Indie-folk duo Lace and Lee are in the middle of another run supporting Five For Fighting while preparing for the release of their debut EP, Mirror Mirror, due November 27, 2026.
Olivia Lee Ondrasik and Caroline Lace McPherson met while studying musical theater at NYU Tisch School of the Arts and began writing together after graduating from the New Studio on Broadway. Their sound blends folk rock, ethereal harmonies and mystical storytelling with influences that stretch from Simon & Garfunkel and Fleetwood Mac to Tori Amos, Sierra Ferrell and Florence and the Machine.
Their latest single, "RoadKill," was released September 12 and follows a string of songs released throughout the year, including "Oh, What a Weapon," "Olivia's Song," "Top Dog," "Penn Station Strawberries" and "Dream."
The duo recently stopped at The Newton Theatre in Newton, New Jersey on September 20 and will return to the state on October 13 for a show at The Vogel at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank.
You both came out of musical theater at NYU. What did you have to unlearn from musical theater when you started figuring out what Lace and Lee should sound like?
Ondrasik said one of the biggest adjustments was learning the difference between stepping onstage as a character and stepping onstage as herself.
"I think part of what I've had to unlearn, or just kind of figure out, is the difference of showing up on stage as yourself versus a specific character you're playing," she said.
At the same time, she said the performance side of musical theater still helped shape how she approaches a Lace and Lee show.
"Where am I really super authentic on stage, really as myself, but then also having that side where it's like, you're still having the confidence, and that you're putting on a show enough that the audience can actually relax?"
McPherson approached the question from the vocal side.
"With musical theater, you're taught so specifically how to find the purest version of your voice and the healthiest version of your voice," she said.
That foundation helped them develop the stamina needed to perform consistently, but finding the Lace and Lee sound meant adding some of their own individuality back into that training.
"With musical theater, we kind of stripped back all of what our voice was to get to this purest, healthiest version," McPherson said. "Okay, what can we add back on? What is our true sound?"
That search for a shared sound is also at the center of their songwriting process.
Do you ever completely disagree about a lyric or melody, and who usually wins?
"We've definitely had disagreements about lyrics and stuff like that, but we get over it very quickly," McPherson said.
If neither of them is convinced, they keep working.
"If both of us don't agree with it, and we don't want to compromise, then we're just gonna keep hunting until we find the perfect word."
Sometimes they let an idea stay temporarily and come back to it later.
"We're constantly tweaking," McPherson said. "Sometimes we use things as placeholders, and then we go back to it."
For Ondrasik, that process comes down to trust.
"If I come up with a lyric and I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, I love this lyric,' and Caroline's like, 'No, I don't really like that,' 99.9% of the time, she's right, and I trust her," she said.
She said those moments often lead to something better than the original idea.
"We find something that we both like, and every time, it's something cooler."
Their songwriting materials describe two approaches they return to often: a more free-flowing "Yes, and..." method and a much more exacting "No, but..." method where they question nearly every syllable and idea.
One of the more unusual song titles in the Lace and Lee catalog is "Penn Station Strawberries," which came directly from a specific New York moment.
Do you collect weird little moments from real life knowing they might eventually turn into a song?
"Kind of," McPherson said.
She said the two do save words, images and ideas that they may eventually build songs around, but "Penn Station Strawberries" happened much more spontaneously.
"I literally brought 'Penn Station Strawberries' to a writing session," she said. "We were like, we need to write that song right now, and we had it done in like 15 minutes. It just poured out of us."
The song is one of several examples of the duo turning oddly specific moments into something larger. According to their release materials, "Penn Station Strawberries" was inspired by buying strawberries in a Walgreens inside Penn Station.
"RoadKill" came from a similarly unexpected place.
The song was written while they were on tour, exhausted and carsick, after seeing a dead deer on the side of the road.
McPherson said touring also led to a songwriting game the two use during long drives.
"One person will write one line, and then we'll pass a notebook to the other, and then write another line," she said. "We'll basically write a song back and forth."
