Biography
Liza Anne first surfaced from Nashville in the middle of the 2010s, crafting atmospheric and deeply felt narratives around love and loss against lean yet forceful musical backdrops. Across later projects the singer/songwriter shifted toward a sunnier, rock- and pop-leaning approach, most notably with the new-wave-inflected Bad Vacation in 2020. Their skill at matching buoyant melodic hooks to intelligent, self-aware words stood out on the energetic 2023 single “Cheerleaders.”
Born Elizabeth Anne Odachowski on February 3, 1994, in St. Simons Island, Georgia, Liza Anne grew up with creative support from an aunt who painted and an uncle who built guitars and played them. They took up the instrument at ten and began composing at fourteen, drawing early inspiration from Joni Mitchell and Fleetwood Mac. While still in high school they worked part-time at a local coffee shop, where they first sang covers for customers before finding the courage to perform original material. After graduation their uncle assisted in constructing an electric guitar, and they enrolled at Belmont University in Nashville to study songwriting.
There they connected with fellow student Zachary Dyke, who was interning at a recording studio and had after-hours access to the facility. He captured and co-produced Liza Anne’s debut, The Colder Months, in 2014 during those off-peak sessions. Soon afterward they dropped out to concentrate on performing, steadily building a dedicated following for their often raw and emotionally charged material. A follow-up album, Two, arrived in 2015, again produced with Dyke, and featured the atmospheric acoustic ballad “Lost,” which gained wide streaming attention. For their third record they journeyed to Paris, France, where six days of sessions at La Frette Studios yielded Fine But Dying, their first release on Toronto’s Arts + Crafts label. Issued in 2018, the album adopted a more forceful rock direction and explored themes of duality with candor and wit.
That move away from acoustic beginnings continued on the 2020 album Bad Vacation, co-produced by Kyle Ryan and Micah Tawlks, which fully embraced new wave and power pop through bright melodies and insistent hooks. The progression reached a further point with 2023’s “Cheerleaders,” a forthright queer anthem that leaned even harder into Liza Anne’s increasingly pop-oriented style.
Born Elizabeth Anne Odachowski on February 3, 1994, in St. Simons Island, Georgia, Liza Anne grew up with creative support from an aunt who painted and an uncle who built guitars and played them. They took up the instrument at ten and began composing at fourteen, drawing early inspiration from Joni Mitchell and Fleetwood Mac. While still in high school they worked part-time at a local coffee shop, where they first sang covers for customers before finding the courage to perform original material. After graduation their uncle assisted in constructing an electric guitar, and they enrolled at Belmont University in Nashville to study songwriting.
There they connected with fellow student Zachary Dyke, who was interning at a recording studio and had after-hours access to the facility. He captured and co-produced Liza Anne’s debut, The Colder Months, in 2014 during those off-peak sessions. Soon afterward they dropped out to concentrate on performing, steadily building a dedicated following for their often raw and emotionally charged material. A follow-up album, Two, arrived in 2015, again produced with Dyke, and featured the atmospheric acoustic ballad “Lost,” which gained wide streaming attention. For their third record they journeyed to Paris, France, where six days of sessions at La Frette Studios yielded Fine But Dying, their first release on Toronto’s Arts + Crafts label. Issued in 2018, the album adopted a more forceful rock direction and explored themes of duality with candor and wit.
That move away from acoustic beginnings continued on the 2020 album Bad Vacation, co-produced by Kyle Ryan and Micah Tawlks, which fully embraced new wave and power pop through bright melodies and insistent hooks. The progression reached a further point with 2023’s “Cheerleaders,” a forthright queer anthem that leaned even harder into Liza Anne’s increasingly pop-oriented style.
Albums
Singles
