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“It’s a forest town outside of L.A.,” she says. “At the top of the mountain range that creates the valley in Palm Springs, the Joshua Tree area, there’s this little mountain town and it’s really beautiful. There are big pine trees and log cabins and local restaurants — it feels almost untouched.”

 

A friend of Connolly’s, Jon O’Brien, was building a studio in Idyllwild and, having worked on From Where You Are, he was a natural fit to contribute to Shadowboxing. Connolly stayed in a bunkhouse next door to the studio, which she describes as, “away from everything, like a little artist’s retreat.”

 

Recording was a community-driven effort, as several friends Connolly has made performing in Los Angeles over the years played on the record. Players include Ruiz, Ben Greenberg, Eric Cannata and O’Brien, with additional contributions coming later from Dan Bailey, Via Mardot, and Adam Bradley Schreiber. 

 

The band recorded live in the studio, adding a sense of immediacy to the songs on Shadowboxing. “We were able to do so much with that group live, which was really fun,” she says. “It was the first time that I had recorded in that way. It was exciting because you can hear everything at once and there’s a lot of energy in the room at the same time.”

 

Shadowboxing opens with “Stuck in Place,” which considers the difficulty of staying in the

present moment. Percussive guitar leads into a heartland rock groove, with Connolly’s vocal recalling Margo Price or Stevie Nicks. “There’s so much pressure sometimes to see things very linearly, like we should always be moving forward or progressing in some way in our life, work and relationships” Connolly says of “Stuck in Place”. “This song pushes back on that idea and is about appreciating where you are at the time without worrying about what comes next.”

 

“Reno,” which pairs a driving instrumental with one of Connolly’s more emotional vocals, chronicles relationship uncertainty, pinpointing the moments of tension and miscommunication that so often occur early in a romantic relationship. 

 

Other highlights include the title track, whose lyrics came to Connolly almost fully formed, though she wasn’t initially sure what they meant. “Every time I sing it, it’s alive and could show me more,” she says. “Golden” pairs acoustic guitar with pedal steel for a twangier feel, with lyrics that encourage listeners to look within for the answers they are seeking.

 

Connolly, the oldest of three children, has been writing songs since she was a young teenager, a practice she attributes to her love for artists like Patty Griffin — Griffin’s “Rain,” in particular, is a touchstone for Connolly, as her godfather once introduced her to the acclaimed songwriter’s work with a custom-made mix CD when Connolly was younger. Her father, too, is artistic, channeling his talents into sculpting and painting, finding time for his passions in between shifts driving for UPS. Connolly credits her father, who has since retired and plays the guitar and bagpipes (he played the latter on From Where You Are track “Cullen Bay,” in honor of his late son), with introducing her to artists like Tracy Chapman and the Talking Heads, while her mom shared Sheryl Crow and Shania Twain.

 

With nearly half her life spent as a songwriter, Connolly is unusually seasoned, thanks both to her natural gift for turning life’s more important moments — the good ones and the tough ones— into song and to the experiences that shaped the person she is. Shadowboxing is the work of an astute observer of the human condition, one who no doubt will have many more stories to share for years to come.