With touring currently off the schedule, Lissie has spent recent months delving into her archives to uncover a wealth of material that has helped shape her into the artist that she is today. The result is two upcoming albums which feature lots of cult fan favourites and previously unreleased material: the ‘Anniversary Edition’ of her 2010 breakthrough album ‘Catching A Tiger’ (out June 25th) and ‘Watch Over Me (Early Works 2002-2009)’, which compiles highlights from her formative years as a songwriter (out July 23rd).
Lissie today previews ‘Watch Over Me’ by sharing the previously unreleased song ‘Hey Boy’, which was written several years before the release of ‘Catching A Tiger’. The song is a raw and rootsy folk-rocker in which Lissie’s bluesy vocals fire a scathing criticism at the sexism and misogyny that she faced as a young female artist who was trying to make her mark on the music scene.
Lissie reflects:
“I am so glad to be sharing ‘Hey Boy’, albeit nearly 18 years after it was written! When I was in college, I was out seeing live music almost every night. I would play open mics and eventually get to open up for touring acts that passed through town. There was a crew of musician guys who always seemed to mock me and my lyrics, trashed my posters around town and who insinuated that the only reason I was getting opportunities was because I was a silly young woman who was a flirt. That strangely felt like a normal thing to have to deal with then, so I just shrugged it off and kept going.
I wanted to be one of the guys, to be welcome in the music scene. Fighting for my right to exist and having to gracefully deal with the fallout of rejecting mens’ advances and misconceptions felt like a way of life, something to be accepted and navigated. It seems like this is now changing for the better.”
Listen to ‘Hey Boy’ – BELOW:
‘Hey Boy’ is the first song to be taken from ‘Watch Over Me (Early Works 2002-2009)’. A collection of nine unheard compositions which she wrote as she cultivated her talents being signing a major, the album will be released on July 23rd via Cooking Vinyl.
‘Catching A Tiger (Anniversary Edition)’ is also available to pre-order / pre-save here ahead of its June 25th release via The Orchard. It includes five previously unreleased tracks recorded during the original ‘Catching A Tiger’ sessions in 2009 with producer Jacquire King (Tom Waits, Modest Mouse) and Bill Reynolds (Band of Horses), including the recently unveiled ‘It’s Not Me’. The project has been supported with coverage from The Line of Best Fit, PAPER, Rolling Stone and more.
The award-winning and acclaimed Illinois-born and Iowa-based singer, songwriter, and guitarist Lissie unassumingly established a reputation as a global voice with the release of ‘Catching A Tiger’ in 2010. The album’s Stateside praise was replicated with acclaim in the UK from the BBC, Evening Standard, Uncut and The Independent, who described it as, “As refreshing a slice of pop as these jaded ears have heard in years.” She was nominated for Best Breakthrough Act at the Q Awards, and the album eventually sold 300,000 copies worldwide – 100,000 of which were in the UK, resulting in it being certified Gold.”
After four albums, multiple EPs, and countless gigs, Lissie still derives the strongest connection from music. She manages to consistently connect, whether on tape, on-screen for David Lynch’s ‘Twin Peaks’ and Peter Farrelly’s ‘Loudermilk’, at rallies for Senator Bernie Sanders, or during one of her sold-out shows. And now she continues to make strides forward, telling her story like never before by going back to where it all began.
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