'Trailblazer' Lola Kirke visits USA TODAY Acoustic to perform songs from her album
The multitalented artist kicked off the Nashville edition of USA TODAY Acoustic with a four-song acoustic set drawn from her third full-length album. Her title track, "Trailblazer," opens with the line, "If I got what I wanted, I never would've gotten to meet me," a poetic thesis that sets the tone for her introspective storytelling.
"That sounds kind of like a wall quote you'd see at your grandmother's house or something," she jokes before delving into the project's deeper meaning. "I wanted to set the scene of where the album was coming from because so much of it is about blazing your own trail and trying to understand who you are when your life looks different from what you thought it would look like."
Lola Kirke's 'Trailblazer' country album latest in a trio of new introspective projects
The Nashville-based artist from New York played alongside steel guitarist Nick Larimore.
Kirke is having a standout year in 2025, not only releasing "Trailblazer" but also publishing the book "Wild West Village" with Simon and Schuster.
During the taping, Kirke sat tucked into a nook awash in soft blue fluorescent light and reflected on her creative process.
"Lately I've gotten really interested in sitting down and observing everything," she says. "Like I guarantee, if you went downstairs and just sat on the street and observed how people cross the street and what they're doing and what people are saying to each other, it would reveal so much about this world that we live in."
Kirke tells stories through song, prose and acting. One of her breakout roles was in "Gone Girl" portraying Greta, a mysterious woman who crosses paths with Amy at an Ozark campground. She's since appeared in "Gemini," "Lost Girls" and HBO's "Winning Time."
When it comes to putting poetry to paper, Kirke takes inspiration from musical writing legends.
"I was listening to a Joni Mitchell interview the other day where she said, 'I write about me to show you you,'" Kirke said. "I think that's the value of songwriting or any kind of writing or storytelling."
For USA TODAY Acoustic, Kirke performed a 17-minute set of "Hungover Thinkin'," "Trailblazer," "Marlboro Lights and Madonna" and "Mississippi, My Sister, Elvis and Me."
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