March 21, 2025 • 26 mins
Carolina Chauffe, performing as Hemlock, has spent the past year and three months as a musical nomad, never staying in one place for more than two weeks. Transmitting from Chicago between tour stops, she describes this lifestyle as a delicate balance of the "miraculous and exhausting" — finding empowerment and community connection while sacrificing stability and proximity to loved ones.
Chauffe's musical journey began in competitive choirs, gradually transitioning from the safety of collective performance to the vulnerability of solo artistry. This evolution reflects her approach to creativity: embracing vulnerability while remaining connected to community. Most fascinating is her "Song of Day" project, now in its sixth year, where she writes and records one song daily for an entire month annually. This practice has generated hundreds of compositions and fundamentally transformed her relationship with songwriting. "The more songs that I write, the more kinds of songs I feel comfortable writing," she explains, describing how the project expanded her creative boundaries across genres, narration styles, and instrumentation.
Her latest album 444, released in October 2024, showcases twelve selections from these Song of Day collections, reimagined with a full band of Chicago musicians. The album deliberately spans all six years of the project, opening with "Day One" to honor where it all began. With touring planned through August and several recording projects in development, Schaaf exemplifies artistic dedication in its purest form. Her practice of observing both "the miraculous and the mundane" transforms everyday experiences into universally relatable songs, creating what she beautifully describes as "golden strings that defy geographical proximity and linear time." Don't miss the chance to experience Hemlock live — follow her journey, attend a show, and discover the power of daily creative practice.
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Episode Transcript
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colleyc (00:01):
And all right, cool.
Welcome back to another episodeof If it Be your Will podcast.
As season five carries on, wecan start to feel spring a
little bit, not much, but enoughto keep us focused on the sun
(00:21):
and the summer.
We need it.
God, what a winter.
Today I have Hemlock, CarolinaChauffe from Hemlock, and
Caroline, where are you comingin from?
hemlock (00:38):
Well, today I'm transmitting to you from Chicago
, where we're also hanging on tothe dregs of winter.
It's snowing out here.
I guess the groundhog was right, but I've been on tour for
about a year and three monthsnow.
I moved away from Chicago inNovember of 2023.
And I haven't been anywhere formore than two weeks since then.
So just deep in the road is thetruer answer, I guess, to that
(01:01):
question.
But today, the truer answer Iguess to that question.
colleyc (01:06):
But today, Chicago, Chicago it is.
And is this a short stop beforeyou pack your bags and head to
the next destination?
hemlock (01:12):
Yeah, the bags have stayed packed.
I'm playing an album releaseshow of my friends in a band
called Tobacco City it's a raremoment of the full band reunion
and and we'll be playingtogether before I set off back
down south.
colleyc (01:30):
Great and like, just as a question like what is it like
being on the road for so long?
Like I guess let me ask you twoparts to this what are the good
things and what are the not sogood things of of such a long
time?
That's a heck of a tour you'vebeen on there, carolina.
hemlock (01:47):
Right?
Well, you know each of thosequestions have very long answers
, but to try to be as succinctas possible, it is miraculous
and exhausting.
colleyc (01:57):
Good, nice words.
hemlock (02:00):
Some days it's more the former, some days it's more the
latter, some days it's more theformer, some days it's more the
(02:25):
latter.
I think the good things about itare a sense of empowerment and
a sense of also connection tocommunity and like a kind of
renewal, a constant renewal ofhope, which we can all use.
You know, it's necessary forour survival, individually and
collectively, in this moment.
Um, and the the harder thingsabout it are just um, it
involves a lot of uh, sacrifice,of um, of a consistent home, of
, like a proximity to the peoplethat you care about on a
regular basis.
Um, it is uh, uh, you know,like it's my passion, but it's
also a job that you're kind ofalways clocked in for.
I'm spending way more time thanI would like to in the car.
(02:49):
You know I'm driving more thanI'm playing music.
Even so, that's like a majorsacrifice.
But yeah, at the end of the day, I do feel a great sense of
fulfillment from touring and,more than even playing the music
, I think it's that sense ofcollective hope that keeps the
wheels turning absolutely,absolutely.
colleyc (03:10):
And I think, too, your music in particular throws out
that you know, take a breath,things are okay, even though I
drove 12 hours and played onehour, and I'll do the thing
again tomorrow and tomorrow.
It's those small little momentsthat really um define us and
(03:34):
and add to or take away from thehappiness that we have.
Um, interesting, interesting,so tell let's.
Let's kind of rewind time alittle bit and like where did it
begin for you?
Where did music start to reallybecome the forefront of what
you were going to do?
hemlock (04:07):
Genesis.
I, um, I was always a choir kid, um, I was in competitive
choirs in middle school and highschool and college, so it was
uh like melody and collective,you know, group voice.
Harmony has always beensomething that's really been
inspiring to me and has informedmy songwriting in a big way.
But I got, um the guitar that Istill play out on tour right
now, an old, uh knockoff martin,is, um, it came into my life
when I was 15 from craigslistand um totally uh opened up a
(04:31):
bunch of windows, uh and doorsfor for my creative output and
um, I was in a band in highschool and uh, early college
that would tour betweenlouisiana and texas because I'm
from southern louisiana and um,I met a band called Little
Mazarn doing that and then theyasked me to tour with them and
their band and I'm still in thatband.
But that was the first time thatI ever was on the road for a
(04:53):
prolonged amount of time and weactually went up to Canada to
play a festival called River andSky that I've been to a couple
of times now, um, or a few times, um, and uh, I just fell in
love.
I fell in love with the road.
It was nice to see that therecould be like such a, you know,
kindred sense of community in somany different cities and
(05:14):
states and and and countries andum, this kind of like shared
ethos that's totally, you know,decentralized but very tightly
woven, um, these like goldenstrings that are defy um, defy
geographical proximity and anddefy, uh, linear time and um, I
uh that it, I mean it.
