The Sit Down with Lily Fitts
After a successful trip across the pond last summer where she played her first ever headline show in London and shared the bill with Noah Kahan in Hyde Park, Lily Fitts is heading back to Europe at the end of August for a string of headline shows and to perform at The Long Road Festival. When we spoke to Lily last summer, she had recently released her debut album “Getting By” and in May this year we had the first taste of her next musical chapter which we talked all about when we recently caught up with her over Zoom ahead of her return to the UK.
Hey girl, great to see you and we’re very excited that you're coming back to see us in just over a month.
“I know it's crazy. Time flies so fast, it's kind of scary, but I'm looking forward to it and it will be fun. I did one headline show last summer but that was just kind of like a little sneak peek really, so I'm so excited to come back.”
Yeah, the London show, it's kind of a weird sort of irony with the fact that you're, you're moving up in terms of venue size, but geographically, you're literally moving down because you're playing the venue downstairs to where you played last time but you’re heading back to mainland Europe too.
“Yeah, I opened up for Max McNown in December of 2025, so that was like another way to dip my toes in and that was such a fun experience. I remember the energy and like, I don't know, there's something in the water over there where the fans and the listeners are just really into it and they really care, where you feel that as a performer, so it makes it really rewarding, but also just a fun and comfortable place to be.”
We met last summer in Hyde Park when you played the show with Noah Kahan and you're coming back to some more outdoor shows. You're doing Tønder in Denmark and The Long Road, which is one of our biggest outdoor festivals over here. What have you heard about that festival and what are you excited by to be able to see from a different festival space that you haven't seen before?
“I've never been to a festival overseas. I've really only been to Bonnaroo and I've been to some other smaller festivals in the US so, I’m really looking forward to them. I haven't really heard too much, I know I'm super excited for the artists that are playing over there. I've heard about Tønder and how, because it's a couple of days long and I'm playing multiple days, so I've never done something like that, which will be a really cool experience. I feel like that will just allow me to meet other artists, grow my community and hopefully meet other artists that live over there, so I'm really excited for that.”
I've not made it to Tønder yet but I've only heard very, very good things from everyone that's been and everybody seems to really enjoy it. The Long Road is one of the highlights of the year over here as it’s so well themed and the lineup is nice and varied where Maren Morris is headlining the day you are playing. I'm sure that the guy that you're about to go on a road with will be able to tell you a lot more about the festival as Charles Wesley Godwin played there last year. You mentioned that you came back with Max at the back end of last year, so this will basically be pretty much the third trip in just over twelve months and you said there's something in the water about the fans and the way the people are, so you must be starting to see that it's really worth putting that time and effort in to kind of keep this market being a priority.
“Definitely. Yeah, it's so important. I never imagined my life could be like this and the fact that I'm selling out rooms or even selling one ticket in rooms that are so far from my home, I'm just so grateful. I did a ton of touring in the US this year and it's just as important to release music, but honestly, I think what’s even more important is the real experience of seeing the people in real life and being able to grow your connections with your listeners because I wouldn't be anything without the people that are listening to my music. It's my way of thanking them, but also just my way of getting to know them more and I want to get to know all of them. I'm lucky enough that I'm able to travel to these amazing places and play for these incredible people.”
That US run finished last month, so I guess you've had a little bit of downtime but you're about to go and play some shows on either side of the European run with Charles Wesley Godwin. That’s gonna be cool and again, just a way to get in front of kind of new eyes and new ears but also have somebody else to learn from and be able to see how they do things with their live shows.
“One hundred percent, Charles is such a respected artist, so I feel really honoured that I'm able to support him for these couple of shows that we have coming up together and just be able to like learn from someone that's as incredibly talented as he is and just experienced. I think it's going to be an awesome time and I'm really looking forward to it.”
Hopefully with those shows and also when you're here, people are going to get to hear some more new music as well. “Mess of Me” came out a couple of months back and that’s one that you wrote on your own, so firstly how long has that one been kicking around in your head, where did it come from and why did you decide it was the best way to lead into the new era of music after “Getting By”?
