Gaelynn Lea joins us on our witchy little podcast this week, and traces the links between her personal spirituality and her route to life as a composer, songwriter, and professional musician. Gaelynn describes asking herself: "what am I doing now and how does that create the next scene? And does the next scene get me any closer to the good, kind world that I wanna see?"
She describes the energy coming through her, and pushing it out into the listening crowd. And when I get a little bombastic in our interview, Gaelynn shrugs and laughs and says "Maybe! I'm trying to leave a little more room for the unknown these days" And I laugh and relax into it.
I want to take my self off the panic edge of grasping for certainty and see what slips in. Make a little more space for the unknown, and for my body as it is. Try the instrument in a different position. Follow the strange new sound.
Poke through the veil, not knowing exactly what we'll find.
Because sometimes, what comes through is a whole now song.
Songs used in this episode:
Gaelynn Lea - All The Roads The Lead Us Home - Let It Go
Gaelynn Lea - The Songs We Sing Along The Way - Watch The World Unfold
Gaelynn Lea - Breath, You Are Alive!
Gaelynn Lea: Violinist, Singer-Songwriter and Broadway Composer
Gaelynn Lea got her big break when she won NPR Music's Tiny Desk Contest in 2016. Since then, she has been captivating audiences around the world with her haunting original songs and traditional fiddle tunes, and has collaborated with Michael Stipe, The Decemberists, and even Pigface.
In 2022, Gaelynn Lea composed and recorded the original score for Macbeth on Broadway, starring Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga. Thanks to a Whippoorwill Arts Fellowship, her theatrically-inspired soundtrack came out in May 2025. She followed this up with a 10-city UK album release tour.
Her new recording, titled Music from Macbeth, is a mostly instrumental concept album—one long track per act—although it is book-ended by two vocal songs. Gaelynn Lea wanted to take the listener on an epic audio journey that mirrors the winding and tragic path of Macbeth himself.
In 2023, Gaelynn Lea co-wrote and performed in a new musical fable for the stage called Invisible Fences with disabled storyteller Kevin Kling. It is a music-filled production that touches on disability, identity, and friendship. So far Invisible Fences has sold out three times in Minnesota.
Gaelynn also helped to develop the Music Inclusion Ensemble with fellow disabled musicians Adrian Anantawan and Molly Joyce. Their mission is to foster a vibrant culture around the intersection of classical music and disability, and to perform a diverse repertoire of music by disabled composers.
Music aside, Gaelynn Lea is a sought-after public speaker about accessibility in the arts. She has been featured on PBS NewsHour, On Being with Krista Tippett, The Moth Radio Hour, and via two widely-viewed TEDx Talks. Gaelynn is also a member of the Recording Academy; she currently serves as a Governor for the Chicago Chapter, where she is co-chair of the Advocacy Committee.
One of Gaelynn Lea’s biggest passions is promoting Disability Culture. She helped to co-found RAMPD [Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities] with NYC-based recording artist Lachi in early 2022. In 2024, Gaelynn was awarded a prestigious Disability Futures Fellowship from the Ford and Mellon Foundations, which spotlights the work of disabled creatives across disciplines.
Gaelynn Lea just finished writing her first book, which is about her touring adventures and disability advocacy. Her forthcoming memoir, It Wasn’t Meant To Be Perfect, is a love-letter to every body — a warm, funny and deeply-felt exploration of disability, music, and the messy creativity of an artist’s life. It will be published by Algonquin Press in April 2026.
Important Links:
Websites: Gaelynn Lea Music and Linktree and Substack
Instagram: @gaelynnlea
YouTube: @gaelynnlea
Music: Bandcamp | Spotify | Apple Music | Tidal
