Introducing: Lissie

My favorite thing about blogging is getting to introduce people to artists they might not know about. Today I would like to introduce you to Lissie. I discovered Lissie's music in the most coincidental way possible. One day I was on Google and I was looking for something about Stevie Nicks I believe. Then all of a sudden i stumbled across a picture of Lissie and I saw it was used in an article that mentioned Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood Mac as an influence. That made me curious and I clicked the link to the article and started checking it out. It also showed one or more of Lissie's songs, so obviously I needed to check it out. Once I started listening I was sold. I immediately fell in love with her music and from that moment on I became obsessed with her music.

Lissie is an American singer-songwriter from Rock Island, Illinois. She is particularly known for her loud and husky voice. Her music is a mix of country, folk and rock influences. In the past she has opened for Lenny Kravitz, sang on several tracks from the album Fallen Empire's by Snow Patrol and also sang on the track Losers by Robbie Williams. Besides that several of her songs and covers got featured in in movies. I had the pleasure of seeing Lissie in concert twice in Amsterdam and she truly is as fantastic live as she is on record. Click read more to see some of Lissie's music.

Oh Mississippi is a beautiful simple ballad. The song in an ode to the Mississippi river, the river she grew up alongside of. The simplicity of the song shows of her stunning voice and makes the song feel very honest. As I interpret it, it's about feeling sentimental about your youth and realising that things are changing and not everything is the same as it was.

The next song I chose is When I'm Alone from Lissie's first album Catching A Tiger. The song is driven by a great beat created by the combination of the bass and drums. It's a song that makes you want to stomp your feet and scream out your lungs. The song starts out with a certain calmness and slowly but surely it builds up and then in the end it slows down a little again to end on a calm note. Lissie's voice is once again a shining star on this song, going from low and husky to screaming on top of her lungs.

Further Away is probably one of my favorite songs of Lissie. The Fleetwood Mac influence is clearly heard on this song. It's a real rocker of a song. Again starting calm, but gradually building up into this big crescendo. It even has a fantastic guitar solo in it, which truly makes it a rock song. I don't have much more to say about this, I think the music speaks for itself really.

For her last album, My Wild West, Lissie went for a bit more acoustically driven sound. Although the electrics are still very much present, the acoustic guitar is a bit more present than previously. After hearing this right after Further Away it made realise that the two songs are actually quite similar. Further Away is a bit more rocky perhaps, but they have a similar sound. This is a great song to dance to on your own when nobody is watching. It even has a slight guitar solo in it. You could say that this song picks up where Further Away left of musically. It's clear Lissie and her music have evolved, but the familiar sound is still there.

Finally I wanted to share this excellent cover of Mother, originally by metal band Danzig. Not exactly a song you would expect Lissie to cover perhaps, but that is what makes it so cool. She takes a song and makes it her own. This song rocks hard and Lissie shows you at all once she has the capability to do a lot of different things. Her versatility is what makes her such a great artist.

For more about Lissie go to: www.lissie.com

This was the introduction to Lissie. I hope you enjoyed this one and will continue to check out her music. Please leave a comment below and tell me what you thoughts about Lissie are. If you have any music I should check out, please let me know as well.