Lis Harvey

Indie folk-rocker Lis Harvey, whose name is pronounced “Liz,” entered the world in Boston on September 9, 1977, and grew up in New Hampshire. Classical piano lessons began at five, followed by theatrical singing at eleven and songwriting at twelve. After departing art school in North Carolina she moved to Venice, California, intent on building a career as a singer-songwriter while absorbing the pop sensibilities of Juliana Hatfield, the brisk directness of Violent Femmes, the early folk leanings of Shawn Colvin, and the rhythmic drive of 1980s metal acts. Working within the acoustic folk-pop sphere, she issued the now out-of-print album Periphery in 1998 and the EP Teen Angst on the small Erlendahle Records imprint the following year. Relocating next to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she enrolled in a creative-writing program at Carnegie Mellon University. A university grant helped finance her next release, Human After All, which was tracked at Duquesne Studios and appeared on Erlendahle in 2000. Extensive touring in 2001 brought a Just Plain Folks music award and a performance slot at Boston’s NeMO conference showcase. To support the 2002 live album Topography, Harvey launched an attempt to enter The Guinness Book of World Records for the fastest tour of all fifty states by a solo female musician. Driving herself from state to state, she completed performances in every state within sixty days and secured the record during fall 2002.