By Kyle Kapper
“Possesses a commanding narrative voice, especially for a
debut – Exudes Joni/Beirut/Idina Menzel – Exquisite arrangements, like sweeping
through a magical land – Are the darker songs autobiographical?” Thus were the
notes I scribbled down while listening to Lizzie
Weber the album, leaving me utterly curious to learn the story of Lizzie
Weber the person, whom I had never met.
Seated across from me at the back table of a narrow,
deserted wine bar in her hometown of St. Louis, Ms. Weber graciously shared her
remarkable tale with an inviting energy just shy of being eager.
She warmed her hands around a steaming cup of tea as she recalled
how her passions for performing, writing, and acting were all born at Once, in a Chicago Theatre performance
which clearly affects her still, five years later. Stirring her tea, she spoke
wistfully of how she followed her heart, quit college, and, at the age of
twenty, moved to LA to be an independent film actress.
“I was told that I wasn’t unique-looking enough,” she said.
“I was told to dye my hair, to cut it, to lose weight. I was told to change
everything about myself. After a while, it left me feeling just empty. That was
when I really started writing intensely.”
After enduring two years of such objectification, Ms. Weber
returned home to St. Louis, went back to school, and began crafting that
intense writing into music, much of which appears on her eponymous debut. “Had
I not had this musical outlet, I would have a very big chip on my shoulder,”
she said. “It just made me realize that I would rather do something that I had
more control over. I could control when I wanted to be creative. I could
control when I wanted to perform out, play a show.”
Luckily for us, she’ll be doing just that with full-band
shows on both sides of the album’s January 10 release. Check her out, and by
the time the full interview excerpted above is published in Eleven, Ms. Weber may
well be your favorite new artist of 2014, too.
No comments:
Post a Comment