Thursday, April 28, 2011

Biography



A former Biblical scholar turned Outlaw Country singer/songwriter and cult figure, Lonesome Liz's spins a web from the crossroads of the sacred and profane. Part gypsy conjure woman, part hellfire and brimstone gospel singer, she is also a prolific creator of works of prose, poetry, art and drama.  She infuses all with her  Southern Gothic perception.  Her words, kaleidoscopic, often shift to expose the seamy underbelly of the South. She then translates her perceptions through a mystic veil of mojo; drawing on history, Hoodoo, religion, Blues & Folk traditions.

A natural story teller, her powerful lyrics are as captivating as her sultry contralto. Though unquestionably feminine and alluring, she describes hangings, hauntings, reckonings and shoot-outs in a way that makes you think she was not only there but participated. She's been compared to Janis Joplin and all four Highwaymen, (Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson). Her music  has received praise from a number of influential musicians, including Mike Seeger, the artist Bob Dylan credited with inspiring him to write his own songs. Liz primarily plays guitar but also picks up the banjo, mandolin and even tap dances from time to time

Liz collaborates with avant-garde and underground artists from around the world. Her performances and exhibits have included New York sensation Molly Crabapple, psychedelic art icon Bob Masse, Drive-by Truckers artist Wes Freed, Ron Thomas Smith, (Hasil Adkins' documentarian) and Jesco White, the controversial Dancing Outlaw.  As a curator, recent exhibits include Swimming Cities annual auction in NYC, (voted best parties in Manhattan by Time Out New York) and Art Defining Music at Nashville's Estel Gallery.

She blasted boundaries with Lonesome Liz's Mojo Sideshow, a collaborative multimedia production and seance play for thousands. In part a Southern Gothic interpretation of the Faust legend, the Sideshow featured fine art, dance, juggling, magic, burlesque beauties. The show's traditional Gospel score was performed by Lonesome Liz and fellow Outlaw Country artist J.B. Beverley to a trashcan, riot rifle and tap rhythm section. The show's lyric play, with influences ranging from Lorca to Tennessee Williams, was praised by Charles Plymell, the Beat poet who introduced Bob Dylan to Allen Ginsburg.

Since she first emerged on the Alt Country and fine art scenes as a music, arts and culture/spirituality writer Liz has been on a long strange trip, from Rt. 66 to the Country Music Highway. Along the way she's learned banjo from an Old Time picker in Appalachia who played with Bill Monroe before the Bluegrass boys, danced at a Santeria Tambor in East New York, braved a coastal hurricane to spend a weekend behind the scenes at the legendary Stone Pony and has otherwise fallen repeatedly into adventure.

The Great-Niece of Norvell Page, creator of the Pulp Fiction precursor to Spiderman, Liz's first novel, an adaptation of The Purple Scar, one of Pulp Fiction's most formidable heroes, will soon be published by Airship 27. She is also working on an adaptation of Beowulf. Other recent projects include penning a modern take on Sartre's No Exit and assistant directing Capitol Arts Youth Theater of Bowling Green's Odyssey.

Liz also hosts popular ghost and fortune telling events and is featured in the best-selling Everything Ghost Hunting Book.  She was Barnes and Noble.com's beginning tarot instructor for several years and was Astrology, Tarot and Mythology editor at BellaOnline.com and Suite101.com.  She reads tarot, dice and tea leaves, lucid dreams and holds the occasional seance.

She loves nothing more than being in a tent in Appalachia in the late spring, except maybe New York in June. She likes Gershwin tunes, German Expressionism, the circus, obscure songs from Tin Pan Alley, Vaudeville and Silent Films. Though Liz secretly reads F. Scott Fitzgerald and Edith Wharton voraciously, she'll put them down to sing for you, make you a piece of mojo art, write for you or tell your fortune if you cross her palm with silver.

Do you want to interview Lonesome Liz or feature her music on a radio show, blog, website or other media? elizabeth.bissette@gmail.com

Fine Art

Wedding Broom, special project for Eerie Von and Kara Clark

Lonesome Liz's Mojo Sideshow, Gallery 5, Richmond, Va
Featuring art by Lonesome Liz, Wes Freed, Molly Crabapple, Katelan Foisy and Others. Music by Lonesome Liz and J.B. Beverley

Solo exhibition, The Triple, Richmond, Va

Solo exhibition, The Camel, Richmond, Va

Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School re-launch and exhibit featuring art by   Lonesome Liz, Wes Freed, Molly Crabapple, Katelan Foisy and Others

Music

Performances Include:
 
Fine Art Magazine's John Lennon Tribute, Lake Placid, Ny, (upcoming)
 
Otto's Shrunken Head, NYC, (upcoming)
 
World Bar, Trump World Tower, NYC
 
Gallery 5, Richmond, Va with Wes Freed, J.B. Beverley and others
 
The Triple, Richmond, Va, with the Goddamn Gallows
 
The Playing Field, Richmond, Va with Wes Freed's Magnificent Bastards and Pat McDonald/Purgatory Hill
 
Poe's Pub, Richmond, Va
 
Wick's, Louisville, Ky
 
The Rudyard Kipling, Louisville, Ky
 
Greener Groundz, Bowling Green, Ky
 
WKU Libraries Noon Concert Series, Bowling Green, Ky
 
Cheney's Dairy Barn with Kara Clark and others, Bowling Green, Ky
 

Theater and Arts Education

Arts Education


Liz incorporated what she learned in music and cultural field work in Appalachia into music and playwriting classes in Richmond City Schools. She modeled her classes on a program implemented in the New Jersey schools by Mike Seeger that launched the enduring Foxfire books. As an advisory board member and instructor, she worked to bring students together with professional artists in performances as well as in the classroom. 

