August 2025
Helene Cronin
Every release by musician Helene Cronin seems to be a collection of honest and heartfelt stories listeners can identify with and feel they are hearing truth from her poetic lyrics.
Cronin’s new CD Maybe New Mexico is a blend of country and Americana songs that are candid and weave guitar voicing and percussion work that make her songs memorable.
Her track “People” highlights this with the lyrics “...we got roots that go back generations and dreams that stretch for miles and you can see them all in Granddad’s Polaroid gap-tooth smile. We’re story-tellers, and ocean crosser, belly-laughers, baby makers, and Moon walkers.”
Cronin’s music has been compared to Guy Clark, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Leonard Cohen. On tour now, Cronin made time to be interviewed by Jupiter Index.
Your current release, MAYBE NEW MEXICO, is a collection of artful songs. How did the album title come to you?
This song wasn't chosen as title track until after the album song selection was done and we were already in the studio. Out of the 12 songs we picked, there were a few that could have been the title track, but "Maybe New Mexico" stood out as unique. Mysterious. Ever since Scott Sean White, Lisa Carver and I wrote this song, it's been a personal favorite. I play it at almost every gig. So while this is not really a New Mexico or southwest-themed album in content, that was the most intriguing title of this batch. Wistful hope, longing, heartbreak, transiency, the need to heal, to move on, are themes on the album though, so in that sense it serves its purpose well as title track!
On your current release, your song “Not the Year,” and your last release (LANDMARKS), you’ve worked with artist Lisa Carver --what was the creative process like for you?
I reached out to Lisa in 2021 when I was getting ready to record LANDMARKS. She's one of the best writers I know, but we'd never written together. I asked her if she'd consider writing with me for that record. She'd moved to Taos and wasn't living and writing in Nashville anymore. I was ecstatic when she said yes! Lisa is a brilliant, creative woman, with a wealth of talent and the opportunity to collaborate was beyond my expectations. I drove to her mountainside cabin near Taos and we wrote 2 songs that weekend. "Just a Woman" took a whole day. We got up the next morning and wrote "Yesterday's Heavy". On the long drive home to Dallas I knew both songs had to be on LANDMARKS!
In February '22, Scott Sean White, Lisa and I booked a time for the 3 of us to write, back in Taos. "Not the Year" came about from something Lisa said at a show soon after 9/11. She told us that she was on stage "pontificating" and asked out loud, "what if you were told, on the day you're born what day you'd die - just not the year?" Our minds began twisting around that concept and we started working out what that day would be like as it rolls around year after year! It's one of the most intriguing songs I've ever been part of writing.
That trip, on my drive out to Lisa's, somewhere between Amarillo and Albuquerque, I wrote the first verse of what became "Maybe New Mexico". I knew the song was about New Mexico but I didn't have 'the hook'. The song developed as Scott, Lisa and I talked about where does this song want to go next?! Songwriting is all about "and then what happens??" I've since written a lot more with Lisa and it's a privilege every time I get to spend time with her, whether to hash out songs or just hang. She's become a very close friend.
Talk about how the track “Maker’s Mark” came about and what was it like to record it?
"Maker's Mark" was a title that Texas artist Holly Tucker brought up in a writing session with me and Scott. Holly presented it as, "I wanna leave my Maker's Mark", so Scott and I were intrigued with how to make that idea work! All 3 of us are very open in our music about our faith and our struggles. I could say, this song is a mission statement for what we do, without it being preachy! Holly plans to release her version as a single to radio later this year.
I
t was a total jam to record it! The guys in the band got to stretch out and strut a little musically! Bobby Terry on mandolin and Charlie Lowell on Hammond B3 added texture. When I was cutting the raw tracking vocal, the bridge vocal developed as my producer, Mitch Dane and I worked on that section. We did one take where the delivery had a lot of rasp and energy. That's the version of the bridge that made it onto the record! It had so much character and spontaneity that we decided to keep it in there and not attempt a cleaned-up version!
So, back to that mission statement; it's right here in the chorus of this song:
I wanna leave this place better than I found it
Take what breaks my heart and wrap my arms around it
I wanna put a little good out into the world
Shine a little light in the dark
I wanna leave my Maker's mark
Was there a song that was hard to write or record? (And why).
"Rifleman" is an autobiographical song about an event I kept secret all my life. I was in a song prompt group and the prompt was "Winchester". That particular word never appears in the song, but when I google-searched it and read 'rifle', a painful memory came up. My dad was a Purple Heart, Bronze Star veteran with marksmanship medals. He never displayed any of them. But he suffered from undiagnosed PTSD. This song is about our relationship.
When the memory popped up, I didn't want to write about it, but it took me less than 3 hours that afternoon, as if it had been waiting all my life to be told. Then I figured "that's it, no one'll ever hear that." But I sent it to my trusted friend Scott and he flipped out over it, which gave me the impetus to play it at a few shows where I saw how it impacted people, which led to it being on this record. In the studio, the men showed so much respect and restraint, adding just the right touches to enhance the story, not get in the way. Bobby Terry played my exact guitar riff; Paul Eckberg added military-ish drums, but nothing cliched. Matt Pierson on bass and the accents of keys and piano from Charlie Lowell and Mitch Dane are perfect. When it came time to cut my lead vocal, we had to stop recording as I cried when trying to sing the bridge and final chorus. That's always a sign to me that the recording did its job; it made me feel the song. On this song, I did the background vocal, so no voice but mine tells this story.
