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Photos by Arnie Goodman

Elmore recently sat down with Lilly Winwood before her show at the stunning New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark. We talked to the singer/songwriter about her music, her career, Hershey’s chocolate, and what growing up with a famous musician was like.

Elmore Magazine: What’s your first memory of music?

Lilly Windwood: We took piano lessons when we were really young, but it never really made sense to me until I started playing guitar; I didn’t want to be a musician until I was about eight, playing with my brother.

I was a weird kid; I would listen to Led Zeppelin, Guns ‘N Roses and AC/DC while all my friends were listening to, like, Avril Levine. So I started taking electric guitar lessons, and thought I want to be a rock star. [Laughs.] I took piano lessons, and guitar lessons from a guy named Tony looked like a rock star—he had hair down to his ass—and he called me “Babe” when I was about nine.That evolved into just writing songs and wanting to get them out to people.

EM: Did your father help with your lessons?

LW: My father helped me with my guitar lessons, and he’s always been there to help me if I needed it, but he’s also never been too intrusive.

I don’t think there was ever really a moment when I said, “I want to write songs and show them to the world.” I’ve always been immersed into it, and it’s surrounded me. I can remember the first song I ever wrote. I was probably about 13 years old. It was called “Horses,” and it got me so excited. I had my first songwriting show when I was about 15, and I think the only people who came were my Mom and my Dad

EM: Who are your vocal heroes?

LW: I never really look for influences on people’s voices, I kind of look for that song writing thing, but Robert Plant and Emmylou [Harris] have great voices… I do like some new people in the scene, especially in Nashville, like Chris Stapleton—his voice is like butter.

I listen to such a vast array of genres. I’m more into modern folk people like Gillian Welch, Punch Brothers although that’s more Bluegrass, but more modern Americana. I like how Gillian Welch’s songs sound old. I’d love to play Folk Alliance. Playing Nashville is too much of an industry thing, though there are some great venues, certainly. I think the more music there is, the less appreciated it is.

EM: You’ve been living in the US for barely three years. Do you feel more American or British?

That’s like saying “Who do I prefer, my mom or my dad!” But I’d definitely say American. We spent summers and Christmases with my Mom’s parents in Nashville, so I always felt a connection with it, and it’s why I moved out there in the first place. I did grow up in England, but I could never see myself living there. The countryside is too country and city is too city. London is just very big and scary, and in the countryside, you walk out of the house and you can’t see a light, and it takes 15 minutes to get to a gas station.

EM: [Lilly and Steve Winwood sing Steve’s song “Higher Love” on a popular Hersey’s Chocolate commercial which shows the song title and their names on screen.] How did your life change after the Hershey commercial?

LW: Drastically. I didn’t really know what I was getting into. James Vincent McMorrow did a version of “Higher Love,” and Dad heard it. I was probably about 15, and Dad said, “Hey I think you could do this pretty well, why don’t you just get in the booth with me and we’ll do it.” Three years later—I didn’t even know that they were shopping it around—James, the tour manager, told me “Looks like you got a deal! You’re going to be in a Hershey’s commercial!” and I said, “You’re kidding me! How?” It was crazy. I’m pretty sure it played during the Super Bowl. I think the biggest change was an impact in my followers. EM: And you earn money from it? LW: Yes!

EM: What’s next?

LW: I have an EP out now, and I’m looking to do a full album, so I’m writing songs for that now. I have a line in”Safehouse” about how I get kind of stir crazy if I stay in the same place. I just enjoy seeing and playing and getting my songs out to people, and seeing the world as well. When I was a child, in the summertime we would go to shows but otherwise it was a completely normal life—go to school, l come home, and go to bed. Touring with Dad has been such a blessing. He took me out West for the first time in my life last year.

EM: Does the name Winwood help you in the long run?

It’s good it because people recognize the name and sometimes they give you a step ahead in line. But then I can surprise them, and give them something that they weren’t expecting, but quite like.

—Suzanne Cadgène