Meolas at MACC
Lily, Matt with Lukas Nelson
For The Maui News
When Lily Meola takes the stage at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center’s Castle Theater on Saturday, it will mark her first time playing the MACC since performing at the 2019 Maui Songwriters Festival, headlined by Miranda Lambert.
She will be joined by Willie Nelson’s son, Lukas Nelson, and her brother, Matt Meola, as part of the Live @ the MACC virtual concert series, performing songs from her debut album along with new material which she hopes to release this year. “To be back on stage with Lukas is really sweet,” she said.
It’s been a tough time for the gifted, soulful musician. Besides the hardships imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which halted her ability to tour, she dealt with the heartbreak of losing her mother to cancer last June. Nancy Herschler Meola was a huge light and supporter.
“I took the last year and a half to take care of my mom,” Meola said. “The last few years I’ve gone through so many different emotions. It’s been like a roller coaster. I’ve taken a hiatus. I was really under a rock for the last couple of years with my mom. She was very adamant about me keeping my dreams intact.”
Profiled in Rolling Stone magazine as sounding like “Bobbie Gentry and Joni Mitchell went on a vacation to Hawaii together,” Meola has been blessed with star support. She’s recorded with country legends Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson, sung onstage with rockers Steven Tyler and Sammy Hagar and received songwriting lessons from Jackson Browne.
When Willie Nelson headlined the 2013 Farm Aid benefit concert in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., he introduced the former Haleakala Waldorf School student to the crowd of more than 25,000.
“There’s a little gal from Maui that’s singing up a storm and we have a new song out together,” he announced.
Out stepped Meola to perform the moving ballad “Will You Remember Mine,” which was featured on Willie Nelson’s critically acclaimed album “To All the Girls.”
The recording featured the country icon collaborating with an array of female artists, including legends like Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Wynonna Judd, along with the duet track with Meola.
“A lot of people really loved the track and I had a lot of good feedback,” she said. “I made a lot of friends through it. Jamey Johnson heard it and asked me to be on his Christmas album. It worked out so beautifully.”
Willie Nelson said in a 2015 Maui News interview that he’s “been watching Lily since she was young becoming a talented singer.”
“Every time I hear her she’s better,” he said.
He became a fan hearing her sing at Paia’s Cafe des Amis.
“Willie would sometimes sit in and we would play a couple of songs together,” she explained. “One night he handed me a napkin with a couple of songs written on it, and he asked me if I would like to record any of them. The rest is history.”
Meola has always loved singing, but it wasn’t until 6th grade, playing the lead in a school production of “Man of La Mancha,” that she realized her passion could become a career path.
“My mom got me vocal lessons with Joy Fields, who has been so amazing in my life,” she said. “My mom saw I was very passionate and I started getting gigs on the island.”
When it came time to release her exceptional debut album “They Say” in 2016, Meola had compiled a trove of memorable songs and backing by Willie Nelson, Lukas Nelson and Kristofferson. Highlights included a duet with Kristofferson on his classic “Me & Bobby McGee,” where she effortlessly embraced the song’s emotional impact, and a stunning version of Lukas Nelson’s heartache ballad “Sound of Your Memory.”
Since releasing her first album, Meola has spent time honing her craft and working towards releasing new music.
“I’ve written something like 200 songs now,” she said. “In the last few years I’ve been writing and writing, and really finding myself and my voice. It’s been an interesting, long process, but all the time it’s taken has been very valuable. I’ve learned a lot.
“I’m finally ready to put stuff out,” she added. “I’m going to put out a couple of singles first. With the first album I hadn’t really written much at all, just a couple of songs. I didn’t really know myself that well, and it was catered to a different crowd. Now that I’ve had all this time to really dig and find my own sound, it’s not like the last one at all. It has a little bit of everything I’ve been inspired by.”
The Live @ the MACC concert will air at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, streamed on the MACC website as well as its Facebook and YouTube pages. The series is made possible by the support of the County of Maui and the Office of Economic Development.