The cool thing that happens when we are honest in our songwriting is, we think we're only telling our own truth, but audience members listen and insert their own stories into what they are hearing. We find healing together, perhaps. While the details of this song are mine, the emotions and experiences we live through, are shared.
You’re a songwriter in your own right, but you have worked with artful songwriters such as Briana Tyson, Holly Tucker, Scott Sean White and many others. What draws you to work with them and what do they share with you in the songwriting process?
I love the people I get to write with; all bring different strengths to the writing room. I'm drawn to working with people who are first of all, good people! Good character and brilliant creativity is an unbeatable combination. Some are lyric-driven, others bring fresh melodies, grooves or chord progressions. Successful co-writing, is very much a matter of chemistry. What my co-writers and I all share in the process is a desire to serve the song, to make THE SONG the best version of that idea it can possibly be! All the people on this record are friends I love to be in a room with. Many of them are first-timers on a Helene record! New-comers, Ben Roberts, Cameron Havens, Lydia Simonds, Cheley Tackett, Briana Tyson and Holly Tucker, are all artists who write, perform and release their own music. Mary Haller writes for film & TV. Nicole Lewis, Scott and Lisa have been on my previous records and are frequent co-writers. Writing by myself is very rewarding and produces a certain type of song where my style is obvious and my writing voice most clear. Co-writing requires trust and provides community, and there's no more alive feeling than being in a room with friends, bringing a song into the world!
What would you like people to know about your music and your hopes for the future?
My music and career have developed over a pretty long span of time. My songwriting journey began in college. For the last 21 years though, I've traveled from Dallas to Nashville to write, hoping, expecting, that someday major label artists would record my songs! What's happened along the way is that due to my song catalog, my artistry developed to the point where being an indie artist is more important than outside cuts and traditional industry success. My songs and opportunities to sing them myself, to record and release albums independently, has become the driving force in my career now. The interesting thing is that 2024 did finally bring my first major label cut when Cody Johnson recorded a song of mine called "Over Missin' You" and released it on his "Leather Deluxe" album in November. I also have a couple of cuts with rising star Bryan Martin, including the title track of his EP POETS AND OLD SOULS. I anticipate having a song on Heidi Newfield's upcoming project. I've got songs recorded by Janelle Arthur and The Isaacs, The Young Fables, and many more.
All of that success is exciting and validating, but what brought me to the table and what keeps me in the game is the song. If I didn't write songs, none of the rest would happen because I've never craved a spotlight or wanted to be a star. But I've always wanted to have a voice in the world. Songwriting allows me to do that. To quote "Maker's Mark" again - I wanna leave this world better than I found it. That is my hope for the future!
Cronin’s new CD Maybe New Mexico is a blend of country and Americana songs that are candid and weave guitar voicing and percussion work that make her songs memorable.
Her track “People” highlights this with the lyrics “...we got roots that go back generations and dreams that stretch for miles and you can see them all in Granddad’s Polaroid gap-tooth smile. We’re story-tellers, and ocean crosser, belly-laughers, baby makers, and Moon walkers.”
Cronin’s music has been compared to Guy Clark, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Leonard Cohen. On tour now, Cronin made time to be interviewed by Jupiter Index.
Your current release, MAYBE NEW MEXICO, is a collection of artful songs. How did the album title come to you?
This song wasn't chosen as title track until after the album song selection was done and we were already in the studio. Out of the 12 songs we picked, there were a few that could have been the title track, but "Maybe New Mexico" stood out as unique. Mysterious. Ever since Scott Sean White, Lisa Carver and I wrote this song, it's been a personal favorite. I play it at almost every gig. So while this is not really a New Mexico or southwest-themed album in content, that was the most intriguing title of this batch. Wistful hope, longing, heartbreak, transiency, the need to heal, to move on, are themes on the album though, so in that sense it serves its purpose well as title track!
I reached out to Lisa in 2021 when I was getting ready to record LANDMARKS. She's one of the best writers I know, but we'd never written together. I asked her if she'd consider writing with me for that record. She'd moved to Taos and wasn't living and writing in Nashville anymore. I was ecstatic when she said yes! Lisa is a brilliant, creative woman, with a wealth of talent and the opportunity to collaborate was beyond my expectations. I drove to her mountainside cabin near Taos and we wrote 2 songs that weekend. "Just a Woman" took a whole day. We got up the next morning and wrote "Yesterday's Heavy". On the long drive home to Dallas I knew both songs had to be on LANDMARKS!
In February '22, Scott Sean White, Lisa and I booked a time for the 3 of us to write, back in Taos. "Not the Year" came about from something Lisa said at a show soon after 9/11. She told us that she was on stage "pontificating" and asked out loud, "what if you were told, on the day you're born what day you'd die - just not the year?" Our minds began twisting around that concept and we started working out what that day would be like as it rolls around year after year! It's one of the most intriguing songs I've ever been part of writing.
