About That Song: Helene Cronin
About That Song #64
In our special series, singer-songwriter Sarah Morris interviews artists about the songs that shaped them.
Hi! I’m Sarah Morris. I’m wildly in love with songs and the people who write them. There have been a few songs in my life that have been total gamechangers—songs that made me want to be a songwriter and songs I’ve written that made me feel like I am a songwriter. About That Song is a space where I can learn more about those pivotal songs in other writers’ lives.
In the 64th edition of this series, I got to talk to Helene Cronin! I’ve loved her music since I came across it several years ago, so I was excited to dig into her musical past to find out about the songs and artists that helped make her the artist she is today.
Helene Cronin. Photo credit: Brooke Stevens Photography.
Sarah: Hello Helene! You’re based in Dallas, Texas, so it’s possible our musical paths would never have crossed were it not for the magic that is Kerrville Folk Festival. Thank goodness for Kerrville, because it meant that about 5 years ago, I got to spend 7 days in a row listening to you sing your gorgeous songs in a variety of cozy living rooms and pretty-darn-cold-but-so-awesome barn/dance halls (shout out to Fischer Fest). Since then, you’ve released a steady stream of excellent albums and singles. As a fan, I am excited to know a new one is just around the corner. In celebration of the forthcoming one, Maybe New Mexico, I’m hoping you’d be willing to talk about the songs that have brought you to this place in your musical journey.
Do you remember the song you heard that made you want to be a songwriter? Tell us about that song.
Helene: I don’t remember “that song,” but there were many songs that moved me, and being from a musical/artistic family, I learned many. My brothers, sister, and I would grab our guitars and sing on evenings when we were together. Our list included John Denver, James Taylor, CSNY, Simon & Garfunkel, Fogelberg, and though I didn’t know it then, John Prine.
Sarah: That is one excellent list! Cheers to your family!
Helene: The first song I remember that MADE me go out and buy the record was “Morning Has Broken” sung by Cat Stevens. The record: Teaser and the Firecat. I had no idea that “songwriter” was a career within my reach because back then, you had to be a star, and have a record label behind you. None of which interested me. I didn’t really want to get on a stage and open my mouth. But I loved songs. Once I started writing them in college, everything began to shift. My natural shyness didn’t stand a chance!
Sarah: Oh, I love that idea—that the love for songs is strong enough to make it worth disrupting one’s inclination toward shyness. Once you began writing, did you feel like a songwriter immediately? It took me a few years of writing before I believed it myself. Was there a song that gave you that “a-HA! I AM a songwriter!” moment? Tell us about that song.
Helene: I did not feel that immediately. At first, I dabbled, only because I had studied songs by learning lots of them. I guess I figured “I can do that.” Predictably, they were beginner level but I began playing them for people. The one that made me lock in on “I really CAN do this” I wrote during college and couldn’t quit playing. It was called “Keep the Fire Burning” and something about the lyrical craft, poetry, melody, and guitar work all came together in a new way. It ended up on the very first project I recorded. That’s the song that, no pun intended, ignited the fire! I thought “I want to do that again!” … and again and again.
As far as calling myself a songwriter, that wouldn’t happen till years later when I’d quit my career jobs, started having kids and felt my songwriting was strong enough that I should start going to Nashville.
Helene Cronin. Photo credit: Brooke Stevens Photography.
Sarah: Musically, I first met you through a Kerrville New Folk Spotify playlist. I distinctly remember putting on my makeup in my closet, listening to your song “First Stone,” and feeling an instant “HECK YES THIS IS EXCELLENT.” Can you tell us about that song?
Helene: Thank you! “First Stone” is on my 2015 EP BELONG TO THE RIVER. Bob Paterno and I were working on a different song when he said, “I have a song title I’m saving for you.” I asked what, and he said “First Stone.” I immediately thought of wanting to structure the song so that you didn’t really know who was speaking till the end of the chorus and the hook would be: “I’m the first stone.”
We spent a couple of sessions on it, got verses and a chorus. It had a folky feel. It wasn’t that great, and though we hadn’t discussed it, turns out we both knew. We got back together to finish it, and before I arrived, Bob had randomly written down a bunch of phrases: promise of justice, granite core, and courage of cowards. I had been trying to think of how to say “the song isn’t right yet” without tanking the song or the relationship! It was a relief that we were both on the same page. We started over. Our first line was “I can win battles, I can lose wars…” Bob says that a turning point came when I altered that to “I can win you a battle, I can lose you the war.”
Sarah: AH! My nerdy-for-minutiae heart just got all fluttery … because sometimes it’s just the tiniest change of wording that makes a world of difference.
Helene: From there we began pulling in some of his new ideas, and we gave the music a darker, minor key feel with a grittier guitar part. The song became one of those that I can play anywhere, anytime, and it still holds up! I almost never introduce songs by announcing song titles. But with this song, it helps to tell the story of Bob sharing the title with me. Then because the idea of throwing the first stone has Biblical origins, I’ll talk about how we didn’t want this song to be preachy, so we decided it was best to let the stone do the talking. This helps the audience be in from the first line to the last!