That process became part of the origin of "RoadKill."
Their live show carries the same balance of playfulness and emotion that runs through their songs.
In their own description, Lace and Lee are "bards, jesters, kooks," pairing their sense of humor with moments that can become deeply emotional.
You describe your shows as part jesters and kooks and part deep emotional experience. Is there a moment in the set where you can actually feel the audience go from laughing with you to really listening?
Ondrasik said that shift is one of her favorite parts of performing as Lace and Lee.
"We are really like how we are on stage all the time," she said. "We are goofballs, and we are just riffing off of each other all the time."
That can make the space between songs feel almost like stand-up comedy before the mood changes completely when the music begins.
"There are moments of almost like stand-up comedy," she said. "And then the music will start."
Some songs maintain that lighter energy, while others pull the audience somewhere else entirely.
"Footfall is a great example," Ondrasik said. "I love singing that song because you just go to Fairyland."
For McPherson, that emotional contrast is deliberate.
"We specifically do slow, fast, slow, fast, slow, fast," she said. "It's constantly like a roller coaster."
Rather than grouping all of the quieter songs together and all of the faster songs together, they prefer to keep the audience moving between moods.
"We want our music to be unpredictable," McPherson said.
The connection between the two is also reinforced before they ever step onto the stage.
Have you developed any pre-show rituals?
The answer was immediate.
"Oh yeah," Ondrasik said.
Their routine includes breathing together, doing a physical warm-up and what they call "droning," where they match pitch back and forth.
"We connect with each other's breath, and then we do a kind of droning where we kind of match pitch and just kind of sing to each other," Ondrasik said.
They also use essential oils before performing.
"We have a pack of essential oils, and we anoint each other before we go on stage," she said.
McPherson said the ritual is less about superstition than intention.
"Our pre-show ritual is all about intention," she said. "We're actively making a choice to connect with each other and then share that."
That sense of connection is also at the center of Mirror Mirror.
The EP explores themes of growing up, self-reflection, loneliness, friendship and learning to accept the parts of yourself that are hardest to face. McPherson described the project as being rooted in the year after their NYU graduation, while Ondrasik described it as taking "a hard look in the mirror" with someone you trust beside you.
When people attend your shows, what is something you hope they walk away with?
For McPherson, the answer comes back to reconnecting with a sense of childhood wonder.
"I really want people to walk away with that childlike sense of wonder and awe," she said.
But she also wants the music to make room for the intensity of emotion.
"It's such a gift to be able to laugh one moment and then cry in the next," she said.
Ondrasik chose a different word.
"Closeness," she said.
"I really want people to feel seen, and inspired, and moved."
She said the bond between the two of them gives them permission to be more vulnerable in front of an audience.
"Because I have Caroline with me, it gives each other the courage and the permission to even just go a little bit deeper."
For Ondrasik, the goal is for Lace and Lee's music to connect across generations.
"The magical thing that I've experienced with Lace and Lee is that hopefully it speaks to the 5-year-old and the 85-year-old in the audience."
That idea fits naturally with the duo's broader vision for Mirror Mirror. In their own description of the project, they repeatedly return to friendship, imagination, self-reflection and the idea of feeling truly seen by another person.
Lace and Lee's debut EP, Mirror Mirror, will be released November 27. "RoadKill" is out now.
The duo will return to New Jersey on October 13, 2026 at The Vogel at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank as part of their ongoing tour with Five For Fighting.
Julie Hoffman is a concert and live event photographer with a background in broadcasting. She started out in the newsroom at ABC News in NYC, and ended up as a Technical Director at Disney/ ABC TV studios in Los Angeles. She has since left broadcasting and moved back to the east coast, where she started up her photography business.
When she is not at a concert, she is shooting print/theatrical headshots out of her studio in Livingston, NJ. For more on her visit her website at www.juliehoffmanphotography.com or her Instagram accounts for Concerts/Live Events and Headshots.
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