(05:35):
Really there's like a sense ofboth internal and external
validation.
Yeah, with touring and being onthe road and sharing your music
and um, it's, it's justrewarding.
But, you know, the more youmeet friends too and peers in
that environment who also aremaking some of the most
incredible music you've everheard, it's like the more that
that inspires you to continuewith your practice.
At least that's how it's beenfor me.
colleyc (05:56):
So it's just and like do you remember some of your
first songs that you wrote?
Like I asked this becauseyou're such a prolific writer
and like we'll get into the songof the day, because I think
that that in itself is prettyimpressive.
But like did you always?
(06:17):
Were you always penning?
Were you always like, since yougot that guitar?
Like was it to so that youcould write your own songs?
Is that was one of theobjectives of it?
hemlock (06:27):
yeah, well, I've I always liked you know, I've been
an avid journaler and I lovedpoetry.
I loved writing prose, um ingrade school, and um music,
since I was singing so much itfelt like an obvious, you know,
combination to, to, to throw thetwo together in the same bowl
and see what, what would come ofit and um, yeah, so I've, I've,
(06:50):
I've been writing.
I think the original songs Ihad were probably when I was 13
and um different showcases, uh,at my school, when I was around
14 or 15, and um in Louisiana,there's, you know, a lot of
young musicians, and so youcould be in a bar, like at an
open mic, when you, before you,were of age to drink, and so
that was like I was able to beexposed to a larger music
(07:13):
community, which was something Iwas very grateful for as a
teenager.
And so, yeah, I can remember,you know, the little dinky songs
, like some of the first songs Iever wrote.
I can remember the choruses ofsongs that may never see the
light of day from when I wasvery, very much in my
adolescence.
But, yeah, they stick around,they linger.
(07:34):
And yeah, thank you for yourcompliments too, on the Song of
Day collection.
I definitely am.
colleyc (07:41):
Yeah.
hemlock (07:42):
There's always more, you know, there's just always
lyrics.
colleyc (07:44):
Or lyrics.
hemlock (07:46):
Rolling around in my head.
colleyc (07:48):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Absolutely.
colleyc (07:50):
I'm interested too in asking that you talked about
being in a choir.
In a choir, I mean, you're oneamongst many.
hemlock (07:59):
Yes.
colleyc (08:00):
It's a totally different story when it's you,
your guitar, on stage in frontof everybody else and everybody
staring at you and you'repouring your heart out.
Here's my journals.
Who wants to read that?
It's like you cannot get anymore raw and, you know, volatile
in a way.
How did you come to that Like?
Did that take time for you toto to get the courage or the
(08:22):
confidence to, for all thoseeyes and and and you know, I
mean, I guess, criticism too,because when you're putting
yourself out there, it's, it'sgoing to come.
How did you get, how did howdid that happen for you Finding
that way that you could, youcould be that front person on
the stage?
hemlock (08:41):
yeah, well, I feel like you know, starting my
performance journey in choirswas a great way to ease into
standing before a room, becausewhen you are singing choir, you
often have, you know, the dozensof other people singing with
you, and so that was like a youknow tiptoeing, put just dipping
your toes into the waterperformance where you have this,
(09:01):
this like network of people whoare all singing the same piece
as you, and so it doesn't feellike all you know the pressure
is is lower because not all theeyes are on you right um, and so
then, like just paring downfrom being in a larger choir to
being in a chamber choir, tobeing in a band where there were
four of us, you know, that likekind of was a way to wean into
(09:22):
the attention being more andmore concentrated on, like me
and my voice specifically, untilI was pretty comfortable doing
solo performance way to kind ofcut my teeth, uh, with, you know
, being in front of removedpeople, because often most of
the audience are othersongwriters that are there to
share their work as well, and sothere's like a um and again
(09:45):
like a community aspect to it.
That's like shared ethos, thisshared motivation, and yeah, I
it's.
It's interesting to think aboutthe answer to this question,
because now I I very rarely feelnervous at all to be be to be
in a state of performance or tobe public facing with song.
It's much harder for me to dosomething like this, like a
podcast, where I'm, you know,way more prone to putting my my
(10:08):
foot in my mouth, just thinkingon the spot that I am reciting
something that is, you know, afinished work that I that I know
by heart.
colleyc (10:18):
Right, right right.
hemlock (10:19):
Yeah.
colleyc (10:19):
Now with your catalog.
I mean it's really, it's reallybeautiful.
I mean you write such greatsongs and so many of them.
When do you know when a song is?
You know, like, where it hassomething that's worth Further
exploration, or vocals orwhatever.
Whatever, like, how do you cometo that?
hemlock (10:41):
um, okay, I'm on to something here yeah, well, I
think like a big part of mypractice at least, is being
forgiving with yourself to um,to work with the first thought
that comes to mind, at leastwith the song a day collection
that's.
That's kind of the premisebehind those songs is is being
able to follow an idea to itscompletion, um, even if it's not
(11:04):
something that you're in lovewith.
So, even if I don't feel likeI'm, you know, like on to
something with a specific melodyor specific, like the first
thing that I sit down and playon my guitar, I'll like try to
follow that through and justgive it, you know, like honor
that first idea and and andtreat it with respect and um,
see what happens.
Because what I've discovered inreleasing those song of day
(11:26):
projects is just that, you know,even if there's a few songs on
each of those collections that Ireally am like I'm fine to
never play that song again.
It was in the moment.
There's always someone thatsong.