“I wrote “Mess of Me” I want to say about a year ago when I was opening up for Willow Avalon and I did a couple of shows with her last summer. I was in Seattle and I was just in a very uncomfortable place with myself or there was just a lot of chaos going on in my life, but a lot of great things going on at the same time. Like, amazing things at the same time and it felt almost like a very weird battle in my head where I'm so happy and everything is going so incredibly well in my life but then why am I so sad sometimes? I think it was easy for myself to get angry with myself for having those feelings and I was in a hotel room where it just poured out. It was just all of my kind of battling, conflicting feelings I wanted to write about and how it's okay at the end of the day, if you have a million different things going on in your head where you don't feel like enough, if you do feel like enough, if you don't feel the best or whatever, so I just wanted a song that kind of encapsulated all of those feelings in a way.”
“I know it's crazy. Time flies so fast, it's kind of scary, but I'm looking forward to it and it will be fun. I did one headline show last summer but that was just kind of like a little sneak peek really, so I'm so excited to come back.”
Yeah, the London show, it's kind of a weird sort of irony with the fact that you're, you're moving up in terms of venue size, but geographically, you're literally moving down because you're playing the venue downstairs to where you played last time but you’re heading back to mainland Europe too.
“Yeah, I opened up for Max McNown in December of 2025, so that was like another way to dip my toes in and that was such a fun experience. I remember the energy and like, I don't know, there's something in the water over there where the fans and the listeners are just really into it and they really care, where you feel that as a performer, so it makes it really rewarding, but also just a fun and comfortable place to be.”
We met last summer in Hyde Park when you played the show with Noah Kahan and you're coming back to some more outdoor shows. You're doing Tønder in Denmark and The Long Road, which is one of our biggest outdoor festivals over here. What have you heard about that festival and what are you excited by to be able to see from a different festival space that you haven't seen before?
“I've never been to a festival overseas. I've really only been to Bonnaroo and I've been to some other smaller festivals in the US so, I’m really looking forward to them. I haven't really heard too much, I know I'm super excited for the artists that are playing over there. I've heard about Tønder and how, because it's a couple of days long and I'm playing multiple days, so I've never done something like that, which will be a really cool experience. I feel like that will just allow me to meet other artists, grow my community and hopefully meet other artists that live over there, so I'm really excited for that.”
I've not made it to Tønder yet but I've only heard very, very good things from everyone that's been and everybody seems to really enjoy it. The Long Road is one of the highlights of the year over here as it’s so well themed and the lineup is nice and varied where Maren Morris is headlining the day you are playing. I'm sure that the guy that you're about to go on a road with will be able to tell you a lot more about the festival as Charles Wesley Godwin played there last year. You mentioned that you came back with Max at the back end of last year, so this will basically be pretty much the third trip in just over twelve months and you said there's something in the water about the fans and the way the people are, so you must be starting to see that it's really worth putting that time and effort in to kind of keep this market being a priority.
“Definitely. Yeah, it's so important. I never imagined my life could be like this and the fact that I'm selling out rooms or even selling one ticket in rooms that are so far from my home, I'm just so grateful. I did a ton of touring in the US this year and it's just as important to release music, but honestly, I think what’s even more important is the real experience of seeing the people in real life and being able to grow your connections with your listeners because I wouldn't be anything without the people that are listening to my music. It's my way of thanking them, but also just my way of getting to know them more and I want to get to know all of them. I'm lucky enough that I'm able to travel to these amazing places and play for these incredible people.”
That US run finished last month, so I guess you've had a little bit of downtime but you're about to go and play some shows on either side of the European run with Charles Wesley Godwin. That’s gonna be cool and again, just a way to get in front of kind of new eyes and new ears but also have somebody else to learn from and be able to see how they do things with their live shows.
“One hundred percent, Charles is such a respected artist, so I feel really honoured that I'm able to support him for these couple of shows that we have coming up together and just be able to like learn from someone that's as incredibly talented as he is and just experienced. I think it's going to be an awesome time and I'm really looking forward to it.”
