Lindsay Lou captures an incredible moment of creativity with her new album, Bluegrass Women. Recording it when she was about six months pregnant, she co-produced the special project with Shani Ghandi, who was also expecting. BGS is delighted to share the third episode of a mini-doc series that provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse of making the album, as well as the friendships that forged this momentous collection of songs.
The bluegrass women interviewed in the video below include Courtney Hartman, Brittany Haas, Tatiana Hargreaves and Allison de Groot, while many other women in the bluegrass community are seen lending their support as studio musicians. (Watch Episode One and Episode Two.)
Reflecting on the similarities between songwriting and motherhood, Lindsay Lou tells BGS, “At some point when I was in the middle of making/releasing the Queen of Time album, I did a reiki session that someone had gotten me as a gift, and was surprised when the woman doing the work on me asked if I was pregnant. I said, ‘No, but I’m making a record, which is kinda the same thing.’ She told me she asked because my sacral chakra was really amped, which is the region that represents creativity/creation.”
She continues, “I had always talked about songs that I’ve written being like children, who come through you and not from you and that take on a character based on who you let them hang around as they grow into themselves, but I’d never made the connection in quite that way before—between creating new life and creating art and music. It makes sense though, and it’s cool to hear myself talk about it here while I’m in the middle of doing it all. In spite of all the physical challenges, being pregnant really was such vibrant and beautiful time for me. There’s so much excitement looking forward to a dream you can’t quite see all the details of quite yet.
“There was a time when a woman was supposed to shut herself away for all this child bearing and rearing,” she adds. “So much has changed and it’s not taboo to have a full, well-rounded life that includes being a mother and working. Even medically speaking, continuing to be as physically active as you were before pregnancy has been shown to actually be a positive thing. It’s not just all— ‘Go away, rest, and don’t bother us, and you can’t do anything else now that you’re a mother. Leave that to the men. A woman’s place is in the home.’
“It’s meant a great deal to me to see other women touring, still having their careers, and not being secretive about having babies at the same time,” she concludes. “If even one person sees this and feels the same way, I’d consider it a win.”
Photo Credit: Sawyer Gieseke