It just shows how, um, abeautiful thing to learn is that
, even if you'll probably findsomeone's ears that with it and
feel, um, you know, like there'sit's kind of a there's no bad
(11:48):
ideas kind of approach to itwhere, um, you know, there are
definitely songs that I that Iprefer to other songs that I've
written, and sometimes there'slike a feeling of like, okay,
yes, this is one that I'm goingto revere and that I'm going to
come back to and that will be aregular part of my set for a
very long time.
But there, I think there'sreally something to the
catharsis of just getting anidea out of your system, even if
(12:08):
it's one that's far from youknow your batch of favorites or
something.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Red winged blackbird by the lake.
colleyc (12:28):
It is strange to be, but today and what was your
process like for that song a day?
Like I was looking at your atthe band camp page and I mean
first, can you describe that tous?
Like, what was your, what wasyour point, what did you want to
(12:48):
do with with this song a day?
hemlock (12:51):
Yeah.
So when, in 2019, um, inFebruary I embarked on this
project of writing one song aday and recording it on my phone
that day, each day, for themonth of February, um, and at
the end of that month, I felt solike, um you know both proud of
(13:14):
and um inspired by thatpractice, like it felt like it
pushed me, um, in all the rightways and challenged me and in a
way that was really productivefor for me and my songwriting
practice, that, um, it felt likedoing that for one month out of
each year was a sustainablebenchmark of trying to keep that
project going as a long-formthing.
(13:35):
So we're, you know it's 2025.
So we're now six years deepinto this saga where, just one
month out of each year, I doanother one, where it's again
writing one song a day for eachday of that month and recording
them on my phone by the end ofthat day.
colleyc (13:55):
Yeah, yeah, it's been it's been pressure no like well.
hemlock (13:59):
it's not, though I think I function.
Maybe it's that I function wellunder a deadline.
It's like something that holdsyou accountable and that's
something about, you know, my,my practice both hands on
songwriting, often beingsolitary is there has to be some
kind of to keep me responsibleto my practice, to keep me, you
know, on tour.
That's like booking my owndates and making sure the ball
is rolling, but with songwritingit's often there are streaks
(14:21):
where I can go, you know, like amonth or two without touching
the guitar, and I think song aday is something I look forward
to because it's like, oh, when Isit down to play, like there's
always something that comes out,you know.
so it's it's I look, I lookforward to, kind of the binge,
binge, like a songwriting thathappens for that period of time,
and it gets easier every timeas well like I think the more I
(14:42):
do it, the more my boundariesare expanded of what a song is,
of what genres I like to workwith, of like playing
instruments that I don't knowhow to play, of switching around
narration.
You know, it's like the moresongs that I write, the the more
kinds of songs I feelcomfortable writing or playing
with.
It's playful.
colleyc (15:00):
That's the pressure's off, because it's just an act of
play.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
Right.
colleyc (15:05):
And like just looking at your first one, so you put it
on March 1st 2019.
And this was day one, day two,day three.
You know the titles of yoursongs.
Were those done in order or didyou play around with that?
Were those done in order or did?
hemlock (15:18):
you play around with that?
No, I didn't.
Yeah, they each go with theircorresponding date.
So day one is February 1st, daytwo is February 2nd, and so on,
and that's been the case forall of the Song of Days since
then.
My friend Rand actually textedme the other day and he was like
I just realized that after the12 years are done, you will have
written a song for everyone'sbirthday who exists.
colleyc (15:41):
There you go.
That is very true, and do youhave a process for this,
specifically Because you do havea certain timeline, time crunch
, as you said?
What's your process?
When you approach, okay, daystarts, you know we're midway
through the month you're on song15.
(16:01):
Like what would your typicalprocess be in getting ready for
you know this day?
16 example?
hemlock (16:08):
Yeah it.
It honestly, you know,typically is a practice in sleep
deprivation too, because often,when I'm able to carve out,
time is at the end of the night,like right before down, you
know, and you're going to sleepand you've been conscious for
however many hours, and it'salways I've always found it
easier to stay up late than towake up early, and so it'll
(16:30):
often be, you know, reflectingon a day's experience and warmed
up hands and chipping away,chipping off a couple of hours
of sleep for the night.
And but there's like I thinkthere's something to be said to
about the kind of unconscious oreven subconscious process of
how my observations movingthrough the world change in that
(16:51):
month, because you're kind oflike, you know, you're porous,
you're like taking in all thisinformation and you're you have
to be very honed into the kindof wonders of everyday life in
order to even have something tosay.
Sometimes, right, you knowwhere it's like.
What was the like most beautifulthing that I saw this day, or
what emotions am I processing?
(17:13):
You just have to be an activeobserver of your environment, at
least if you're writingautobiographically which
sometimes also, though, I mean,you can see something and then
create a narrative and write afictional song as well, you know
, from doing that same thing.
So the process is, I guess,immersive in that way, of just
this kind of keen observation ofyour environment, which is
something that I try to carrythrough my day to day life, um,
(17:36):
just to observe the, themiraculous and the mundane, you
know for sure, for sure.
colleyc (17:42):
And was this ongoing when you were on tour as well,
or do you?
Are you settled for a monthduring that?
You know, recording month of of?
hemlock (17:51):
Yeah, I typically try to choose a month in the year
where I've got the least amountof motion going on, you know.
So I don't know yet.
This year, 2025, what, whatmonth I'm going to choose?
All I know is that it can't bedoubling up on any of the six
that I've already done.
colleyc (18:06):
So that narrows it down Six months left, right, exactly
.
hemlock (18:10):
So I've got to try to, you know, hone my, my calendar
into where I've.
I've, um, I'll hopefully bemostly in one place for whatever
month that I choose for thisyear.
Um, but I've definitely hadtimes where I've been on or
touring during song a day, likelast, last year's, the November
project for 2024.
