“Lizzie Edwards is one of the most instantly recognizable, individualistic singers in the New York rock scene. With her velvet voice, she delivers a wallop: there are few singers in any style of music who can be as simultaneously pillowy and ferocious. ”
- New York Music Daily |
It was pretty impossible for Lizzie Edwards to avoid a career in music. Her grandfather was an opera singer, her grandmother was a classical harpsichordist, and her father was a sideman for various artists including Chuck Berry, and was in a band himself. Throw in a childhood soundtrack including everyone from Lynyrd Skynyrd to Otis Redding – not to mention – regular trips to the iconic Beacon Theatre, which was steps away from her New York City home, and it’s no wonder music has been in her veins practically right from the womb.
“The album title is actually inspired by Beethoven and the kind of emotion he believed music should evoke from people when it is played and heard. The songs all draw from personal experiences, many of which focus on ex-boyfriends, ex-lovers, and ex-jobs,” Edwards explained. “There’s definitely a lot of darkness and despair coupled with images of triumph and the refusal to compromise, give up, or be beaten down.” But, the singer/songwriter, who has shared the stage with many artists including The Deen Ween Band, has never been down for the count. The early career for Edwards, who studied Classical Piano and Music Theory for 14 years at Mannes College of Music (now The New School) and holds a bachelor’s degree in English and Music from Dartmouth College, followed the age-old blueprint of a working musician: she played countless gigs, led various bands before they broke up – rinse and repeat. Ironically, the makings of Lizzie & The Makers was made on a whim. (Say that three times fast.) Edwards was working as a sound engineer at the Brooklyn venue Pete’s Candy Store when a series of events led her to The Makers. “I was putting on a one-day blues/soul/rock festival called Bourbonfest, and was scheduled to headline with Sister Sparrow and The Dirty Birds but my band had folded a month before the festival,” she explained. Determined to perform anyway, and knowing “Pete’s Candy Store had a wealth of talent,” she decided to take the stage anyway, pulling a band together of staffers and “regulars” from the venue on the fly, and rocking the house. She and Greg McMullen, a member of that last-minute band, decided soon after to make it a real thing and dubbed themselves “The Makers.” Fitting since it all unfolded out of Bourbonfest. Guitarists Greg McMullen & James Winwood, bassist Brett Bass, and drummer Bryan Bisordi round out the current Makers roster. Additionally, Rob Clores (organ/keys) often performs with them live and appears on the new album along with Jason Loughlin (guitar). |