Lissie

Lissie burst onto the scene early in the 2010s via her first full-length release, Catching a Tiger, refusing any simple stylistic label. Although her songwriting leaned toward gentle tunes and polished textures, an understated resilience ran through her work; a Midwestern native, she achieved her strongest commercial foothold in Britain, where both Catching a Tiger and her later 2018 effort Castles climbed into the Top Ten nearly ten years apart. Rather than remain static between these projects, she joined forces with Jacknife Lee on the sleek 2013 album Back to Forever before turning toward a more intimate approach on 2016’s My Wild West. That inward trajectory culminated in the 2022 release Carving Canyons, an album shaped by personal grief amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Born Lissie Maurus in the Illinois river town of Rock Island, she channeled her working-class heartland background into a distinctive strain of indie folk. As the granddaughter of a world-titled barbershop quartet champion, she first sang in school stage productions before teaching herself guitar and performing original material at local cafés during her teenage years. Displaying an independent streak, she was expelled from high school in her final year, briefly attended Colorado State University, studied abroad one semester in Paris, and ultimately abandoned formal education to focus on music. After returning stateside she moved to Los Angeles, quickly becoming a regular presence on the city’s club circuit and securing an opening slot on a national tour with Lenny Kravitz.

By the time she reached California, her songs had already surfaced on series such as The O.C., Veronica Mars, and House; she further expanded her audience through a weekly songwriter showcase at Crane’s Hollywood Tavern and the issuance of a self-titled EP. Momentum built sharply in 2009 with the atmospheric single Why You Runnin’, recorded partly in Britain, and a coast-to-coast trek alongside Ray LaMontagne. While she performed at several domestic events, notably a memorable Bonnaroo set and one Lilith Fair date, most of her activity centered on Europe, where Catching a Tiger appeared in June. The American edition followed in August through Fat Possum Records. Working with producers Jacquire King, Julian Emery, and Ed Harcourt, the album layered commercial sheen onto her California-rooted folk sound, earning a Top Five placement on Billboard’s Folk Albums chart and reaching number 12 on the U.K. Albums chart.

Following prolonged touring, especially across the U.K., Lissie entered the studio in 2012 with Garrett “Jacknife” Lee—previously at the helm for Snow Patrol and Robbie Williams—to craft a sophomore record. That collaboration yielded the glossy, ’80s-inflected Back to Forever in October 2013. A covers EP titled Cryin’ to You arrived the next year. In 2016 she issued her third studio album, the Curt Schneider-produced My Wild West, tracked in Los Angeles, Ojai, and Nashville and marked by a brooding, film-noir atmosphere; it debuted at number 16 in Britain and 171 on the Billboard 200 before the autumn release of Live at Union Chapel. After relocating to Iowa in 2017, she composed the material for Castles, a lean and forthright record issued in March 2018. She continued the minimalist direction on 2019’s When I’m Alone: The Piano Retrospective, offering solo-piano renditions of earlier songs, and in 2021 unveiled Watch Over Me, a set of previously unreleased early-career recordings. Rejoining Curt Schneider, she delivered Carving Canyons in 2022, an album that confronted the emotional aftermath of a breakup coinciding with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.