A musical life on the rolling sea

She has held an anaconda, lemurs and anything not tied down during rough seas.

But what Molly Lutz is most comfortable holding is a bass guitar or microphone.

Those are the tickets to the times of her life, and the accomplished musician is soaking up every second as lead singer in the Rolling Stone Lounge for the Holland America cruise line.

The 26-year-old’s home port is a house near Lake Michigan in the Town of Grafton, but a decision on a near whim has Lutz singing rock songs several time zones away to passengers from across the globe.

Tours have included 71 days around the entire continent of Africa, as well as stops in Iceland, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Caribbean, Panama Canal, along the East Coast and Alaska.

“I feel like I’ve lived 10 years in the last three,” Lutz said.

She doesn’t get seasick, but she had a flash of fret on her first trip.

“I wasn’t sure the first time I got on,” she said. “I has a moment of ‘What did I get into?’”

She soon realized she signed up for something she doesn’t want to give up anytime soon.

“It’s the adrenaline every night,” she said. “It’s the closest thing to being on tour as a world artist.”

Band members are essentially along for the ride, taking in all the sights, sounds and tastes that passengers experience throughout the day. They just have to be back to the ship at 5 p.m. for three-hour shows.

Lutz’s favorite place is Iceland. She rented a car there and saw volcanoes, geysers, hot springs in national parks and went scuba diving between tectonic plates.

“It’s just so wildly green everywhere. It feels like you’re in an arctic version of Hawaii,” Lutz said.

Alaska rivaled Iceland’s scenery. She rode a helicopter to a dog-sledding camp on a glacier where the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race ended.

“It’s the most beautiful place. The glaciers, sea animals and mountains — it reminds me of northern Wisconsin, homey,” Lutz said.

In Madagascar, Lutz interacted with lemurs and “I got to hold an anaconda one of the guys pulled out of the forest. I don’t think I would do that every day.”

Asia had the best cuisine. Lutz loves the green curry in Thailand and said the sushi in Japan was fresh and “everything was just plated beautifully.”

That’s where Lutz nearly missed getting back to her ship in time and where she learned a little about the kindness of the Japanese culture.

A Japanese woman who didn’t know English but could tell Lutz was lost showed her which train to take to get back to her ship, then went out of her way and rode it with her to make sure Lutz got there.

“Everyone is so caring for strangers,” Lutz said.

She got homesick a couple of times on the four-month trip to Asia, but seeing new places helped, and Lutz came to a realization about traveling.

“I found that no matter where you are in the world, it’s the people that make the difference,” she said.

Calm seas don’t hurt either, and Lutz has encountered both extremes. Some of the worst were in the Bering Sea between Japan and America.

“You could jump and stay in the air for a few seconds,” Lutz said.

“I try to avoid the buffet when it’s like that because there’s plates falling, people falling.”

Rough water causes everything on the ship to be canceled. Except the band.

“I had to sit on a stool through ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine,’” Lutz said.

Lutz never felt unsafe, but precautions were taken to avoid pirates when cruising through the Suez Canal.

“They literally told us we need to turn off the lights at a certain time and board up the windows,” Lutz said, adding the ships have sound blasters that are so loud they deter attacks.

The downside of the lifestyle is being gone for long periods of time and performing six nights per week.

“That’s a lot of energy,” Lutz said.

Keeping her voice in singing shape isn’t easy. The air quality on cruises isn’t good, so Lutz brings a humidifier and an air purifier, and drinks hot tea.

Passengers are an older crowd and want to be serenaded for 45 minutes at a time, but they knock off earlier than 20-somethings — around 11:30 p.m.

Music sets are predetermined and often have themes such as disco, funk or 1980s tunes. Lutz and the band wear attire to match.

“We’re like celebrities in a way,” she said.

After shows, passengers tell Lutz their grandchildren play guitar.

“My grandpa does the same thing,” she said.

Lutz grew up in a musical family. Her aunt and uncle were professional jazz singers in Chicago and her uncle released an extended play record when she was 8.

“My parents would play it all the time,” she said.

In school, Lutz was a “quiet music girl” who was recruited by band guys she knew but wasn’t friends with after one of them saw her in “Bye Bye Birdie” at John Long Middle School.

The group performed in the school’s talent show and formed the band, Life in a Tree. The alternative pop band has played Summerfest, Bastille Days and recorded albums in Nashville.

“It’s so surreal. That’s always what you ask for as an artist, something you work years for,” she said.

Lutz earned a degree in vocal performance and songwriting from Belmont University in Nashville, a popular spot for many genres of music.

The pandemic hit and stopped live music, so “I hid in my basement and wrote,” Lutz said.

A friend from school told Lutz a cruise ship band was looking for a bassist — what she played in Life in a Tree, along with lead guitar and vocals.

Lutz had never been on a cruise before, but she soon quit her job at a juice bar — “They understood; they’re all musicians,” she said — and moved out of her home at 24 to rehearse in New York City before hitting the open seas.

When her first contract was up, Lutz was off for two weeks before she found another, this time as lead vocalist.

“I just said yes because I was addicted to the lifestyle already,” she said.

The cruise ships she’s sailed on range from 1,400 to 1,900 passengers with crews from 600 to 800 .

Lutz has made friends across the world — the crew, repeat passengers and her bandmates — the bassist is 75 and has worked cruises his entire life.

Those relationships and experiences are going into songs on Lutz’s solo album. Her influences include the bands Paramore, Fall Out Boy and Bon Iver.

Lutz writes lyrics first, then adds the music.

Her goal is to work as a full-time musician and have a family — eventually on land — but for now she will ride her cruising musical career as long as she can.