helene_cronin

'Featured Artist...07/March/2025...helene_cronin'

Texas-bred artist Helene Cronin describes herself as a story-singer. She is driven by a desire to share her life through stories that resonate with genuine emotion, and more than a little imagination. She doesn't mind if, in their wake her songs impart lessons that her listeners can absorb into their own lives, but she's not one to preach. She pursues this as her life's work, sprouted during the days when she borrowed her older brother's guitar and taught herself a few chords.

For Helene, cultivating connection with her listeners is of supreme importance especially in these divisive times. She recalls meeting a woman after a house concert, who told her through tears, "Listening to you and your songs makes me want to be a better person." Helene reflects, "I can't think of a better reason to keep doing what I do. And to keep believing there's a higher purpose for me writing one more song that only a few people may ever hear. Sometimes my songs remind me that I need to do better too."

A 2018 New Folk Winner at the prestigious Kerrville Folk Festival, Helene's style is a merger between the raw roots of Americana and the polished song-craft of Nashville's Country. Never setting out to be a "star", songwriting brought her to the stage. Audiences are drawn to her vulnerability and presence. Like other more well-known troubadours, she possesses a voice as much a character as the ones that inhabit her songs.

Helene is currently prepping a brand new full-length record called Maybe New Mexico, due in March 2025, which showcases her writing over the last few years. It promises to bring her the wider attention she so decidedly deserves. Her last album, aptly-titled Landmarks, was released February 2023, followed in November by a Christmas EP, Beautiful December. Her critically acclaimed 2019 full-length debut, Old Ghosts & Lost Causes, brought unanimous praise. The chorus of kudos seems to get louder with every release. She works with A-list producers and musicians, including Matt King, who helmed 2 records, Mitch Dane currently producing the new project, and players like Kenny Vaughan, Byron House, Bobby Terry, Jerry Roe, Chris Powell, and Charlie Lowell.

Helene credits King, her first real producer, with instilling confidence and bringing out a voice she didn't know she had. She credits Dane with nurturing and continuing the trajectory of the quality that she shoots for with any project she releases. The bar is high and she feels fortunate to work with such talent.