In this biweekly column, RFT Music gets to know local creatives, musicians and their missions. Get a slice of the local scene, complete with a snippet of sound and info about upcoming releases and shows. Stick around to see what St. Louis artists have to say whenever they Fill in in the Blank.
RFT Music's introduction to the artist known as Lizzie Weber arrived in the form of a St. Louis crime statistics rap song, a tongue-in-cheek school project created by musician Liz Schranck and her classmates for an online journalism class at Washington University. Removal of the rap hat, however, reveals that instead of spitting rhymes on the streets, Schranck actually performs as a relatively seasoned young singer-songwriter, strumming original songs on an acoustic guitar in intimate spaces all over town.
See also: - Washington University Students Debunk St. Louis Crime Statistics With Rap Song
Lizzie Weber gets her music moniker from none other than her own mother, who assigned the endearing nickname to her early on. A young Lizzie Weber began picking at piano keys at the ripe age of 11 and spent her teen years composing songs and learning how to play the guitar. The resulting ballads she pens take on a personal, narrative form that channels inspiration from favorite artists including Judy Collins and Joan Baez. A little bit pop, a little bit folk, the songs reflect on the relationships that shaped her over the years, sung with deliberate, dynamic phrasing and deep sentiment.
Schranck exceeded a $2000 Kickstarter goal, raising a total of $2400 to go toward post-production costs for her first album. The collection of ten songs written over the past three years was recorded at Brentwood's Sherpa Studios with a cast of multi-instrumentalists. The entire album is slated for a tentative full digital release on July 22, but a single track, "California," went live just in time for her album pre-release show. Listen below!
We invited Lizzie Weber to fill in the blanks ahead of her album pre-release show this weekend. See what she had to say, check out one of her videos and get info on her upcoming performances on the next page.