After meeting Lorelei Marcell on Jesse McCartney’s All’s Well Tour, Showstopper Magazine followed Lorelei to Nashville, TN for a concert experience unique to the up-and-coming popstar.
“This is intimate,” Lorelei said from the stage in the Hutton Hotel’s Analog lounge. The stage is dressed in heavy velvet drapes and rugs that give the upscale venue an open-mic feel. There is close access to the chairs and couches that surround it. Seeing Lorelei at Analog is like seeing your best friend perform in her bedroom. It’s honest and real.
This was not Lorelei’s first Nashville performance. Claiming the stage at Analog was a trip back to a city Lorelei loves to play in. This time, she brought unreleased songs, her keyboard player and guitarist Mark McKee (As Lorelei says, “If you know, you know.), and a special addition to her band, drummer Daniel Campbell. She also had her own opener, Kate Cosentino, who Lorelei calls “stupidly talented.”
Far from holding back, Lorelei brought the same energy she did to Jesse McCartney’s tour but focused on owning her moment. The Nashville show was an event teased late last year. It brought Lorelei and her closest fans back together. “Honestly my favorite memory from the evening was walking out in the lobby after sound check, with zero makeup on in sweats, and seeing the first couple of fans in the lobby. We had a moment to hug and say hi before the show and it was just the sweetest little encounter,” Lorelei reflected on the event and how it reinforced her relationship with her fans. “It seems small, but it really reassured me I was doing the right thing because you never know as the headliner who will actually show up to support you, so it eased a lot of my nerves.”
Touring as an opener built Lorelei’s stage presence and her resilience. She describes opening as “a risk.” “You never know how the audience will perceive you or value what you’re offering the space,” she said. She shared that Jesse McCartney’s fans “showed up each night with zero ego or bias, and were just there to have a good time.” She aspires toward a tour like that someday, but she knows that she’s still growing something special. “You reach a different level of vulnerability with your fans when it’s you as the headliner in a smaller more intimate space. I was so overwhelmed with love and joy when I got to see familiar faces and meet people who showed up just to see the show, it’s honestly all I’ve ever wanted.”
Now, Lorelei is moving into the next stages of 2025. There’s new music around the corner, including a single this spring. “The project is going to be called ‘Gas Money’ (which I might’ve already spoiled for my fans haha),” she teased. “I am so excited to finally be releasing this music and releasing more consistently again. This is definitely the start of a new more mature era for me, and I can’t wait to continue to grow my little community.”