That trip, on my drive out to Lisa's, somewhere between Amarillo and Albuquerque, I wrote the first verse of what became "Maybe New Mexico". I knew the song was about New Mexico but I didn't have 'the hook'. The song developed as Scott, Lisa and I talked about where does this song want to go next?! Songwriting is all about "and then what happens??" I've since written a lot more with Lisa and it's a privilege every time I get to spend time with her, whether to hash out songs or just hang. She's become a very close friend.
Talk about how the track “Maker’s Mark” came about and what was it like to record it?
"Maker's Mark" was a title that Texas artist Holly Tucker brought up in a writing session with me and Scott. Holly presented it as, "I wanna leave my Maker's Mark", so Scott and I were intrigued with how to make that idea work! All 3 of us are very open in our music about our faith and our struggles. I could say, this song is a mission statement for what we do, without it being preachy! Holly plans to release her version as a single to radio later this year.
I
So, back to that mission statement; it's right here in the chorus of this song:
I wanna leave this place better than I found it
Take what breaks my heart and wrap my arms around it
I wanna put a little good out into the world
Shine a little light in the dark
I wanna leave my Maker's mark
Was there a song that was hard to write or record? (And why).
"Rifleman" is an autobiographical song about an event I kept secret all my life. I was in a song prompt group and the prompt was "Winchester". That particular word never appears in the song, but when I google-searched it and read 'rifle', a painful memory came up. My dad was a Purple Heart, Bronze Star veteran with marksmanship medals. He never displayed any of them. But he suffered from undiagnosed PTSD. This song is about our relationship.
When the memory popped up, I didn't want to write about it, but it took me less than 3 hours that afternoon, as if it had been waiting all my life to be told. Then I figured "that's it, no one'll ever hear that." But I sent it to my trusted friend Scott and he flipped out over it, which gave me the impetus to play it at a few shows where I saw how it impacted people, which led to it being on this record. In the studio, the men showed so much respect and restraint, adding just the right touches to enhance the story, not get in the way. Bobby Terry played my exact guitar riff; Paul Eckberg added military-ish drums, but nothing cliched. Matt Pierson on bass and the accents of keys and piano from Charlie Lowell and Mitch Dane are perfect. When it came time to cut my lead vocal, we had to stop recording as I cried when trying to sing the bridge and final chorus. That's always a sign to me that the recording did its job; it made me feel the song. On this song, I did the background vocal, so no voice but mine tells this story.
The cool thing that happens when we are honest in our songwriting is, we think we're only telling our own truth, but audience members listen and insert their own stories into what they are hearing. We find healing together, perhaps. While the details of this song are mine, the emotions and experiences we live through, are shared.
You’re a songwriter in your own right, but you have worked with artful songwriters such as Briana Tyson, Holly Tucker, Scott Sean White and many others. What draws you to work with them and what do they share with you in the songwriting process?
I love the people I get to write with; all bring different strengths to the writing room. I'm drawn to working with people who are first of all, good people! Good character and brilliant creativity is an unbeatable combination. Some are lyric-driven, others bring fresh melodies, grooves or chord progressions. Successful co-writing, is very much a matter of chemistry. What my co-writers and I all share in the process is a desire to serve the song, to make THE SONG the best version of that idea it can possibly be! All the people on this record are friends I love to be in a room with. Many of them are first-timers on a Helene record! New-comers, Ben Roberts, Cameron Havens, Lydia Simonds, Cheley Tackett, Briana Tyson and Holly Tucker, are all artists who write, perform and release their own music. Mary Haller writes for film & TV. Nicole Lewis, Scott and Lisa have been on my previous records and are frequent co-writers. Writing by myself is very rewarding and produces a certain type of song where my style is obvious and my writing voice most clear. Co-writing requires trust and provides community, and there's no more alive feeling than being in a room with friends, bringing a song into the world!
My music and career have developed over a pretty long span of time. My songwriting journey began in college. For the last 21 years though, I've traveled from Dallas to Nashville to write, hoping, expecting, that someday major label artists would record my songs! What's happened along the way is that due to my song catalog, my artistry developed to the point where being an indie artist is more important than outside cuts and traditional industry success. My songs and opportunities to sing them myself, to record and release albums independently, has become the driving force in my career now. The interesting thing is that 2024 did finally bring my first major label cut when Cody Johnson recorded a song of mine called "Over Missin' You" and released it on his "Leather Deluxe" album in November. I also have a couple of cuts with rising star Bryan Martin, including the title track of his EP POETS AND OLD SOULS. I anticipate having a song on Heidi Newfield's upcoming project. I've got songs recorded by Janelle Arthur and The Isaacs, The Young Fables, and many more.
All of that success is exciting and validating, but what brought me to the table and what keeps me in the game is the song. If I didn't write songs, none of the rest would happen because I've never craved a spotlight or wanted to be a star. But I've always wanted to have a voice in the world. Songwriting allows me to do that. To quote "Maker's Mark" again - I wanna leave this world better than I found it. That is my hope for the future!
