When you’re in it

Sometimes we forget what it’s like to be in it when we’ve gone through it. And sometimes when we’re in it we feel like we will never make it through.

When Halestorm released the 10th anniversary edition of their debut album last year, the band’s gale-force lead singer Lzzy Hale made an entry into her diary. She said it felt like she’s lived several lifetimes since the debut. She wrote about the hard times they went through together as a band. They were able to make it through those tough times. So I thought I would scrape up her words and share some of them with you here. If you’re a musician, there may be some inspiration in it for you. 

Hale said that so many milestones have been passed and so many dreams have come true. And they’re still in love with what they do. Maybe you can relate.

“We fought to put out our debut. We fought to get it made, we fought to have it released, we fought for and against songs that were on the 60-plus song list. We lived through a fire, two earthquakes, a mudslide, our original A&R getting fired, and rooming with each other for 19 months at the Oakwood apartments in Burbank, California.

We were dirt poor and had to go to the dollar store for produce and food. I was constantly seeing repairs in all of our clothes. But through all of it, it was truly the best times! We were in it; we were doing it!! 

This is what it takes to break a band. We had our mission statement, we were poised…this was everything we had dreamed of since we were kids.”

This kind of pressure could easily make or break a band but they didn’t give up. They got their big break with Halestorm because they stuck to their mission like the North Star and found their way to success.

For the anniversary re-release of their debut album they pressed a double LP with the original album on translucent sea blue vinyl and demos on translucent highlighter yellow vinyl. They were able to include “never before heard demos of songs that didn’t make the cut, new artwork, a fold out poster, never before seen pictures from those times by Joe Hottinger and a letter from me about our North Star and everything it took to make sure we would release our handshake to the world.” 

Lzzy Hale’s Diary on Tumblr.

by Cherryl Bird – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Twitter @ladycbird | Instagram @cherrylbird


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