totally.
[11:17] Speaker 2: Different territory, you know, with this record, when somebody goes, yes,
[11:21] Speaker 2: that's me, and you're just like, I'm so sorry that's you.
[11:25] Speaker 3: You know, yeah, it's heavy, it's but it must just
[11:30] Speaker 3: feel so good that you're not alone. And then when
[11:32] Speaker 3: you turn on Holly level, you're like, yes, I'm not alone.
[11:36] Speaker 3: This is exactly what I went through, and it's nice
[11:40] Speaker 3: to know. It's amazing how many things you find out
[11:42] Speaker 3: about when you talk, but music just takes it to
[11:45] Speaker 3: a whole new level. It goes into you in so
[11:49] Speaker 3: many ways beyond just talking.
[11:52] Speaker 1: Yeah, so many It's like immediate insight.
[11:54] Speaker 3: Absolutely well, you actually just answered my last question. The
[12:01] Speaker 3: one thing I wanted to tell you that I felt
[12:02] Speaker 3: like we were very connected on was New York City
[12:07] Speaker 3: Because I've read that quote about how you have a
[12:09] Speaker 3: love hate relationship with New York City. Can you expand
[12:13] Speaker 3: on that a little bit, because it's something I've always
[12:15] Speaker 3: tried to explain to people and they just they don't
[12:18] Speaker 3: quite understand unless you've been there. Yeah, and you've done
[12:21] Speaker 3: your time.
[12:22] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[12:23] Speaker 2: I mean I feel like I spent a long time
[12:25] Speaker 2: trying to like some of how I feel, and then
[12:27] Speaker 2: I wrote a bunch of songs about about it. I
[12:30] Speaker 2: wrote that quote and was like, yeah, that's kind of it,
[12:33] Speaker 2: Like it's there is an element of promise there, which
[12:40] Speaker 2: I think everyone in the world feels about New York,
[12:44] Speaker 2: you know, coming from Australia, all anybody ever wants is
[12:47] Speaker 2: to like go visit New York. It has that element
[12:51] Speaker 2: of shine to it. But when you're there long enough,
[12:55] Speaker 2: and particularly for me, when I watched a I don't
[13:00] Speaker 2: know how long it would have been, twenty year journey
[13:04] Speaker 2: of my uncle moving there, who he was at the beginning,
[13:07] Speaker 2: and then the many times and amounts of time I
[13:11] Speaker 2: spent with him towards the end. I just couldn't help
[13:15] Speaker 2: but feel like it was the city that did this
[13:19] Speaker 2: to him, and I saw the undersided underbelly of the
[13:22] Speaker 2: city so much, and I would go there on trips
[13:26] Speaker 2: to visit with him and got left on corners waiting
[13:29] Speaker 2: for him to meet me at the corner, and I
[13:31] Speaker 2: would wait there for hours. And you wait there long
[13:33] Speaker 2: enough and you watch people walk by and your people watching,
[13:36] Speaker 2: and you just start to get that disappointed feeling that
[13:40] Speaker 2: the city also has.
[13:42] Speaker 1: When you're there.
[13:43] Speaker 2: Long enough, you know, you kind of have this undercurrent
[13:46] Speaker 2: of disappointment and it's a really strange place to be.
[13:51] Speaker 1: I walked.
[13:52] Speaker 2: I remember walking with my grandma there and she was like,
[13:56] Speaker 2: I hate this city. She basically was like, there's nothing here.
[14:00] Speaker 2: And I was like, really, because all I feel is
[14:03] Speaker 2: like possibility. And that was the early days, you know.
[14:05] Speaker 2: And then when I look back on this whole thing,
[14:07] Speaker 2: I was like, oh, I can see what she was
[14:10] Speaker 2: feeling there. And they exist at the same time, you know,
[14:14] Speaker 2: they exist at the same time. It's yeah, it's tricky.
[14:17] Speaker 2: It's a tricky place.
[14:18] Speaker 3: But inspiring for sure.
[14:20] Speaker 2: I know.
[14:21] Speaker 1: That's the thing.
[14:22] Speaker 2: Like I've shared I shared the Hell a Chelsea song
[14:25] Speaker 2: on which she had the choruses I've got to get
[14:26] Speaker 2: out of New York City.
[14:27] Speaker 1: I used to love it, but now it kills me.
[14:30] Speaker 2: I should have met with other songwriters that had lived
[14:33] Speaker 2: in New York and she was like, just like, that's
[14:35] Speaker 2: exactly how I feel. I love the city with everything
[14:39] Speaker 2: I have. And also I was like, I have to leave,
[14:43] Speaker 2: like I cannot stay here.
[14:45] Speaker 3: Well, in a way, it doesn't mean that you've conquered.
[14:48] Speaker 3: I mean you went there, you had a purpose, and
[14:51] Speaker 3: you were able to persevere. Just to persevere in New
[14:56] Speaker 3: York City, I think is success. Yeah, but if you leave.
[15:01] Speaker 1: I made there for a period of time.
[15:04] Speaker 3: Yeah, Oh my goodness. I could talk to you for hours, Holly.
[15:07] Speaker 3: I really appreciate you spending some time with us on
[15:10] Speaker 3: music saved me. Was there anything that you wanted to
[15:12] Speaker 3: discuss that we didn't talk about today that was important
[15:15] Speaker 3: for you.
[15:15] Speaker 2: I hope that you know this music finds the right years.
[15:19] Speaker 2: And I really appreciate you guys creating a space where
[15:21] Speaker 2: you can acknowledge the healing power of music and lyricism
[15:24] Speaker 2: and just that mystery that it is you know, to
[15:27] Speaker 2: get in to the places where others can't get in
[15:30] Speaker 2: and unlock something.
[15:32] Speaker 1: It's beautiful.
[15:33] Speaker 3: Thank you. Wow, that was almost a song in and
[15:35] Speaker 3: of itself. You just poke and it was just an
[15:39] Speaker 3: honor to have you on today. And thank you and
[15:41] Speaker 3: best of luck with the new album and come back
[15:44] Speaker 3: and see us. We're not in New York.
[15:47] Speaker 1: Yeah, thank god getting it.
[15:50] Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Thank you so much.
[15:52] Speaker 1: I really appreciate it.

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