Lo Carmen’s Loose Connections
Well hello there!
If you just want to cut to the chase and work out who the hell I am and what the hell I do, CLICK HERE and all will be revealed (spoiler; I make music, podcasts, write, and other stuff).
But I hope you will allow me to lure you into the world of Loose Connections (currently #7 on Rising in Music) with some of the delightfully encouraging comments I’ve received:
‘Lo is one of my favorite story telling troubadours’ Kevin Morby
‘Lo Carmen’s a lifer. Singer, songwriter, author, actress, painter, podcaster. A generous and seemingly tireless culture worker who understands that artistic expression in service to connecting with kindred souls on this glorious and terrible journey of ours is one of the higher callings humans can answer to. If you’ve never read her Substack, Loose Connections, you should. It goes deep on creative process, music history, food, friends, birds, waitressing, New York City ghosts, dying on stage, and more. She’s got a book, too (Lovers Dreamers Fighters). Girl can write.’ Will Hermes
‘Both memoir and manifesto, this book (Lovers Dreamers Fighters) celebrates the power of a creative life and the joy found in the work of others. Moving and magnificent’. Sinéad Gleeson (on Lovers Dreamers Fighters)
‘I send you endless love and thanks for your Loose Connections because they fill me up…there is a truth and beauty and serious lightness about all of it that I find enviable and precious all at the same time’. Stephen Moyer
‘When Lo’s Substack shows up in my inbox, I always open it - just to read a few words - and invariably get totally caught up in whatever she happens to be writing about. Lo’s stories are always great. Her life is incredibly interesting and she has the turn of phrase to know how to share it too’. J Smith Cameron
‘Your musical knowledge and experience is boundless Lo, and your writing so alive that even the most ignorant ( like me) is swept up in the colour and passion. Thank you 🙏🏽’ Jane S
Superbly informative! Thank you for this beautiful piece of writing! Christian M
Thanks for getting so many wheels spinning with this wonderful piece Lo! Graley H
‘Another pearler Lo… you make Sunday mornings sunny. How I look forward to a weekly dose of your stories and wisdomisms…’ Will H
‘Another ripper read… love your writing’. Chris P
About Me
I’ve been an independent operator as a producer of musical, written, and other creative works since … forever.
I am a singer-songwriter/recording artist/touring musician/writer (more on that HERE) and occasional actor sharing essays and recommendations on musical and cultural delights and fascinations every weekend.
I also create and host the Death Is Not The End podcast, which launched May 2025.
I’ve been published in Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Vogue, Talkhouse, No Depression and many other places.
My debut book, ‘femmoir’/manifesto ‘Lovers Dreamers Fighters’ - a loose weave memoir with portraits of cool women who inspired me - was published Feb 2022 via Harper Collins Australia and is currently available through all good bookstores in Australia or via Amazon in the US. A documentary version of the book is in very slow development.
I launched Loose Connections because I love to write and having an excuse to research and dig into all the kinds of things I’m interested in. Writing this has brought me a lot of joy, community and esoteric education since I launched in April 2021 and I hope it brings you some too. I’m so grateful for your readership. As Ann Margret says, let me entertain you!
So far I’ve written about answer songs, psychic waitresses, songwriting, Elvis, Bob Dylan, death, cool cars, Charo, Kris Kristofferson, crime novels, touring, Dolly Parton, rehearsals, reading, moving countries, going to space and the lure of Hawaii. Who knows what’s next?
I also drop a Loose Connections Recommender here and there, which could be anything, but generally includes recommendations of some kind, playlists, recipes or other informative and entertaining information.
This newsletter gives me the opportunity to bring all my many cultural interests, obsessions and fascinations together into one digital home, and to you invite you, dear reader, to come along for the ride with me.
I truly love to hear your thoughts, stories and recommendations.
I’m on most social media at @locarmenmusic and you can listen to my records online. Learn more about me here: Lo Carmen links
Why Should You Subscribe?
As a lone operator in this big ol’ world, subscribing and sharing my newsletter helps me in so many ways, especially to grow and get my work out to the world one satisfied reader/listener at a time.
At this point in time, all subscribers, paid and free, will get every new edition of Loose Connections delivered directly to your inbox.
Paid subscribers make a huge difference in my continuing and generally failing attempts making a sustainable living from my creative work. Your support means the world to me, and helps me to be able to write without having to do all kinds of things I’d rather not have to do.
ALL subscribers get all my love and gratitude.
I do deeply and sincerely appreciate subscriptions, likes, comments, sharing and all that guff that helps writers to write and find readers!
