INTERVIEW: Olivia Ellen Lloyd Resists Definition on "Every Good Man"

Olivia Ellen Lloyd doesn't have time for what everyone thinks of her – she's forging her own path. Her latest sing,e "Every Good Man," is a twangy declaration of independence from patriarchal expectations and self-imposed limitations. Lloyd’s razor-sharp pen is the through line of Do It Myself (out March 21st), drawing portraits of the roles we're expected to fit into, and highlighting the ways those molds fail us. Lloyd played our last Rainbow Rodeo showcase and is looking to have a breakout 2025. We spoke about breaking out of Brooklyn, the past, and the prison of genre.

Does your album have an overarching theme?

I think this record is, generally speaking, about getting free. Free of my own self imposed limitations, free from the desire to be "chosen", free from relationships and attachments that bog us down. I also want this to be a record about hope - from catching a spark of recognition in a near stranger like in "Friday Night" to dreaming of a life where you are happy and secure and in your own routine and power in "Do It Myself," many of these songs were written while I was dreaming of something better for myself. 

This is going to be a much bigger release than your past work – you're playing Mountain Stage in the spring and getting other media attention. What do you think made this your moment? How are you feeling about it?

I'm playing Mountain Stage!  This has been my big pie-in-the-sky dream gig from the very start of my career. I have been very lucky this season and I've worked very hard and that is the winning combo in all things related to my Music Career. To be honest, I did not anticipate releasing another record without any label or booking support and I felt very nervous to embark on that task without any of the aforementioned institutional support.

But I am lucky in friends, who have helped me navigate this weird business and said nice things about me behind my back and helped me get to a place where this release feels like A Big Moment, despite having no industry engine beneath me. I definitely got by with a (lot of) help from my friends this time around. If you're lucky to know Marley Hale, Kaïa Kater, Jobi Riccio, Isa Burke, Lizzie No, Mike Robinson, Ali Fenwick and a host of other cute and helpful hotties, maybe you know what I mean. 

How have you healed or grown your relationship to country music/Americana?

I think Country Music and I have been consciously uncoupling for a few years now, at least the Capital C country music that I set out to make. My influences are too scattered, my path too meandering, and my politics and points of view are too squarely weird to really align with even our gentlest country stars. 

But I'm feeling pretty weary of Americana as a brand lately; it seems like they have taken the coolest parts of country music, gentler bits of rock n' roll, and the most feral corners of folk music and forced us all into a stuffy hotel room where we are forced to compete with one another for limited resources and airtime. I'm not into the "Genericana" sound that attempts to reach everyone and pleases no one.  Pffft - I am over genre!

Maybe the one good thing about the social media age is that we can shuffle off some of these dumb constraints and find our audience at the intersection of...whatever strange niche interests and influences we pull from without having to cower to tastemakers who often have poor taste. 

Where are some places you’ve found joy within the country/Americana world?

With all the above shit-talking in mind, the people in Americana / country music are the best people. Too many wonderful people to name who are making music that is all their own - and maybe the more I get my arms and ears around those sounds the less willing I am to try and cozy up to the Men at the Gates who are deciding who gets in and who doesn't. I find joy among other artists who are charting their own way and finding their own sound. It can get messy over here! But we're all in it together.

How do you feel your queer identity ties into your performance style or music?

Much like my songwriting, which has me worrying over the same problems from ten different directions, my queer identity has been one that I have tussled and tackled with. Being single (like really, fully unattached to anyone else) for the first time in a decade has helped! I've been able to experiment with this aspect of my identity, which I came to understand while in the middle of monogamous hereonormative partnership. And much like this record attempts to draw hope and curiosity from a well of uncertainty, I am happy that my queerness allows me to remain curious and even optimistic about what love and partnership could look like for me, outside of my own limiting beliefs and preconceived notions. 

Do It Myself will be out on March 21st

Olivia Ellen Lloyd – Website | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify