G.E. SMITH’S PORTRAITS FEATURING VALERIE JUNE & LOLA KIRKE

Valerie June Hockett is a Grammy-nominated artist from Tennessee. She’s been hailed by the New York Times as one of America’s “most intriguing, fully formed new talents.” A musician, poet, certified yoga and mindfulness meditation instructor, and author, she honorably served as a Turnaround artist working with students for the President’s Committee for the Arts and Humanities and continues serving through The Kennedy Center. She has recorded three critically acclaimed, best-selling solo albums and has also written songs for legendary artists such as Mavis Staples and The Blind Boys of Alabama. Her albums have been praised by numerous publications such as Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, The Washington Post, NPR Music, Mojo, Uncut and many others. She's been featured on The Tonight Show, CBS, PBS, Austin City Limits, BBC, and many more. When she’s not touring, she splits her time between Tennessee and New York.

valeriejune.com

Lola Kirke has played many roles as an actress (“Mozart in the Jungle,” “Gone Girl,” “Winning Time”), but as a musician her sights have always been set squarely on Country. “I don’t totally get it either,” laughs the London-born, New York-raised Kirke. “But I’ve always been drawn to dynamic parts for women, and I can’t think of any other genre where we can be mothers, heartbreakers, glamorous, gritty, drunk, tender, and everything in between all at once.”She’s also just a sucker for the songwriting. “I wanted to know how I could make the most complicated feelings sound simple, or how to make the saddest things be fun or witty. Great Country just does that so well.”

After relocating from Los Angeles to Nashville in 2020, Kirke devoted herself to honing the craft she’d come to admire so deeply in artists like The Judds, The Pistol Annies, and Dolly Parton. Shortly thereafter, she released her critically acclaimed sophomore LP “Lady For Sale” on the much respected Third Man Records in 2022 and played sold-out shows with the likes of Jenny Lewis and Margo Price. 

In her downtime, Kirke threw herself into writing, both on her own and with others. “I was nervous a lot of people in Nashville wouldn’t take me seriously. There’s so much talent there. I was intimidated. Plus, while being a musician turned actor is kind of chic, the other way around can be kind of cringey—even to me. Also, growing up Jewish and singing Country isn’t exactly a normal trajectory, so I felt I had a lot working against me.” 

But Kirke’s commitment and talent were clear enough to hitmakers like Aaron Ratiere (Miranda Lambert), Mary Kutter (Bailey Zimmerman, Nate Smith), and Jason Nix (Lainey Wilson), with whom she wrote the bulk of her latest EP “Country Curious.” To achieve the more contemporary sound Kirke envisioned (“I was kind of like—what would happen if I wrote ‘Bro Country’ but for girls?” she says, only half-jokingly), she enlisted the Grammy-nominated, chart-topping Elle King, who’d been itching make her debut as a producer. “I knew she’d be the right fit. She always been so supportive of me and I’ve always loved how she blends her roots rock sound with a real pop sensibility.” Their lifelong friendship made the collaboration even more of a shoe in. “She was the first girl I knew singing Country in New York City!” Kirke beams when talking about King. 

If Kirke’s doubts about her place in music didn’t dwindle after First Aid Kit invited her on tour and jump on board to feature on the EP’s first single, “All My Exes Live in LA,” one can imagine it’s only a matter of time. “Lola is a stunning combination of wildness, beauty, and humor, with a voice that digs inside my head and heart,” says the legendary Rosanne Cash, one of Kirke’s all-time heroes and her collaborator on “Karma.” “I honestly adore this woman and count myself both a friend and her biggest fan.” Cash continues. 

lolakirkemusic.com