Chicago-based Michelle Billingsley has returned with her sophomore record, BOTH SIDES OF LONELY, revisiting the themes of loneliness and rejection of her 2020 debut, NOT THE MARRYING KIND. The new album’s direction is more vintage country than its predecessor as it follows a growing resurgence in 2023 of classic country recordings by artists dipping into the sounds of the late 60s and early 70s for inspiration. It’s been a busy time for Michelle between recording and promoting the new album, planning to tour in Europe in September and, most important of all, her upcoming marriage.
What were the timelines between the release of NOT THE MARRYING KIND and the new album?
We ended up releasing NOT THE MARRYING KIND in June of 2020 which was a bummer because of the timing: the shows we had planned didn’t happen. I went back into the studio in February of 2021 and we started recording it very slowly during that year. Some of the songs were new and some of the songs I had written around the same time as NOT THE MARRYING KIND, and which we reimagined. We spent all of last year mixing and mastering the album and waiting for the right time for it to come out. I had planned to realise it earlier in the year but with various moving parts the album launch ended up happening at the end of April.
You’ve headed down a more classic country road with BOTH SIDES OF LONELY.
Definitely. I got the Americana and Folk feeling out of the way with the first album and I wanted to do more 60s and 70s vintage country feel with this one.
There is a noticeable recognition of albums recorded this year that hark back to that era. Brennen Leigh and Summer Dean have both recorded similarly themed records.
I love both Summer Dean and Brennen Leigh’s work. The sound of the 60s and 70s is so cool and it’s really worth making albums now that relate to that period. It was such a glorious time music wise.
Jilted lovers, hangovers, one-night stands and lots of regret dominate the album. That’s surely not your life story.
No, it’s not all personal experience. The songs are stories that I find interesting or characters whose point of view I find interesting and so I like to explore this in my writing. It’s not all me.
Those themes were, and still are the backbone of classic country.
Yes, though gender roles have progressed a little bit since then but a lot of the personal themes of that time are still relevant today.
The first single and final track from the album, JOSHUA, is a departure from what goes before it. I believe it was inspired by Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road.
It was inspired by that book. I’ve always been into the sci-fi genre and that book really stuck with me for a long while and there are overlaps in that book of post-apocalyptic themes. There were so many descriptions of how your life changes in Cormac McCarthy’s novel and in another novel by Larry Niven called Lucifer’s Hammer, which also deals with the same issues. That was in the back of my mind when I wrote Joshua. I also included it on the album because it was more like the material on NOT THE MARRYING KIND for anyone that liked that album.
It's a stripped back recording with only vocal, acoustic guitar and cello.
I didn’t want to turn it into a band number. I wanted to keep it small and quiet with my vocals and guitar but also wanted to add one more instrument. Cello is such a beautiful sound and its low sound on a song can wonderfully complement the vocal.
The opening track I Love The Way He Says He’s Sorry sets out the regret that follows on the album with its change of tense toward the end of the song.
Yes, the first chorus is in the present tense and then as the song moves through the last verse and chorus it goes into past tense ending with, I Loved The Way He Said He’s Sorry.
You had your regular rhythm section of Brian Westfall on bass and Jordan Snow on drums in the studio and guest player Brian Wilkie, whose guitar and pedal steel playing is all over the album.
Brian is part of The Hoyle Brothers who I would call ‘the house band of Chicago’ in terms of the country music scene here. He also played guitar and pedal steel on my first album and he’s all over this album too. He’s fantastic and a local mini-celebrity in Chicago.
Is there a healthy roots/country music scene in Chicago?
It’s tiny, much smaller that you would imagine. The pandemic took away a number of opportunities venue wise. There are a bunch of excellent roots bands in Chicago but not that many places to play.
I understand you plan to play dates in Europe later this year.
Yes, I’ve planned some dates in Germany and Austria in September. Some of the shows will be a duet with Wild Earp and some will be solo. I’m looking forward to getting to Europe because I’m told people really listen to the artists there and don’t talk like they often do here. I do love playing in honky tonk bars but that’s a whole different of vibe but it’s also nice to have people listen to the words.
You balance your musical career with a full-time job. Do you have ambitions of ditching the nine-to-five job at some stage?
I’d love to do this full time but it’s so difficult to find enough work to not only pay yourself but also pay a band. There’s also the administration part of the job, the social media posts and bookings take up so much time. So having a day job can leave you behind everyone else that might be full-time, it’s a whole juggling act.
We are loving the new album and hopefully many others will too. Keep spreading the word.
It is so hard. I actually took a week off social media last week as I couldn’t think of anything else to say. I know a lot of people are extroverts but I’m actually an introvert so sometimes I just need to take time out. There’s so much new music coming out every week that it can be difficult to find a voice among the crowd.
Despite the title of your debut album, I believe congratulations are in order and that you are the marrying kind. When and where is that taking place?
It’s on July 22nd and there’s so much work to be done. We’re getting married in Michigan in a little barn. I grew up in a small town there and it was nice to find a place close to my childhood for the wedding.
Interview by Declan Culliton