Artist Spotlight: Lady Winona Blythe
This week the Appalachian Preservation Project is proud to present Lady Winona Blythe as this week’s artist spotlight. Blythe released her debut single “TIME IS RUNNING OUT” to all streaming platforms on January 20, 2024.
Why did you become a musician?
Growing up, I remember my aunt being a touring musician, and I just thought she was so cool; I wanted to be just like her. There’s a photo of me around four, sitting on her lap while she taught me my first guitar chords. My mother, a singer herself, enrolled me in piano lessons before I even graced the halls of pre-school. In first grade, she put me in guitar lessons with our neighbor, who was a retired Grand Ole Opry guitarist. By 6th grade, she built an addition to our home to house all the instruments and gear she had bought me as a dedicated place to study and practice. I suppose, in a lot of ways, I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t choose to become a musician; that choice was made for me. Like many kids with music forced upon them, I didn’t appreciate the expensive lessons or all the financial sacrifices my mother made to encourage an accelerated interest in music. If I had been as dedicated as she had wished, I would be a much better musician today. As it stands, I’m mediocre at best, but I approach music with a tremendous amount of passion now.
Why did you begin pursuing professional music?
I didn’t touch an instrument for nearly 6 years until I lost my job in June 2023. Once I emotionally recovered from the unexpected job loss, I dedicated myself to pursuing music full-time. I’m grateful for the freedom I have to do so, thanks to my wonderful partner who carries the full burden of supporting us financially now.
What artists inspire you the most?
Patsy Cline, Linda Ronstadt, Johnny Cash, George Jones, and Loretta Lynn, just to name a few. I am currently working on an EP exploring Patsy Cline music as I imagined it would be heard in a post-apocalyptic world. This EP will almost entirely be produced using my microKorg and a select number of FX pedals, including an MXR Talk Box. My next single, “Walkin’ After Midnight” can be anticipated in March 2024. It is 1 of 4 tracks on the upcoming EP. The full EP is planned for an August 2024 release.
I am also working on tracks for my first full-length album, which will follow the theme of the EP. I hope to release the album in December 2024.
What life experiences inform your music?
“TIME IS RUNNING OUT” is inspired by my daily struggle with my own fragile mortality and life after death. Growing up in Appalachia, I was exposed to end-time theology and eternal damnation from an early age. This caused the development of religious OCD, which I began treatment for in 2nd grade. I used a constant but irregular beat to portray time ticking away and an ambient depiction of how I imagine eternal damnation to sound. I used samples of William Booth’s sermons about hell and damnation to softly play throughout the track. After this year, I plan to explore this theme more in future work.
For my upcoming music, I’m using this project to explore my fear of nuclear apocalypse as we continue to watch tense military situations unfold worldwide.
How do you hope your music impacts people?
I just hope someone hears it and knows that there are others out there who grapple with the idea of death and damnation every day. The impact his harmful theology has on people, especially young kids, is insidious and terrifying.
