Welcome to Wheels Off, a show about the messy reality of the creative life. I'm Rhett Miller.

That's when it got wheels off. We started up and we ain't gonna stop or said like you,

like it a night. That's when they got wheels off. Lydia Lovelace is a badass.

I've been lucky enough to have a court side seat for her evolution

and watching her as she grows into the songwriter that she is today

and the performer that she is today and the brave, funny,

kick-ass person that she is today has been a treat. I admire her. I look up to her. I think of her

as a kindred spirit. Our birthdays are two days apart, not that that means anything.

But this isn't about me. This is about Lydia Loveless. She started making records when she was

15 years old back in Ohio. She now lives in North Carolina. She and I caught up for this interview

back in December before a show in Boston

where her boyfriend Michael Casey, who's a great magician, was opening for the old 97s. And Lydia

was nice enough to come out to the show and join us on stage to sing a couple of songs. And that's always a tricky thing

because if you've ever seen Lydia perform, you know that Lydia Lovelace has the voice of, God,

I would say an angel, but it seems like it's maybe from the other end of the spectrum. She has a monster of a voice.

She is a singer for whom the word powerhouse was invented.

And she writes.

She writes like someone who is constantly digging into her own experiences and her own psyche,

trying to figure out how she really feels about something. The songs that she puts out into the world are brave and thoughtful

and weird and the world is a better place for it.

Thank God for Lydia Loveless. I'm so lucky to have her on this episode and the world is a better place for it.

Thank God for Lydia Loveless.

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