Hopefully with those shows and also when you're here, people are going to get to hear some more new music as well. “Mess of Me” came out a couple of months back and that’s one that you wrote on your own, so firstly how long has that one been kicking around in your head, where did it come from and why did you decide it was the best way to lead into the new era of music after “Getting By”?
“I wrote “Mess of Me” I want to say about a year ago when I was opening up for Willow Avalon and I did a couple of shows with her last summer. I was in Seattle and I was just in a very uncomfortable place with myself or there was just a lot of chaos going on in my life, but a lot of great things going on at the same time. Like, amazing things at the same time and it felt almost like a very weird battle in my head where I'm so happy and everything is going so incredibly well in my life but then why am I so sad sometimes? I think it was easy for myself to get angry with myself for having those feelings and I was in a hotel room where it just poured out. It was just all of my kind of battling, conflicting feelings I wanted to write about and how it's okay at the end of the day, if you have a million different things going on in your head where you don't feel like enough, if you do feel like enough, if you don't feel the best or whatever, so I just wanted a song that kind of encapsulated all of those feelings in a way.”
“It also was just very authentic to myself because it was one of those songs that I just written completely solo. I love co-writing and stuff, but I feel like a lot of the times I get the most vulnerable is when I'm just alone with myself in writing. It felt like a great kind of jumping off single where it was a bit familiar to the “Getting By” era, but also in a way, it's showing some kind of accountability, maturity and growth, so I thought it was a great jumping off point. I'm so excited as I'm currently writing in New York right now and I've been in Nashville a couple of times in the past few months writing, so there's definitely a ton of music on the way, which is super exciting.”
The other thing with “Mess of Me” was that you were involved in the production element too, is that a side of creating music that you've always been interested in and potentially something that we're going to see a little bit more going forward?
“Well, I wish I was talented enough to self-produce. My friend Bella Blasko helped me fully produce “Mess of Me” but I definitely am really hands-on in all the process and I'm in the studio with her as we're recording and figuring out what sounds we want and stuff like that. That's so important to me because at the beginning of my career, I didn't really feel like I had as much of a voice as I feel like I have now. That definitely just has taken time and growing up, maturing and just being a woman in this industry, sometimes it feels like you can get clouded by a ton of people's perspectives and opinions on what you should do and what's working and whatever. My whole thing is that I started music because it was something that I loved, something that helped me and it's always just been like my outlet or my therapy, so I never want that to change no matter what happens in life. I want to just stay as true to myself and that's so important when writing the music so, it's just as important with how the song comes out as well. I definitely love being hands on in the production side and Bella is so talented, then we're just so hands on together and she like understands me. I can say something and she one hundred percent gets it and finding those people is so special and I've just been very lucky.”
By the sound of it, the next era is on the way and hopefully more dropping this year but also a little chance to hear some of it over here next month.
“Yeah, there's definitely a lot of stuff coming. I have so much music but I think it was really important, where I wanted my first record to have its time and space to breathe. I really loved the whole “Getting By” era and I still feel like when I go back to Europe, I'll still be in that era because I haven't really like toured it officially over there. But also, there will definitely be a lot of new music as well implemented into the show because I just love to see what are the listeners liking, what's hitting, what's maybe not a live show song or something. That's the whole fun of playing live shows, you really see what songs connect, it’s like the best hack of this is unreleased, should I release it? What's the best way to get a reaction? Play it live!”
With the shows over here, what are we gonna see? Full band? Just you or a mixture depending on the shows and the festival?
“It's gonna be me, my drummer and then another guitarist, so it will be definitely like a little band setup which I'm super excited for and it's going to be a good time. I feel like every time I play the set, it just gets more and more cohesive, my band and I have a really good chemistry and dynamic so it’s fun to tour with them and to get to travel to all these new places together is also just such a fun experience to be able to do. I'm just so grateful and looking forward to it, so can't wait.”
Amazing, thank you for taking time to hang this morning, enjoy those shows with Charles and I'll see you at The Long Road then at The Garage down in London as well in just over a month.
The other thing with “Mess of Me” was that you were involved in the production element too, is that a side of creating music that you've always been interested in and potentially something that we're going to see a little bit more going forward?
