Songs from the Passenger Seat: Zoe Lemon’s take on songwriting in motion and chasing glimmers.

Your Next Phavorite Artist: Article 03

Written by Nell Duesler | Photography by Mandy O'Donohue

Photography by Mandy O'Donohue

Growing up with two music-loving parents, Zoe Lemon (pronounced Zoh), a reflective, nature-loving singer-songwriter/violinist from Coatesville, PA, quickly became passionate about all things music. When her grandmother gifted her the Hilary Hahn plays Bach CD, her obsession grew, and she knew that she wanted to play the violin. Since starting violin lessons at eight years old, she hasn’t put the instrument down. Zoe studied Classical Violin Performance, Jazz Performance, and Music Education at Temple University. After graduating in 2021, she explored national parks for a year in a van. During that time, she began making demos for songs she had only ever written as journal entries, and after years of being a musician, she realized she could sing. 

This past June, Zoe Lemon released an EP titled A Coin in the Mouth of a Fish, a deeply personal and introspective record. I sat down with her to discuss everything from spiritual reflections and her recording process in Nashville to her favorite Philly artists and, of course, her Wawa order. 

Photography by Mandy O'Donohue

As an artist, Zoe feels deeply sincere, quirky, and imaginative in her music, and those same qualities proved to shine through in her personality. Her musical origins date back to her parents. Her mother, a pianist, often played the grand piano at home, while her father was always discovering new artists on WXPN, Pennsylvania’s public radio station. Zoe describes her early relationship with playing as “not very serious.” She said, “We would all just jam and hang out and enjoy playing songs together.” She felt like music was a natural, fun aspect of life that her parents were introducing her to, which made it very easy for her to continue to feel content when she started playing the violin at age eight. 

Years of youth orchestras and lessons deepened Zoe’s love for the violin, but her musical journey wasn’t a straight line. It wasn’t until a year after graduating that she fully discovered her musical identity. Zoe wasn’t completely foreign to all things songwriting, as her parents recently found a notebook from when she was seven or eight with a song titled All You’ve Given Me. “I handwrote all the words, but every word is spelled wrong—like the cow on the Chick-fil-A billboards,” she laughed. Though she can’t remember writing it, she was able to see how her young brain worked. With her misspelled lyrics and little music notes written out, she saw what would be the blossoming of a passion that would fully reveal itself years later. 

Photography by Mandy O'Donohue

After college, Zoe traveled across national parks in a van. And with nature as her inspiration, she finally took the ideas she had for songs and turned them into demos using nothing but her laptop, MIDI keyboard, and violin. Creating those early demos would end up being the true push for Zoe to get into songwriting and find her voice.

Zoe describes her sound as “looped, fun, chamber pop”—a blend that feels as rich as it sounds. Her use of loops with her violin makes her sound feel complete. As a listener, the strings never feel tacked on. You can tell that she means every note she is playing. She feels influenced by artists like Enya, Björk, Jeff Tweedy, and Andrew Bird, but her biggest influences often come from the world and experiences around her.

Her newest EP, A Coin in the Mouth of a Fish, continues to be a reflection of that. Tracks like “Big enough!,” “Pigeonholed,” and “Glimmer” were written at different times with no plan to be part of one project. While Zoe once found inspiration in the stillness of nature, this time it came to her in the motion of a moving car. “Glimmer” began on a drive to Nashville from Philly when Zoe felt a sense of not measuring up to what she wanted to be. As much as she cared and dreamed of pursuing music, the repetition of playing the same type of smaller shows felt very cyclical. She thought that she needed one more glimmer to keep going with this dream, and by the time she got to Nashville, she had written the lyrics to the song. She already knew that she wanted to record “Big enough!” and “Pigeonholed,” and “Glimmer” ended up feeling very cohesive with those tracks. 

Photography by Mandy O'Donohue

The actual title of the record similarly came to Zoe. At the time, she still wasn’t feeling like she measured up to her own expectations, but she remembered a story from the Bible about the coin in the fish’s mouth. The story is about a fisherman. Jesus tells him to catch a fish, and in its mouth, he will find exactly enough coins to pay the temple tax. By the follower leaning into his talents, he was given what he needed. To Zoe, it felt like a reminder to lean into what makes you happiest, even if others aren’t valuing you as much as you are, because that is still what you are supposed to be doing. 

Zoe was able to record this EP with her dream producer, Thad Kopec, in his cozy Nashville studio that helped shape the record’s warm, organic sound. That trip gave her so many memories. Her best friend was able to fly to Nashville on Zoe’s last day of recording and take a camping trip on their way back up to Philly, once again reinforcing Zoe’s love for nature. 

Though Zoe went to plenty of house shows while studying at Temple, she only began performing in the Philly music scene after college. Her first show was at The Tabernacle, which marked the beginning of her own place in the scene she had long admired. After playing and seeing many Philly musicians, she decided her dream four band/artist lineup would be Dr. Dog, Abigail Dempsey, Japanese Breakfast, and Lazy Acres.

Photography by Mandy O'Donohue

Zoe is back in Nashville now, working on a farm, but Philly stays close to her heart. She misses her community—and, of course, Wawa. Her go-to order? An Italian Shorti, Zapp’s Voodoo chips, and my personal favorite, a blue Icee. She has upcoming solo shows, recording sessions, and even a house show tour planned for September. Fingers crossed she makes her way back up north soon.

Zoe may be far from her favorite Philly hoagie for now, but A Coin in the Mouth of a Fish offers its own kind of comfort—soulful, sincere, and full of heart. Let it soundtrack your next long drive or quiet moment. You’ll be glad you did.