Name: Lissie
Locality: Rock Island, Illinois, USA
Crayon Color: Rust: an "old soul" voice in a young woman's body.
The Story: One could say Lissie was a bit of a “leader” in her youth. The only dye she could find was the one in her pen, and she used it to attempt to color her tresses. Amongst parental correction and teacher sentencing, Lissie was an outspoken bombshell who got kicked out of high school, and strummed the chords of a guitar to make sense of it all.
Her first songs, which she sung at the local coffee house where she worked, screamed of adolescent toils, boy encounters and popularity tunes, sometimes to an audience of one. In a weekly residency with some rocker friends at Crane’s Hollywood Tavern, she created the “Beachwood Rockers Society,” selling honey and pitching a restaurant to passers-by on the side.
Soon after she hooked up with the ever-indie Fat Possum Records to record her five-song EP, Why You Runnin’, with pal Bill Reynolds (of Band of Horses) and Ed Harcourt, released in 2009. Touring with Ray LaMontagne and City & Colour exercised her chops, and the press followed (Perez, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone).
Her debut album Catching A Tiger was recorded next in Nashville with Reynolds and Jaquire King. She relocated to Ojai, CA, but spent time in London, where the debut was released. Her latest EP, Covered Up With Flowers, was released last November. Continuing to tour, Lissie is now known for her deep voice, and a cover of Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness,” along with Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.”
Think: taking the scenic route, an awakening, Girl next door/drink buddy, pub queen to festival star, reformed Spinelli (Recess), sunshine folk
Propers: Fat Possum, Lissie
