Biography
Lillie Mae Rische first gained recognition among bluegrass and country audiences through her performances with the all-sibling groups the Risches and Jypsi, where her skills as a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist stood out. Wider rock listeners came to know her fiddle and mandolin work during tours with Jack White, while her distinctive vocals appeared on the track “Temporary Ground” from his 2014 Lazaretto album and on the 2014 Third Man Records Blue Series single “Nobody’s”/“Same Eyes.”
From early childhood she appeared on stages throughout the United States. Although born in Illinois, she grew up on the road as her father, Forrest Carter Rische, a traveling musician, instructed all five of his children in singing and playing before forming the Forrest Carter Family Band. The family crisscrossed highways in a motor home, performing in locations from Branson, Missouri, through the Texas Rio Grande Valley to Nashville and staying at campgrounds and trailer parks.
Despite constant contact with other touring players, the Risches maintained a sheltered existence shaped by their parents’ strict religious convictions, which limited exposure to outside influences and reinforced the siblings’ close bond that later shaped their own music. In 2000 Cowboy Jack Clement invited the family to Nashville for an audition, quickly recognizing the siblings’ promise and singling out nine-year-old Lillie Mae as a major voice. She later recalled, “Cowboy was closer to me than any grandparent I ever had. His influence on me is still strong. He always pushed me to play different instruments; he saw how I would pick up everything in the studio. He was a good friend to me and we remained close until he passed away.”
Lillie Mae joined siblings Frank Carter Rische, Scarlett, Amber-Dawn, and McKenna Grace in the band the Risches, whose sets at Layla’s Bluegrass Inn on Lower Broadway became a local draw praised for accomplished playing and an unusual bluegrass-country-pop blend. After renaming themselves Jypsi the group secured a major-label deal and issued a self-titled debut album in 2008 that yielded the Top 40 country single “I Don’t Love You Like That,” written by Liz Rose and Stephanie Chapman, though radio programmers proved unreceptive to the band’s distinctive Americana style. Lillie Mae continued composing material drawn from her distinctive personal perspective.
She first encountered White in 2012 and became the fiddle and mandolin player in his all-female backing group the Peacocks. Sharing backgrounds as the youngest members of large families and as versatile instrumentalists, the two formed a quick friendship further deepened by White’s admiration for her singular songwriting. He produced her 2014 Third Man single; encouraged by their rapport they began an album project in 2016 that expanded beyond an initial three songs. At Third Man Studio in Nashville, engineer Joshua V. Smith oversaw sessions in which Lillie Mae, who composed all eleven tracks, enlisted brother Frank on guitars and sister Scarlett on mandolin, while longtime associates Brian Zonn and drummer Tanner Jacobson formed the rhythm section. Additional contributors included keyboardist Dean Fertita of the Dead Weather, banjoist Ian Craft of the Howlin’ Brothers, pianist Cory Younts of Old Crow Medicine Show, harmony vocalist McKenna Grace Rische, and singer-songwriter Carey Kotsonis.
Advance singles “Over the Hill and Through the Woods” and “Wash Me Clean” appeared in winter 2017 ahead of the full album Forever and Then Some that spring; that year she also performed in the PBS documentary The American Epic Sessions. In 2019 she recorded her second Third Man album, Other Girls, with producer Dave Cobb.
From early childhood she appeared on stages throughout the United States. Although born in Illinois, she grew up on the road as her father, Forrest Carter Rische, a traveling musician, instructed all five of his children in singing and playing before forming the Forrest Carter Family Band. The family crisscrossed highways in a motor home, performing in locations from Branson, Missouri, through the Texas Rio Grande Valley to Nashville and staying at campgrounds and trailer parks.
Despite constant contact with other touring players, the Risches maintained a sheltered existence shaped by their parents’ strict religious convictions, which limited exposure to outside influences and reinforced the siblings’ close bond that later shaped their own music. In 2000 Cowboy Jack Clement invited the family to Nashville for an audition, quickly recognizing the siblings’ promise and singling out nine-year-old Lillie Mae as a major voice. She later recalled, “Cowboy was closer to me than any grandparent I ever had. His influence on me is still strong. He always pushed me to play different instruments; he saw how I would pick up everything in the studio. He was a good friend to me and we remained close until he passed away.”
Lillie Mae joined siblings Frank Carter Rische, Scarlett, Amber-Dawn, and McKenna Grace in the band the Risches, whose sets at Layla’s Bluegrass Inn on Lower Broadway became a local draw praised for accomplished playing and an unusual bluegrass-country-pop blend. After renaming themselves Jypsi the group secured a major-label deal and issued a self-titled debut album in 2008 that yielded the Top 40 country single “I Don’t Love You Like That,” written by Liz Rose and Stephanie Chapman, though radio programmers proved unreceptive to the band’s distinctive Americana style. Lillie Mae continued composing material drawn from her distinctive personal perspective.
She first encountered White in 2012 and became the fiddle and mandolin player in his all-female backing group the Peacocks. Sharing backgrounds as the youngest members of large families and as versatile instrumentalists, the two formed a quick friendship further deepened by White’s admiration for her singular songwriting. He produced her 2014 Third Man single; encouraged by their rapport they began an album project in 2016 that expanded beyond an initial three songs. At Third Man Studio in Nashville, engineer Joshua V. Smith oversaw sessions in which Lillie Mae, who composed all eleven tracks, enlisted brother Frank on guitars and sister Scarlett on mandolin, while longtime associates Brian Zonn and drummer Tanner Jacobson formed the rhythm section. Additional contributors included keyboardist Dean Fertita of the Dead Weather, banjoist Ian Craft of the Howlin’ Brothers, pianist Cory Younts of Old Crow Medicine Show, harmony vocalist McKenna Grace Rische, and singer-songwriter Carey Kotsonis.
Advance singles “Over the Hill and Through the Woods” and “Wash Me Clean” appeared in winter 2017 ahead of the full album Forever and Then Some that spring; that year she also performed in the PBS documentary The American Epic Sessions. In 2019 she recorded her second Third Man album, Other Girls, with producer Dave Cobb.
Albums
Singles