Um, I was in new Orleans for aweek out of that and I was in
(18:31):
Atlanta for a week after thatand then I was, I mean, you know
it, it, it bops around, but Itry to have relative stillness
for that month.
colleyc (18:40):
Nice and, as you were saying, your environment, the
community that you're in duringthat time, will play an
influence on what you end upputting down on your iPhone.
Sure, that's really cool.
hemlock (18:54):
Yeah, that's really cool.
I think, um, you know, life hashas been an important part of
the practice because there aredifferent like kind of sound
textures and emotional texturesand um, uh, you know, like kind
of like ethno-musical, logical,like different, different people
, different peers in each space,in each city that you're moving
(19:18):
through, and then if you allowthose to be your direct
influences or directinspirations for what you're
writing at that time, then youend up with a lot of like very
subtly different styles ofsongwriting or of lyricism.
colleyc (19:31):
And yeah, like I said, I think it's better to be a
sponge like the more you cantake in, the more you can put
out theoretically know I alwaysthought that was the most
beautiful thing about asongwriter is they scan your
world and communicate yourthoughts that you know don't
come as natural as you knowothers would, but you have that
(19:53):
ability to like, paint thisbeautiful canvas of sound that
they can relate to.
You know that they'rethemselves in.
hemlock (20:01):
Yeah, synthesizing a specific experience and then
spitting it out in a way thatit's universally relatable, yeah
, it's, it is a, it is a.
I mean that's like a miracle inand of itself.
colleyc (20:13):
It is, isn't it, isn't it?
That's the great thing aboutmusic.
I find it's just thatuniversality and the commonality
and it's just something that weall share, regardless of where
we're from or how we grew up orwith who.
It's that one connection that wecan all which makes these kinds
of podcasts so fun, becauseit's such an easy thing to talk
(20:35):
about Somebody that's passionatelike myself and musicians like
yourself.
It's just, it's such an easything to talk about with
somebody that's passionate likemyself and musicians like
yourself.
It's just, it's a match made inheaven.
I'll say, um, so, carolyn, tellme a little bit about 444.
So, from what I read and pleasecorrect me but this was kind of
an assembly of some songs fromthe song a day, some other track
(20:56):
singles that you had.
Can you kind of an assembly ofsome songs from the song a day,
some other tracks, singles thatyou had?
Can you kind of paint thepicture of how this record came
to be?
hemlock (21:04):
Sure, so 444, we self-released because I function
as an entirely independentmusician, so we self-released
that last October, october 2024.
And so we self-released thatlast October, october 2024.
And it is, I guess the elevatorpitch, you know, is that it's
the best stuff so far of theSong of Day songs.
So all 12 songs on the albumare from the Song of Day
(21:27):
practice and they include, theyspan, the entire collection.
So there's at least, you know,one song from each of the Song
of Day months so far included inthat kind of compilation album.
That was totally kind of likesouped up, you know, and
reimagined with a band of someof my dearest friends here in
Chicago Bailey Bailey,misenberger, andy PK and Jack
(21:50):
Henry, who are fantasticmusicians, just so intuitive and
so enthusiastic, and I'm blownaway by them consistently.
And, yeah, we all kind of chosethe songs together, you know,
sifting through the hundredsthat are there and all kind of
picked ones that feltparticularly exciting to us or,
(22:13):
you know, like thematicallyimportant to the narrative arc
of what we were trying to saywith the album, like paying
respects to the song a day as a,as an entirety, um, which is
why the opening track is day one.
You know that hearkens to thevery first song, a day song that
there ever was Um.
colleyc (22:29):
it sparked it all.
hemlock (22:31):
Yes, exactly, yeah.
So that's the true Genesis, youknow, the true like uh, opening
moment, yeah, moment, yeah, I Ifeel really proud of it.
I feel really um, honored bythe collaboration too of the
four of us and um and whateverybody brought to the table
to kind of make it the mostdynamically, um, diverse and
also like kind of genre pushingalbum that we've put out so far.
(22:53):
But they are, yeah, they're allsong of day songs and I believe
that you know we'll berecording again in apr, april,
and I'm looking forward to that.
But I think I think we're goingto continue on with this kind
of like paying more respects tosome of these song of day songs
that otherwise get kind ofburied in the mass of.
You know, it's like prettyextensive body of work.
colleyc (23:12):
So, absolutely, absolutely.
That's so cool, so kind of tobring things to a close here.
Thanks again for joining me.
Like great stories, I love yourprocess of how you brought this
to be, and this record, too, isjust so good.
What is?
hemlock (23:38):
2025.
Hold, I'm assuming you're backon the road touring, and is
there more music coming in 2025that you can share with us?
Sure, I, um, you know I I'llkeep on.
I'm a lifer, you know I'llalways be chipping away at the
old.
There will always be.
Um, there's another song forthose you know respective months
, whenever they present.
I'll be touring through themonth of august this year.
I blew straight by the time.
I uh hopefully find anotherbedroom again, um, but um, just
(23:59):
the wheels keep on turning.
There will always be more, butthere's an EP I'm looking
forward to putting out that wasrecorded with another friend.
There's a solitary album ofdemos that I recorded in a best
friend's backyard in Texas, ofsolo demos.
There's all these things thatI'm sitting on and there's a lot
of eggs in the nest and we'lllet them all hatch in there when
it's their turn well, let themcome as they come.
colleyc (24:22):
You know you got to nurture them and keep them warm
and yeah positive nature aroundthem absolutely well.
It's been a real pleasure.
Again, thanks so much, and um,I really look forward to hearing
some of the new stuff and butI'm still enjoying 444 great
record.
People go get it.
Catch hemlock on tour as well,because we know she'll be out
(24:45):
there somewhere you gotta findher.
hemlock (24:48):
Throw a guard at the map right there you go get a
t-shirt buy a record, go see ashow, support these artists.
colleyc (24:55):
So so thanks again, caroline, it was great.
hemlock (24:57):
Yeah, my pleasure.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
Thank you.