Classes, Productions and Committees

Private voice and guitar instruction, Bowling Green, Ky

Stage Manager, Number the Stars, Youth Theater, Bowling Green, Ky

Assistant Director, The Oddyssey, Capitol Arts Youth Theater, Bowling Green, Ky

Advisory Board Member,  Neighborhood School for the Arts, Richmond, Va

Theater and Creative Writing Instructor, after school and summer programs, ages 3-15,  Neighborhood School for the Arts

Private vocal & guitar instruction, Neighborhood School for the Arts
Musical Theater, Pre-School, Child Craft, Richmond, Va


Stage Movement, Pre-School, Child Craft

Guitar and Voice instruction, ages 6-adult, White Hawk Cafe, Goochland, Va

Appalachian Railroad History and Songs, (all ages), Science Museum of Virginia

Dialects for Theater, (ages 11-18),  HATT Theater, Richmond, Va 

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Hire Me


I’d love to work with you!

Note: I do not do unpaid or spec writing, performances or fortune-telling/seances.  If I did I'd be in danger of becoming a ghost myself.
You can email me at elizabeth.bissette@gmail.com or contact me on Twitter, @lonesomeliz.

Music: I perform as a solo singer/songwriter and sometimes with other musicians. Primarily an Alt Country artist, I also sing Jazz, Blues and Rock tunes. Bands I've opened for include Wes Freed's Magnificent Bastards and Timbuk 3's Pat MacDonald. Whether you're a band or a venue, I'd love to hear from you. 
Writing: With over a decade of experience, I've written everything from technical reports and travel guides to websites and speeches. A manuscript editor and proposal writer for several years, I can help you get your fiction or non-fiction manuscript and queries submission-ready. I can also edit and create engaging content for your website and help you develop your blog. E-mail me to discuss fees. Depending on the project, I can work with your budget.
Social Media: I've worked with a number of artists, businesses and publications to develop and maintain effective Social Media sites. I'd love to help you form and implement a strategy to better promote your business or creative project with Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and YouTube.  
Fine Art: Would you like a portrait as an Eyecon? A mojo bottle to bring luck, money or love? A set of feather bottle dolls to manifest your dreams? Multi-media sculptures and paintings custom-tailored to reflect your personality and wishes. I also paint guitars and instrument cases.  
Private Arts Education: I've taught theater, music and art to children and adults for nearly a decade. Monologue coaching, dialect coaching, drawing, beginning guitar and beginning and advanced voice lessons are offered privately.   

Fortune Telling, Seances and Lessons: Would you like a private reading or to have a fortune teller or seance at your next party? I am not only an accomplished medium but read tarot, tea leaves and dice with astonishing accuracy too. I also do dream interpretation and astrology charts. Lessons in beginning and advanced tarot, lucid dreaming and ghost hunting are available for individuals and groups.

Selected Interviews, Features and Publications.

Music


Mike Seeger Part One


Mike Seeger Part Two

Hasil Adkins, Cuzn Wildweed and Jesco White  


The Appalachian String Festival


Serching for Outlaws in Appalachia 


The Levon Helm Band's Brian Mitchell

Fine Art

The Art of Danzig's Eerie Von, coming soon to Fine Art Magazine!





Eastern Spirituality

Zen Quotes by Sun Sign one


Zen Quotes by Sun Sign two


The Eight Immortals in Chinese myth

A review of the Buddha Tarot

Meditation, an interview with author Stephanie Clement



Voodoo and Santeria

The Mythos of SanteriaOchani Lele


Divination in SanteriaOchani Lele


A review of the Haitian Vodou Handbook


A review of the Voodoo Tarot of New Orleans


Vodun, root of Voodoo, an introduction

Other

The Arcana Archive, tarot features


Interview with Don Miguel Ruiz 



Old West Outlaws



Publications include...

GratefulWeb.net


CountryMusicPride.com


Fine Art Magazine


Northern Virginia Magazine


Style Weekly


Richmond Times Dispatch


BriefMe.com


IgoUgo.com


Wcities.com


Smi Publishing, UK


The Everything Ghost Hunting Book


States News Service


BellaOnline.com


Suite101.com 

Video Archive

Original tunes


Wandering William


We Agree


The Only Me Worth Keepin' You Kept


You Drove Me to Drinkin, (Now Who's Gonna Drive Me Home)


The Morning After


The Wayfairing Stranger


Stagger Lee


John Hardy's Hangin' Ground


Cover tunes


Ain't No Grave, (Traditional)


God's Gonna Cut You Down, (Traditional)


St. James Infirmary, (Traditional)

Since I Fell, Bessie Smith


Bad Luck, (Social Distortion)


The Legend of D. Ray White, (Hank Williams, III)

Dukes of Hazzard Theme, (Waylon Jennings)

Lonesome, Onry and Mean, (Waylon Jennings)


What I Got, (Sublime)

Where I Lead Me, (Townes Van Zandt)

Walkin' to New Orleans, (Fats Domino)

Dancing in the Dark, (Bruce Springsteen)

Wade in the Water, (Traditional)

People Are Strange, (The Doors, with J.B. Beverley)

When She Begins, (Social Distortion, with J.B. Beverley and Cuzn Wildweed)