Premiere: Lottie finds her calling on ‘The Road’

Author J.R.R. Tolkien spent much of his adult life crafting the legendarium surrounding his epic fantasy, The Lord of the Rings. Each detail is distinctive and grounded in a marvelous truth and wonder, right down to several traveling songs peppered throughout the enormous saga. One such tune, composed by pivotal character Bilbo Baggins, is titled “The Road Goes Ever On” and exemplifies life’s ever-winding nature. “The Road goes ever on and on / Down from the Door where it began / Now far ahead the Road has gone, and I must follow, if I can,” reads the opening stanza, presenting an adventure so incredibly transforming and paramount to greater thread lines. “Pursuing it with eager feet, until it joins some larger Way / Where many paths and errands meet / And whither then? I cannot say.”

Life as some magnificent roadway bending and twisting this way and that is a popular motif throughout much of songwriting. Country upstart Lottie, who hails from Montgomery, Alabama, engages such a universal theme with her new song “The Road,” premiering today, which seems to not only speak to her triumphant victory over adversity but that in the wake of a decaying relationship. Underneath the song’s fervent smolder, mixing in southern blues amidst a sturdy modern flair, she is comforting, simply urging the listening to shake the dust from their shoulders and soldier onward and upward. “Believe me, girl, I’ve walked in those shoes,” she sings, sweet but firm. “I know you want so much more / But all the heartache and the pain, someday they all lead you to the right door,” she later reminds on the hook. Electric guitar and dulcet percussion wobble below.

Lottie explains the song’s intent, telling B-Sides & Badlands, “This song addresses that we all make mistakes in love and life, but to keep on keeping on, and eventually we’ll find the path we’re meant to take. Great abundance will be on that path if we’re living true to ourselves, as our individual values will be reflected back to us if we are living honestly, in accordance with those values.”

Her insightful touch stems from a life of constant movement. As a child, she split her time between the sweeping countryside and the wall-to-wall habitat of the city, borrowing intimate experiences and drawing them into her craft, which planted its roots from her parents and a cousin’s adept guitar craft. It was much later, of course, before she took a dive into her own storytelling, and that unshakable curiosity appears in shimmers throughout much of her work. Lottie’s Leaving the Labyrinth EP witnessed her spiritual examination and truth-seeking and set the stage for a natural progression, both as a human and an artist. Now, she eyes an even more crucial excursion across homespun reviews of what it means to be alive. “No, there ain’t no easy way / Ain’t no short cut,” she sings on “The Road,” exuding maturity and discernment well beyond her years. “Yet, we all stray, longing for the right touch…”

“The Road” is the latest in a string of singles and samples Lottie’s forthcoming new album, Road to Reckoning, out May 18.

Listen below:

Photo Credit: Charles Ropp

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