Maybe I'm just built to driveand drive and drive to a new
city every day and sleep insomeone's guest bed every night.
People are so generous, it'strue, people are kind.
I can count on change cause andsee it's malleable dependency
(25:35):
and I will go to therapy againthis Monday evening, talk about
how hard it is to strike somebalance in this life, and I will
leave feeling the same way Ifelt, walking in, maybe with
some burden lifted, maybe withsome burden bear, and I will do
(25:58):
the dishes that I've been to dothis morning and I'll brush my
teeth and go to bed and tryagain and try again, and try
again, and try again, and tryagain, and try again, and try
again, and try again, and tryagain and try.
And all right, cool.
Welcome back to another episodeof If it Be your Will podcast.
As season five carries on, wecan start to feel spring a
little bit, not much, but enoughto keep us focused on the sun
(00:21):
and the summer.
We need it.
God, what a winter.
Today I have Hemlock, CarolinaChauffe from Hemlock, and
Caroline, where are you comingin from?
hemlock (00:38):
Well, today I'm transmitting to you from Chicago
, where we're also hanging on tothe dregs of winter.
It's snowing out here.
I guess the groundhog was right, but I've been on tour for
about a year and three monthsnow.
I moved away from Chicago inNovember of 2023.
And I haven't been anywhere formore than two weeks since then.
So just deep in the road is thetruer answer, I guess, to that
(01:01):
question.
But today, the truer answer Iguess to that question.
colleyc (01:06):
But today, Chicago, Chicago it is.
And is this a short stop beforeyou pack your bags and head to
the next destination?
hemlock (01:12):
Yeah, the bags have stayed packed.
I'm playing an album releaseshow of my friends in a band
called Tobacco City it's a raremoment of the full band reunion
and and we'll be playingtogether before I set off back
down south.
colleyc (01:30):
Great and like, just as a question like what is it like
being on the road for so long?
Like I guess let me ask you twoparts to this what are the good
things and what are the not sogood things of of such a long
time?
That's a heck of a tour you'vebeen on there, carolina.
hemlock (01:47):
Right?
Well, you know each of thosequestions have very long answers
, but to try to be as succinctas possible, it is miraculous
and exhausting.
colleyc (01:57):
Good, nice words.
hemlock (02:00):
Some days it's more the former, some days it's more the
latter, some days it's more theformer, some days it's more the
(02:25):
latter.
I think the good things about itare a sense of empowerment and
a sense of also connection tocommunity and like a kind of
renewal, a constant renewal ofhope, which we can all use.
You know, it's necessary forour survival, individually and
collectively, in this moment.
Um, and the the harder thingsabout it are just um, it
involves a lot of uh, sacrifice,of um, of a consistent home, of
, like a proximity to the peoplethat you care about on a
regular basis.
Um, it is uh, uh, you know,like it's my passion, but it's
also a job that you're kind ofalways clocked in for.
I'm spending way more time thanI would like to in the car.
(02:49):
You know I'm driving more thanI'm playing music.
Even so, that's like a majorsacrifice.
But yeah, at the end of the day, I do feel a great sense of
fulfillment from touring and,more than even playing the music
, I think it's that sense ofcollective hope that keeps the
wheels turning absolutely,absolutely.
colleyc (03:10):
And I think, too, your music in particular throws out
that you know, take a breath,things are okay, even though I
drove 12 hours and played onehour, and I'll do the thing
again tomorrow and tomorrow.
It's those small little momentsthat really um define us and
(03:34):
and add to or take away from thehappiness that we have.
Um, interesting, interesting,so tell let's.
Let's kind of rewind time alittle bit and like where did it
begin for you?
Where did music start to reallybecome the forefront of what
you were going to do?
hemlock (04:07):
Genesis.
I, um, I was always a choir kid, um, I was in competitive
choirs in middle school and highschool and college, so it was
uh like melody and collective,you know, group voice.
Harmony has always beensomething that's really been
inspiring to me and has informedmy songwriting in a big way.
But I got, um the guitar that Istill play out on tour right
now, an old, uh knockoff martin,is, um, it came into my life
when I was 15 from craigslistand um totally uh opened up a
(04:31):
bunch of windows, uh and doorsfor for my creative output and
um, I was in a band in highschool and uh, early college
that would tour betweenlouisiana and texas because I'm
from southern louisiana and um,I met a band called Little
Mazarn doing that and then theyasked me to tour with them and
their band and I'm still in thatband.
But that was the first time thatI ever was on the road for a
(04:53):
prolonged amount of time and weactually went up to Canada to
play a festival called River andSky that I've been to a couple
of times now, um, or a few times, um, and uh, I just fell in
love.
I fell in love with the road.
It was nice to see that therecould be like such a, you know,
kindred sense of community in somany different cities and
(05:14):
states and and and countries andum, this kind of like shared
ethos that's totally, you know,decentralized but very tightly
woven, um, these like goldenstrings that are defy um, defy
geographical proximity and anddefy, uh, linear time and um, I
uh that it, I mean it.
(05:35):
Really there's like a sense ofboth internal and external
validation.
Yeah, with touring and being onthe road and sharing your music
and um, it's, it's justrewarding.
But, you know, the more youmeet friends too and peers in
that environment who also aremaking some of the most
incredible music you've everheard, it's like the more that
that inspires you to continuewith your practice.
At least that's how it's beenfor me.
colleyc (05:56):
So it's just and like do you remember some of your
first songs that you wrote?
Like I asked this becauseyou're such a prolific writer
and like we'll get into the songof the day, because I think
that that in itself is prettyimpressive.
But like did you always?
(06:17):
Were you always penning?
