Mattie Schell

I was living in Alton, Illinois, a historic Mississippi River town. While walking around my neighborhood I always felt an overwhelming sense of connection between myself and the people who had lived there and walked those streets before me. It made me feel superbly small and I found it comforting to know that humans are all the same…we come and we go, and there is so much beauty in between even when we aren’t going slow enough to notice it.Mattie, on “Rivertown Trip”

There’s an old pre-civil war mansion in Alton that has been many things over the years, probably most well known as a stop on the Underground Railroad. There’s a story that the lady who lived there watched her husband float down the river on a riverboat, never to return or sending word. In the story she waited in the widow’s walk watching the river for his return for the rest of her life, but I couldn’t stand it so I imagined a third act for her.Mattie, on “Come Back to Me”

It’s about being homesick on the road and realizing that being on a big gig for its own sake is a lonely and petty experience compared to being on a journey with your loved ones.Mattie, on “Coast to Coast”

One of the first songs I wrote with my husband. When you’re in love with someone they’re the only thing with any weight in the entire universe.Mattie, on “Everything Means Nothing”