The Stories We Carry: Vikki Gilmore on Family, Memory, and “Getting Old”

Independent since day one, Gilmore has been writing her life into music for nearly a decade. Her latest single captures both her growth as an artist and her roots in family storytelling.

In the indie folk world, some songs feel less like recordings and more like conversations you might have with an old friend: quiet, tender, and raw - reminders of humanity, and storytelling that moves. Montreal-based artist Vikki Gilmore writes songs that reflect that throughout. For nearly a decade, she’s been honing her craft as a storyteller, weaving together reflections on love, identity, and growth with the kind of lyrical impact that lingers long after the last note. 

The cover image to Getting Old, which features Vikki's grandmother in her youth

Her latest single, “Getting Old,” is one of those songs that makes you reflect, and feel the emotion throughout your body. Built on understated instrumentation and heartfelt lyrics, it captures a moment of realization that feels universal: the sudden awareness that the people who raised us, guided us, and grounded us were once young themselves.

For Gilmore, that realization came through her relationship with her grandmother, a figure of strength in her family, but also, as she came to see, a woman who once had the same wide-open dreams, friendships, and uncertainties as any of us. It’s hard to think about yourself and what you’ll be doing in 60 years, and it’s harder to reflect on the fact that the elders in our lives once thought similarly. We talked about the fact that our grandmothers were also just girls in their 20’s.

“I love my grandma. She’s the most incredible woman in the world,” Gilmore said during our conversation. That love radiates through “Getting Old,” which she describes as both a tribute and a meditation on the passage of time. It’s a song about family, yes,  but also about perspective, identity, and how we see ourselves at different stages of life. That signs of aging, the stories we gain, and the experiences we will pass down is never a burden, but a gift we carry with us each day. 

A Tribute in Song

Gilmore’s grandmother worked as a surgical nurse, raised six children, and built a lasting partnership with Vikki’s grandfather. To Vikki, she’s always been the family’s anchor. But in recent years, her grandmother began sharing more stories from her youth, often sparked by photos tucked away in old albums: snapshots of college roommates laughing, afternoons spent sunbathing on a dorm deck, and glimpses of a young woman navigating independence. Just like the experiences Vikki, and every other young woman can attest to. Things we often don’t reflect on enough. 

“You’re just like, awesome, grandma - you were just a girl,” Gilmore recalled with a laugh. That realization became the emotional seed for “Getting Old.” It’s not only a portrait of her grandmother, but a reminder that we all carry within us the different versions of who we’ve been.

Keeping It Simple

Musically, Gilmore chose to keep “Getting Old” as bare and honest as possible. She recorded with a longtime collaborator, who encouraged her to let the lyrics breathe. A friend added pedal steel to lend the track a nostalgic glow, while soft piano lines round out the sound. The result is something warm, intimate, and timeless, like sitting in the corner of a living room, listening to a story being passed down.

“It feels like you’re singing in your living room,” she said. “That’s what I wanted with the production.”

The feeling shines through in production and lyric, and it reaches deep into emotions and heart. It’s reminiscent of warm summer days, looking at old photos, taking in the life you hope to lead. The song’s theme is honest, and super important in today's day in age - we all can take a step back and reflect and slow down. 

An Artist in Motion

For Gilmore, songwriting has always been a way of journaling. A process of untangling complex emotions and turning them into something shareable. Independent since the beginning, she’s taught herself every piece of the artist puzzle: writing, recording, video editing, and marketing. Over the past year, her persistence has begun to pay off with festival slots, support opportunities, and a growing presence in the indie folk community.

Gilmore explains that writing to her is a way of making sense of what she’s feeling - and hoping that it resonates with people in some way. 

And with “Getting Old,” it certainly does.

A Universal Message

The song arrives at a time when conversations around age often skew toward fear. Especially in such a digital age, we get to see glimpses of everyone's lives, which in turn comes with the pressure to look younger, to meet milestones by a certain time, to measure worth against numbers. Gilmore’s music offers a counterpoint: an embrace of aging, memory, and the stories that connect us across generations.

“I can’t even imagine being in my 90s, looking back at my 20s,” she reflected. Yet through her grandmother’s lens, she caught a glimpse of how those decades fold into one another, how the joy and struggles of youth eventually turn into cherished stories.

That’s the message at the heart of “Getting Old.” It’s not about loss or struggle, it’s about recognition. About honoring the fact that we are all, at every stage, still in the process of becoming.

As Vikki Gilmore continues to shape her career, she seems intent on creating songs that don’t just fill the air but linger in the heart. With “Getting Old,” she offers a piece of her family’s story and in doing so, invites us to reflect on our own.

You can find Getting Old wherever you stream your music, and follow Vikki Gilmore on her socials to stay up to date on new music, shows, and more!