Were you always like, since yougot that guitar?
Like was it to so that youcould write your own songs?
Is that was one of theobjectives of it?
hemlock (06:27):
yeah, well, I've I always liked you know, I've been
an avid journaler and I lovedpoetry.
I loved writing prose, um ingrade school, and um music,
since I was singing so much itfelt like an obvious, you know,
combination to, to, to throw thetwo together in the same bowl
and see what, what would come ofit and um, yeah, so I've, I've,
(06:50):
I've been writing.
I think the original songs Ihad were probably when I was 13
and um different showcases, uh,at my school, when I was around
14 or 15, and um in Louisiana,there's, you know, a lot of
young musicians, and so youcould be in a bar, like at an
open mic, when you, before you,were of age to drink, and so
that was like I was able to beexposed to a larger music
(07:13):
community, which was something Iwas very grateful for as a
teenager.
And so, yeah, I can remember,you know, the little dinky songs
, like some of the first songs Iever wrote.
I can remember the choruses ofsongs that may never see the
light of day from when I wasvery, very much in my
adolescence.
But, yeah, they stick around,they linger.
(07:34):
And yeah, thank you for yourcompliments too, on the Song of
Day collection.
I definitely am.
colleyc (07:41):
Yeah.
hemlock (07:42):
There's always more, you know, there's just always
lyrics.
colleyc (07:44):
Or lyrics.
hemlock (07:46):
Rolling around in my head.
colleyc (07:48):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Absolutely.
colleyc (07:50):
I'm interested too in asking that you talked about
being in a choir.
In a choir, I mean, you're oneamongst many.
hemlock (07:59):
Yes.
colleyc (08:00):
It's a totally different story when it's you,
your guitar, on stage in frontof everybody else and everybody
staring at you and you'repouring your heart out.
Here's my journals.
Who wants to read that?
It's like you cannot get anymore raw and, you know, volatile
in a way.
How did you come to that Like?
Did that take time for you toto to get the courage or the
(08:22):
confidence to, for all thoseeyes and and and you know, I
mean, I guess, criticism too,because when you're putting
yourself out there, it's, it'sgoing to come.
How did you get, how did howdid that happen for you Finding
that way that you could, youcould be that front person on
the stage?
hemlock (08:41):
yeah, well, I feel like you know, starting my
performance journey in choirswas a great way to ease into
standing before a room, becausewhen you are singing choir, you
often have, you know, the dozensof other people singing with
you, and so that was like a youknow tiptoeing, put just dipping
your toes into the waterperformance where you have this,
(09:01):
this like network of people whoare all singing the same piece
as you, and so it doesn't feellike all you know the pressure
is is lower because not all theeyes are on you right um, and so
then, like just paring downfrom being in a larger choir to
being in a chamber choir, tobeing in a band where there were
four of us, you know, that likekind of was a way to wean into
(09:22):
the attention being more andmore concentrated on, like me
and my voice specifically, untilI was pretty comfortable doing
solo performance way to kind ofcut my teeth, uh, with, you know
, being in front of removedpeople, because often most of
the audience are othersongwriters that are there to
share their work as well, and sothere's like a um and again
(09:45):
like a community aspect to it.
That's like shared ethos, thisshared motivation, and yeah, I
it's.
It's interesting to think aboutthe answer to this question,
because now I I very rarely feelnervous at all to be be to be
in a state of performance or tobe public facing with song.
It's much harder for me to dosomething like this, like a
podcast, where I'm, you know,way more prone to putting my my
(10:08):
foot in my mouth, just thinkingon the spot that I am reciting
something that is, you know, afinished work that I that I know
by heart.
colleyc (10:18):
Right, right right.
hemlock (10:19):
Yeah.
colleyc (10:19):
Now with your catalog.
I mean it's really, it's reallybeautiful.
I mean you write such greatsongs and so many of them.
When do you know when a song is?
You know, like, where it hassomething that's worth Further
exploration, or vocals orwhatever.
Whatever, like, how do you cometo that?
hemlock (10:41):
um, okay, I'm on to something here yeah, well, I
think like a big part of mypractice at least, is being
forgiving with yourself to um,to work with the first thought
that comes to mind, at leastwith the song a day collection
that's.
That's kind of the premisebehind those songs is is being
able to follow an idea to itscompletion, um, even if it's not
(11:04):
something that you're in lovewith.
So, even if I don't feel likeI'm, you know, like on to
something with a specific melodyor specific, like the first
thing that I sit down and playon my guitar, I'll like try to
follow that through and justgive it, you know, like honor
that first idea and and andtreat it with respect and um,
see what happens.
Because what I've discovered inreleasing those song of day
(11:26):
projects is just that, you know,even if there's a few songs on
each of those collections that Ireally am like I'm fine to
never play that song again.
It was in the moment.
There's always someone thatsong.
It just shows how, um, abeautiful thing to learn is that
, even if you'll probably findsomeone's ears that with it and
feel, um, you know, like there'sit's kind of a there's no bad
(11:48):
ideas kind of approach to itwhere, um, you know, there are
definitely songs that I that Iprefer to other songs that I've
written, and sometimes there'slike a feeling of like, okay,
yes, this is one that I'm goingto revere and that I'm going to
come back to and that will be aregular part of my set for a
very long time.
But there, I think there'sreally something to the
catharsis of just getting anidea out of your system, even if
(12:08):
it's one that's far from youknow your batch of favorites or
something.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Red winged blackbird by the lake.
colleyc (12:28):
It is strange to be, but today and what was your
process like for that song a day?
Like I was looking at your atthe band camp page and I mean
first, can you describe that tous?
Like, what was your, what wasyour point, what did you want to
(12:48):
do with with this song a day?
hemlock (12:51):
Yeah.
