Published December 9, 2025
BY CHOICE MUIVAH
Carmel High School biology teacher Victoria Deckelmann is now preparing to release her first album, “Born with a Song” by recording with Grammy-winner Sierra Ferrell’s band this January, as well as alongside the local Bubba Pickens Band.
“Music has always been a way for me to feel feelings,” notes Deckelmann.
With nature as her muse, Victoria Deckelmann is also working on two songs separate from her album that she may release as singles by summer 2025. photo by STEPH GARIBAY
Deckelmann explains that the folk-americana album, approximately 40 minutes featuring 12 tracks, is inspired by finding self-confidence and overcoming self-doubt. Eager to publish an album for years, the science teacher, who uses the stage name Victoria Lynn, was supported through the encouragement of bandmates, family and friends, building her courage to share her songs with the world.
Among her favorites, Deckelmann takes listeners beyond the treeline in “This House (Sierra Columbine),” which was inspired during a hike in Yosemite with Julia Evered, a substitute teacher at CHS, where Deckelmann’s friend told the teacher-songwriter a story of her boyfriend giving her Sierra Columbine flowers, which are difficult to get as they only grow at high altitudes on rocky cliffs. Through the song, the songwriter questions whether she would treat herself with the same type of love Evered received, representing Deckelmann’s struggles with self-doubt but eventually closing with messages of self-love.
“Prunetucky Hill” is an ode to the nickname of her California hometown of Prundale, and although somewhat derogatory, Deckelmann hopes to endearingly give her beloved town deserved representation. According to the musician, “Prunetucky Hill” represents learning to love her town’s down-to-earth community, open landscape, nature and beautiful simplicity.
The teacher-turned-artist’s final push to making her own music was meeting musicians Oliver Bates Craven and Josh Rilko, bandmates of Ferrell, at a fiddle camp. Planning to travel to Nashville, Tennessee, in January, Deckelmann will record approximately nine songs with Ferrell’s group.
Victoria Deckelmann rehearses “Born With a Song” at West Marin Fiddle Camp in Bolinas, California, with Oliver Bates Craven, a bandmate of Sierra Ferrell. courtesy of VICTORIA DECKELMANN
“I learned to shed the disdain I have for my creativity,” said Deckelmann, who graduated from CHS in 2014 and was one of the first members of the CHS Singer-Songwriters’ Club, a space for students to make music.
During her time with the club, she first met future Bubba Pickens bandmates, Brian Handley, former CHS music teacher; Kenna Little, fellow CHS alum and current Carmel Middle School teacher; and current CHS teachers Marc Stafford and Jason Maas-Baldwin. Her father Mike Deckelmann, a former CHS math teacher, is also a core member of the band.
“It’s been awesome to see her evolve as a musician,” says Stafford, the current adviser of the Singer-Songwriters Club and a former teacher of Deckelmann’s.
As of now, “Hey America” and “High Lonesome Hero” are available for streaming on Spotify and Apple Music. After the release of her album, the up-and-coming artist hopes to do several solo shows and plans to release a vinyl of her album, as well as merch that would be available for purchase at the performance venues.
As Deckelmann says, “I just want to see where the wind takes me.”
