Culture
Stella Prince discusses Gen Z folk, upcoming single ‘Ruby Boots’ and debut album recorded in Iceland
By: Ian Saint
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — This Land Is Your Land airs on WOUB-TV at 9 p.m. Thursday, August 20. Featuring performances by several artists who helped popularize folk music in the mid-20th century, the program’s title has personal significance for 22-year-old folk artist Stella Prince of Woodstock, NY, who sang an impromptu rendition of “This Land Is Your Land” with folk singer Pete Seeger while she was in preschool.
“I was 4,” Prince said. “I gave him a note that I wrote: ‘I love music. Love, Stella.’ He loved it and asked me to come onstage and sing with him.”
Prince recently completed her debut album at Flóki Studios in Iceland. Produced by Twenty One Pilots collaborator Dr. Blum, the album will be released by Anzie Blue Records later this year and accompanied by a behind-the-scenes documentary.
Ian Saint: Which artists performing in This Land Is Your Land stand out as favorites?
Stella Prince: I’m obsessed with The Byrds. I actually sang “Turn, Turn, Turn” with Natalie Merchant — her daughter went to my school in Woodstock. In second grade, my school started an afterschool folk singing club, and Natalie was the leader. Another one I love is The Kingston Trio; they kind of started the original folk movement in the late ‘50s.
Ian Saint: You opened for the program’s co-host, Judy Collins, last summer.
Stella Prince: That was the highlight of my career so far. Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell, and Joni Baez are my three favorite folk singers. I was very nervous. I sound-checked and wondered, “Am I going to meet her?” Sure enough, she was watching me. I introduced myself, she gave me a big hug and said “I’m watching your show and taking notes. Good luck.”
One of the things she said was “You need to have fun, in your performance and your life.” She read me so well, because I’ve taken folk music very seriously since age four. I started performing regularly at school events at five. From seven to 14, I went to a very intense conservatory program at Bard College — constant voice and piano lessons, music theory, music history. Folk music was really the focus of my entire childhood.
Ian Saint: Judy is an American folk music icon, so I find it fascinating she cites her father singing “Danny Boy” — with its melody originating in Ireland — as her gateway to folk music.
Stella Prince: That’s crazy, because “Danny Boy” was actually the very first song I sang at my very first non-school performance. I was 14, in a bar-restaurant. I was so nervous — everyone was talking, nobody was listening. I sang “Danny Boy,” and the whole bar went silent.
Ian Saint: This Land Is Your Land explores how American folk music developed across different regions. You grew up in Woodstock and later moved to Nashville and Los Angeles. What regional differences have you noticed in how people define folk music?
Stella Prince: I’ve noticed I’m considered different genres in every place. In Woodstock, I’m strictly “folk.” LA, “indie pop.” Nashville, strictly “Americana.” I feel I’m “Gen Z folk,” a term I’ve coined to differentiate my music from traditional folk. It’s the traditional folk voice, and some of the production is classic — but more “poppy” and up-tempo, and the lyrics are geared toward Gen Z. My favorite song I’ve written is “Good Luck is Hard to Find,” which talks about being 21 today.
Ian Saint: Your debut was recorded in Iceland. What was it like recording a folk album during an Icelandic summer?
Stella Prince: I was in the studio 12 hours a day, ten days straight. The midnight sun was crazy — people riding their bikes at 12:30 a.m. We filmed the album cover on a black sand beach with cliffs, it started raining a little, and it was perfect. The landscape looked fake because it was so beautiful, like something out of a movie. Everyone asks, “why Iceland?” I wanted to go somewhere where I could turn everything off and focus on the music, and that’s what the landscape forced me to do.
Ian Saint: Speaking of movies, your album includes a new song written by 17-times Oscar-nominated songwriter Diane Warren.
Stella Prince: That is something I’m unbelievably excited about; I’ve known of Diane Warren forever and admired her greatly. We met at Anzie Blue in Nashville last September. The relationship grew over time at different events. The day before my June birthday, I went to her beautiful studio in Hollywood. She brought her guitar and sang with me. She showed me a couple songs, and “Hero In My Story” was the one I fell madly in love with — such a powerful song about having to be your own hero. She was incredibly kind to let me record it for this album — quite the birthday gift.
Ian Saint: Tell us about “Ruby Boots,” the album’s first single, that releases August 21.
Stella Prince: This was co-written with Matraca Berg, who is songwriting royalty — “Strawberry Wine,” (Deana Carter), “XXX’s and OOO’s” (Trisha Yearwood), youngest person ever inducted into Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. I was lucky to write at her Nashville house last October. She brought this hook to the table and said, “I don’t have any lyrics. I just have this title, ‘Ruby Boots.’”
Ian Saint: “Ruby Boots” makes Wizard of Oz come to mind. Did Matraca know you’re a Judy Garland fanatic?
Stella Prince: No, she had no idea. I said, “What do you think this means?” She said, “I love the idea of clicking your heels and wishing the world away.” I told her I’m obsessed with Judy Garland, and we wrote the full song in under two hours. It does have lots of parallels with The Wizard of Oz, clicking your heels and wishing for something more than anything — “I’ve got nothing left to lose, not after I’ve come all this way” — and in this case, it’s wishing to be a star and keep going with music. I was telling her that I was worried or frustrated about something, and she was like, “Well, just put it in the song. You’re 21 and have a long way to go.”
For Stella Prince tour dates and tickets, visit https://www.stellaprincemusic.com/.