So when, in 2019, um, inFebruary I embarked on this
project of writing one song aday and recording it on my phone
that day, each day, for themonth of February, um, and at
the end of that month, I felt solike, um you know both proud of
(13:14):
and um inspired by thatpractice, like it felt like it
pushed me, um, in all the rightways and challenged me and in a
way that was really productivefor for me and my songwriting
practice, that, um, it felt likedoing that for one month out of
each year was a sustainablebenchmark of trying to keep that
project going as a long-formthing.
(13:35):
So we're, you know it's 2025.
So we're now six years deepinto this saga where, just one
month out of each year, I doanother one, where it's again
writing one song a day for eachday of that month and recording
them on my phone by the end ofthat day.
colleyc (13:55):
Yeah, yeah, it's been it's been pressure no like well.
hemlock (13:59):
it's not, though I think I function.
Maybe it's that I function wellunder a deadline.
It's like something that holdsyou accountable and that's
something about, you know, my,my practice both hands on
songwriting, often beingsolitary is there has to be some
kind of to keep me responsibleto my practice, to keep me, you
know, on tour.
That's like booking my owndates and making sure the ball
is rolling, but with songwritingit's often there are streaks
(14:21):
where I can go, you know, like amonth or two without touching
the guitar, and I think song aday is something I look forward
to because it's like, oh, when Isit down to play, like there's
always something that comes out,you know.
so it's it's I look, I lookforward to, kind of the binge,
binge, like a songwriting thathappens for that period of time,
and it gets easier every timeas well like I think the more I
(14:42):
do it, the more my boundariesare expanded of what a song is,
of what genres I like to workwith, of like playing
instruments that I don't knowhow to play, of switching around
narration.
You know, it's like the moresongs that I write, the the more
kinds of songs I feelcomfortable writing or playing
with.
It's playful.
colleyc (15:00):
That's the pressure's off, because it's just an act of
play.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
Right.
colleyc (15:05):
And like just looking at your first one, so you put it
on March 1st 2019.
And this was day one, day two,day three.
You know the titles of yoursongs.
Were those done in order or didyou play around with that?
Were those done in order or did?
hemlock (15:18):
you play around with that?
No, I didn't.
Yeah, they each go with theircorresponding date.
So day one is February 1st, daytwo is February 2nd, and so on,
and that's been the case forall of the Song of Days since
then.
My friend Rand actually textedme the other day and he was like
I just realized that after the12 years are done, you will have
written a song for everyone'sbirthday who exists.
colleyc (15:41):
There you go.
That is very true, and do youhave a process for this,
specifically Because you do havea certain timeline, time crunch
, as you said?
What's your process?
When you approach, okay, daystarts, you know we're midway
through the month you're on song15.
(16:01):
Like what would your typicalprocess be in getting ready for
you know this day?
16 example?
hemlock (16:08):
Yeah it.
It honestly, you know,typically is a practice in sleep
deprivation too, because often,when I'm able to carve out,
time is at the end of the night,like right before down, you
know, and you're going to sleepand you've been conscious for
however many hours, and it'salways I've always found it
easier to stay up late than towake up early, and so it'll
(16:30):
often be, you know, reflectingon a day's experience and warmed
up hands and chipping away,chipping off a couple of hours
of sleep for the night.
And but there's like I thinkthere's something to be said to
about the kind of unconscious oreven subconscious process of
how my observations movingthrough the world change in that
(16:51):
month, because you're kind oflike, you know, you're porous,
you're like taking in all thisinformation and you're you have
to be very honed into the kindof wonders of everyday life in
order to even have something tosay.
Sometimes, right, you knowwhere it's like.
What was the like most beautifulthing that I saw this day, or
what emotions am I processing?
(17:13):
You just have to be an activeobserver of your environment, at
least if you're writingautobiographically which
sometimes also, though, I mean,you can see something and then
create a narrative and write afictional song as well, you know
, from doing that same thing.
So the process is, I guess,immersive in that way, of just
this kind of keen observation ofyour environment, which is
something that I try to carrythrough my day to day life, um,
(17:36):
just to observe the, themiraculous and the mundane, you
know for sure, for sure.
colleyc (17:42):
And was this ongoing when you were on tour as well,
or do you?
Are you settled for a monthduring that?
You know, recording month of of?
hemlock (17:51):
Yeah, I typically try to choose a month in the year
where I've got the least amountof motion going on, you know.
So I don't know yet.
This year, 2025, what, whatmonth I'm going to choose?
All I know is that it can't bedoubling up on any of the six
that I've already done.
colleyc (18:06):
So that narrows it down Six months left, right, exactly
.
hemlock (18:10):
So I've got to try to, you know, hone my, my calendar
into where I've.
I've, um, I'll hopefully bemostly in one place for whatever
month that I choose for thisyear.
Um, but I've definitely hadtimes where I've been on or
touring during song a day, likelast, last year's, the November
project for 2024.
Um, I was in new Orleans for aweek out of that and I was in
(18:31):
Atlanta for a week after thatand then I was, I mean, you know
it, it, it bops around, but Itry to have relative stillness
for that month.
colleyc (18:40):
Nice and, as you were saying, your environment, the
community that you're in duringthat time, will play an
influence on what you end upputting down on your iPhone.
Sure, that's really cool.
hemlock (18:54):
Yeah, that's really cool.
I think, um, you know, life hashas been an important part of
the practice because there aredifferent like kind of sound
textures and emotional texturesand um, uh, you know, like kind
of like ethno-musical, logical,like different, different people
, different peers in each space,in each city that you're moving
(19:18):
through, and then if you allowthose to be your direct
influences or directinspirations for what you're
writing at that time, then youend up with a lot of like very
subtly different styles ofsongwriting or of lyricism.
colleyc (19:31):
And yeah, like I said, I think it's better to be a
sponge like the more you cantake in, the more you can put
out theoretically know I alwaysthought that was the most
beautiful thing about asongwriter is they scan your
world and communicate yourthoughts that you know don't
come as natural as you knowothers would, but you have that
(19:53):
ability to like, paint thisbeautiful canvas of sound that
they can relate to.