Sarah: I appreciate that level of intentionality in how you introduce your songs in performance. “Maybe New Mexico” is the title track of the forthcoming album (set for release on March 7, 2025), and you just sent it off to the streamiverse as a single. I’m a sucker for a leaving (or attempting to leave) song with geography in it (shout out to “Little Past Little Rock”). Can you tell us about that song?
Helene: “Maybe New Mexico” is something special. It came about because of a prompt group I was in; the prompt was “Hemingway.” Hemingway makes an appearance in the song, but he’s not a major character! If I hadn’t been working on that prompt, in my car, on the way to Albuquerque, crossing the lonely border from Texas into New Mexico, on Route 66 (I-40) looking for a town to spend the night in, the song would not exist. I recently found the scratch piece of paper I wrote the first verse on and posted it on Instagram! I knew the song was about New Mexico and I love many of the town names, but I didn’t have the hook.
Two days later, I was in Taos with my friends Lisa Carver and Scott Sean White. We first wrote another strange and interesting song that is on the new record (“Not the Year”). Next, I presented my lines for the first verse of this New Mexico idea and they loved it. Scott started pacing around and said something like “What about rhyming ‘New Mexico’ and ‘let you go’?” We spent a beautiful day around a crackling, popping wood stove, snowstorm blowing in, crafting the kind of song I’ve always wanted to write: a wistful, traveling story of trying to move on from a heartbreak. “Maybe New Mexico can help me let you go.” I love that it really seems to connect with listeners! My audiences consistently come to talk to me about it after shows, choosing it as a favorite.
Last November, Lisa and I shot a bunch of video of me walking around at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge near Taos. It was her idea to be ready to make a video. In Nashville, I had a videographer capture studio footage of me singing to the track. We’ve now combined all that into an official “Maybe New Mexico” video that I plan to release Friday, Nov. 8 in support of the single which was released on Oct. 25!
Sarah: What a wonderful origin story. I think the energy present in that kind of song creation is so special, and I’m grateful any time I experience it. We’ll look forward to seeing the video on Friday!
When we were on the Kerrville New Folk tour, you often sang your song “Humankind” as our closer. It’s such a beauty—a luminous example of craft meeting heart and giving us a song that I feel we (as in all humans everywhere) should probably all listen to on endless repeat. Your forthcoming single “Visitors” shines in a similar way—can you tell us about THAT song?
Helene: “Visitors” is another song I’m so glad I was part of writing. I was scheduled to write with Cameron Havens and Ben Roberts (Nashville songwriters and both artists in their own right). Ben had the idea of “Visitors” … I immediately loved it because I like songs that tell the truth. That truth being, we all got here the same way, we’re all leaving the same way, and it’s what we do with the time in between those events that’s most important. How do we treat each other? How do we care for this “place made of stardust and gold” where we’ve landed? What really matters: possessions, time, relationships?
But the song, (again, I don’t want my songs to be preachy!) speaks from a level playing field. No one is above anyone else. “We all got a seat at the table, pull up a chair, there’s room for plenty more.” I like the inclusiveness of that; it’s an invitation I want to be part of.
Sarah: I say yes to that invitation …
Helene: Since I had so many songs to pick from and this was the newest one, it almost didn’t make this album. But I’m closing almost all my shows with it so I thought it HAS to be on this record, now! What if I never get a chance to make another? I’d regret not having this song out there!
Sarah: I’m so glad you let it make the album. And what a thing to have two such stunning closers to pick from! To send audiences out into the world remembering the level playing field, the inclusive invitation … Thank you.
Do you have any upcoming tour dates where folks might hear you sing that song, or any other song for that matter?
Helene: Yes! Here are some dates for the next 3 months.
Nov. 16: House Concert, Albuquerque, NM
Nov. 18: Salon Sage, Taos, NM
Nov. 24: The Gar Hole, Anna, TX
Dec. 16 & 17: 2 shows featuring my entire Christmas Album, Dallas, TX
Jan. 16–19: Key West Chick Fest, Key West, FL
Jan. 25: The Rook, McKinney, TX
Jan. 30: Dosey Doe BBQ, Houston, TX
Sarah: Helene, thank you so much for stopping by to talk with me About That Song. Congrats on your new release. (PS to any Midwest house concert hosts: Can we find a way to get Helene up to our neck of the woods? Let’s do that!)
Listen to “Maybe New Mexico”
“Maybe New Mexico” Single Credits
Written by: Helene Cronin, Lisa Carver, Scott Sean White
Musicians/Production
Helene Cronin - Vocals
Bobby Terry - Acoustic Guitars, Steel Guitar, Mandolin
Matt Pierson - Bass
Paul Eckberg - Drums
Charlie Lowell - Piano, Keys
Caitlin Anselmo - Background Vocals
Mitch Dane - Jeans slaps
Mitch Dane - PRODUCER
Engineered & Mixed by Mitch Dane
Recorded at Sputnik Sound, Nashville
Production Assistant, David Diel
Mastered by Kimberly Rosen at Knack Mastering
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sarah Morris. Photo credit: Tom Smouse.
Sarah Morris is a superfan of songs and the people who write them, and a believer that certain songs can change your life. A singer-songwriter / mama / bread maker / coffee drinker who recently released her fifth album of original material, she’s been known to joyfully sing with people in her Big Green Bathroom.
