It is easy to see how Lily Meola captured the attention of Willie Nelson years ago at the start of her career, eventually opening for him on tour, and then later as a contestant on America’s Got Talent. Her voice runs warm with an easy elasticity that lets her bounce between watery weightless and soulful grounded, between cheeky kiss-offs and heart-wrenching ballads. In this current chapter, she finds herself in the sonic pocket of pop-minded country with her latest album Lucky to Be. Across a setlist that includes duets with Willie and Lukas Nelson as well as Jamey Johnson, the Maui-born Meola balances cowgirl humor with earnest love songs.
Though Lucky to Be proves Meola has the hook-writing savvy that could easily land her on country radio, there’s an underlying indie cred that keeps even a song like album opener “Sleeping with My Boots On” feeling rooted in something authentic. “Watch my Levi’s leave right out that swingin’ door,” she sings in the kind of tune that feels tailor-made for soundtracking a commercial selling jeans. Or on the clever “Never Kissed a Cowboy,” which features all the telltale signs that set the scene — feet on the dash, Texaco sign, a rodeo — a romantic ode to chivalry.