You know that they'rethemselves in.
hemlock (20:01):
Yeah, synthesizing a specific experience and then
spitting it out in a way thatit's universally relatable, yeah
, it's, it is a, it is a.
I mean that's like a miracle inand of itself.
colleyc (20:13):
It is, isn't it, isn't it?
That's the great thing aboutmusic.
I find it's just thatuniversality and the commonality
and it's just something that weall share, regardless of where
we're from or how we grew up orwith who.
It's that one connection that wecan all which makes these kinds
of podcasts so fun, becauseit's such an easy thing to talk
(20:35):
about Somebody that's passionatelike myself and musicians like
yourself.
It's just, it's such an easything to talk about with
somebody that's passionate likemyself and musicians like
yourself.
It's just, it's a match made inheaven.
I'll say, um, so, carolyn, tellme a little bit about 444.
So, from what I read and pleasecorrect me but this was kind of
an assembly of some songs fromthe song a day, some other track
(20:56):
singles that you had.
Can you kind of an assembly ofsome songs from the song a day,
some other tracks, singles thatyou had?
Can you kind of paint thepicture of how this record came
to be?
hemlock (21:04):
Sure, so 444, we self-released because I function
as an entirely independentmusician, so we self-released
that last October, october 2024.
And so we self-released thatlast October, october 2024.
And it is, I guess the elevatorpitch, you know, is that it's
the best stuff so far of theSong of Day songs.
So all 12 songs on the albumare from the Song of Day
(21:27):
practice and they include, theyspan, the entire collection.
So there's at least, you know,one song from each of the Song
of Day months so far included inthat kind of compilation album.
That was totally kind of likesouped up, you know, and
reimagined with a band of someof my dearest friends here in
Chicago Bailey Bailey,misenberger, andy PK and Jack
(21:50):
Henry, who are fantasticmusicians, just so intuitive and
so enthusiastic, and I'm blownaway by them consistently.
And, yeah, we all kind of chosethe songs together, you know,
sifting through the hundredsthat are there and all kind of
picked ones that feltparticularly exciting to us or,
(22:13):
you know, like thematicallyimportant to the narrative arc
of what we were trying to saywith the album, like paying
respects to the song a day as a,as an entirety, um, which is
why the opening track is day one.
You know that hearkens to thevery first song, a day song that
there ever was Um.
colleyc (22:29):
it sparked it all.
hemlock (22:31):
Yes, exactly, yeah.
So that's the true Genesis, youknow, the true like uh, opening
moment, yeah, moment, yeah, I Ifeel really proud of it.
I feel really um, honored bythe collaboration too of the
four of us and um and whateverybody brought to the table
to kind of make it the mostdynamically, um, diverse and
also like kind of genre pushingalbum that we've put out so far.
(22:53):
But they are, yeah, they're allsong of day songs and I believe
that you know we'll berecording again in apr, april,
and I'm looking forward to that.
But I think I think we're goingto continue on with this kind
of like paying more respects tosome of these song of day songs
that otherwise get kind ofburied in the mass of.
You know, it's like prettyextensive body of work.
colleyc (23:12):
So, absolutely, absolutely.
That's so cool, so kind of tobring things to a close here.
Thanks again for joining me.
Like great stories, I love yourprocess of how you brought this
to be, and this record, too, isjust so good.
What is?
hemlock (23:38):
2025.
Hold, I'm assuming you're backon the road touring, and is
there more music coming in 2025that you can share with us?
Sure, I, um, you know I I'llkeep on.
I'm a lifer, you know I'llalways be chipping away at the
old.
There will always be.
Um, there's another song forthose you know respective months
, whenever they present.
I'll be touring through themonth of august this year.
I blew straight by the time.
I uh hopefully find anotherbedroom again, um, but um, just
(23:59):
the wheels keep on turning.
There will always be more, butthere's an EP I'm looking
forward to putting out that wasrecorded with another friend.
There's a solitary album ofdemos that I recorded in a best
friend's backyard in Texas, ofsolo demos.
There's all these things thatI'm sitting on and there's a lot
of eggs in the nest and we'lllet them all hatch in there when
it's their turn well, let themcome as they come.
colleyc (24:22):
You know you got to nurture them and keep them warm
and yeah positive nature aroundthem absolutely well.
It's been a real pleasure.
Again, thanks so much, and um,I really look forward to hearing
some of the new stuff and butI'm still enjoying 444 great
record.
People go get it.
Catch hemlock on tour as well,because we know she'll be out
(24:45):
there somewhere you gotta findher.
hemlock (24:48):
Throw a guard at the map right there you go get a
t-shirt buy a record, go see ashow, support these artists.
colleyc (24:55):
So so thanks again, caroline, it was great.
hemlock (24:57):
Yeah, my pleasure.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
Thank you.
Maybe I'm just built to driveand drive and drive to a new
city every day and sleep insomeone's guest bed every night.
People are so generous, it'strue, people are kind.
I can count on change cause andsee it's malleable dependency
(25:35):
and I will go to therapy againthis Monday evening, talk about
how hard it is to strike somebalance in this life, and I will
leave feeling the same way Ifelt, walking in, maybe with
some burden lifted, maybe withsome burden bear, and I will do
(25:58):
the dishes that I've been to dothis morning and I'll brush my
teeth and go to bed and tryagain and try again, and try
again, and try again, and tryagain, and try again, and try
again, and try again, and tryagain and try.
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