“Well, I wish I was talented enough to self-produce. My friend Bella Blasko helped me fully produce “Mess of Me” but I definitely am really hands-on in all the process and I'm in the studio with her as we're recording and figuring out what sounds we want and stuff like that. That's so important to me because at the beginning of my career, I didn't really feel like I had as much of a voice as I feel like I have now. That definitely just has taken time and growing up, maturing and just being a woman in this industry, sometimes it feels like you can get clouded by a ton of people's perspectives and opinions on what you should do and what's working and whatever. My whole thing is that I started music because it was something that I loved, something that helped me and it's always just been like my outlet or my therapy, so I never want that to change no matter what happens in life. I want to just stay as true to myself and that's so important when writing the music so, it's just as important with how the song comes out as well. I definitely love being hands on in the production side and Bella is so talented, then we're just so hands on together and she like understands me. I can say something and she one hundred percent gets it and finding those people is so special and I've just been very lucky.”
By the sound of it, the next era is on the way and hopefully more dropping this year but also a little chance to hear some of it over here next month.
“Yeah, there's definitely a lot of stuff coming. I have so much music but I think it was really important, where I wanted my first record to have its time and space to breathe. I really loved the whole “Getting By” era and I still feel like when I go back to Europe, I'll still be in that era because I haven't really like toured it officially over there. But also, there will definitely be a lot of new music as well implemented into the show because I just love to see what are the listeners liking, what's hitting, what's maybe not a live show song or something. That's the whole fun of playing live shows, you really see what songs connect, it’s like the best hack of this is unreleased, should I release it? What's the best way to get a reaction? Play it live!”
With the shows over here, what are we gonna see? Full band? Just you or a mixture depending on the shows and the festival?
“It's gonna be me, my drummer and then another guitarist, so it will be definitely like a little band setup which I'm super excited for and it's going to be a good time. I feel like every time I play the set, it just gets more and more cohesive, my band and I have a really good chemistry and dynamic so it’s fun to tour with them and to get to travel to all these new places together is also just such a fun experience to be able to do. I'm just so grateful and looking forward to it, so can't wait.”
Amazing, thank you for taking time to hang this morning, enjoy those shows with Charles and I'll see you at The Long Road then at The Garage down in London as well in just over a month.
August 27-28: Tonder Festival, Tonder, DK
August 30: The Long Road Festival, Lutterworth, Leicestershire
August 31: Exchange, Bristol
September 1: Whelan’s, Dublin, IRE
September 3: The Deaf Institute, Manchester
September 4: The Garage, London
September 6: Supersonic Records, Paris, FR
September 7: Paradiso Tolhuistuin, Amsterdam, NL
“Mess of Me” is the new single from Lily Fitts which is out now and available HERE. You can find ticket information for all of Lily’s European tour dates on her WEBSITE and follow along and see all that she is up to socially over on INSTAGRAM & TIKTOK.
The Long Road Festival takes place at Stanford Hall in Leicestershire between Thursday 27th and Sunday 30th August, with tickets on sale now. You can find ticket details and further information on their WEBSITE and you can be the first to know all updates ahead of this year’s event by checking out their socials on INSTAGRAM or FACEBOOK.
August 30: The Long Road Festival, Lutterworth, Leicestershire
August 31: Exchange, Bristol
September 1: Whelan’s, Dublin, IRE
September 3: The Deaf Institute, Manchester
September 4: The Garage, London
September 6: Supersonic Records, Paris, FR
September 7: Paradiso Tolhuistuin, Amsterdam, NL
“Mess of Me” is the new single from Lily Fitts which is out now and available HERE. You can find ticket information for all of Lily’s European tour dates on her WEBSITE and follow along and see all that she is up to socially over on INSTAGRAM & TIKTOK.
The Long Road Festival takes place at Stanford Hall in Leicestershire between Thursday 27th and Sunday 30th August, with tickets on sale now. You can find ticket details and further information on their WEBSITE and you can be the first to know all updates ahead of this year’s event by checking out their socials on INSTAGRAM or FACEBOOK.