{"id":11,"date":"2020-12-07T23:25:06","date_gmt":"2020-12-07T23:25:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.folkrockdiva.com\/2020\/our-work\/"},"modified":"2021-09-29T00:21:35","modified_gmt":"2021-09-29T00:21:35","slug":"bio","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.folkrockdiva.com\/2020\/bio\/","title":{"rendered":"BIO."},"content":{"rendered":"
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LILLI LEWIS IS:<\/h4>\n

1. A SQUISHY HUMANIST WHO LOVES PIANOS.
\n2. A CREATOR OF #ORANGEMUSIC–DISTANT, MORE SOBER COUSIN OF THE BLUES.
\n3. SINGER OF SONGS “FOR THE PEOPLE” WHO SOMETIMES LIKES TO GET LOUD ABOUT IT.
\n4. NEW ORLEANS’ SINGER\/COMPOSER OF RARE GRACE AND GRIT.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cAmong many highlights was New Orleanian singer-pianist Lewis\u2019s almost hymn-like reading of Radiohead\u2019s \u201cCreep\u201d for anyone who\u2019s ever felt like they didn\u2019t belong. But at least for the night, in that moment, everyone did.\u201d
\n– Rolling Stone, AmericanaFest 2021: Best Things We Saw<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/h5>\n

 <\/p>\n

New Orleans Folk Rock Diva Lilli Lewis<\/strong> is releasing Americana<\/strong><\/em>, her third full album for Louisiana Red Hot Records. The album was co-produced by Lewis and iconic indie producer Mark Bingham<\/strong> (Peter Stampfel, Hal Wilner, Allen Ginsberg\u2026). Notable guest artists include cellist Rick Nelson<\/strong> (Afghan Whigs, Polyphonic Spree), folk favorite Gina Forsyth<\/strong>, and Seattle Blues Legend Lady A<\/strong>. The album will be released on CD and across all digital platforms on October 29th.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the perils of five pandemic-era hurricanes, Americana was recorded across more than twice as many spaces, with the bulk of the load performed in New Orleans at Marigny Studios (recorded by Rick Nelson), and at Bingham\u2019s own Nina Highway in Henderson, Louisiana. After performing for a full house at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation\u2019s last show before lockdown, Lewis conceived of her record amidst quarantine conditions that were presenting an indefinite pause in an otherwise booked-out performance year. Without the pressure of upbeat, danceable shows on the agenda, Lewis turned to an abandoned bag of narrative songs that she felt were just a bit too delicate for the New Orleans club scene.<\/p>\n

The record returned Lewis to her folk and roots origins, and reflects two sides of her America, that of her father\u2019s church, and that of the \u201cwhite-gaze\u201d world that existed beyond those walls. Reuniting Country with its gospel and blues roots, the record\u2019s Country Soul excursion begins with the Texas-tinged, Eliza Gilkeson inspired \u201cCopper John,\u201d but quickly shifts into the Rufus-esque Country-funk anthem \u201cWrecking Ball.\u201d If the heart of the record is found in its benediction \u201cMy American Heart<\/strong>,\u201d a song Mandy Patinkin referred to as \u201clike listening to light,\u201d the soul of the collection may be \u201cA Healing Inside<\/strong>,\u201d an a cappella, grounded declaration that features Lady A<\/strong>, the Seattle based Blues legend whose name has been famously usurped by the Nashville band in response to the Black Lives Matter movement.<\/p>\n

Of the collection Lewis says \u201cthese stories were meant to reflect the humanity of the forgotten, because in times like these, it feels like dignity can seem really hard to come by.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trained as an opera singer and classical pianist, singer-songwriter Lewis<\/strong> has been a composer, producer and performing artist for over two decades. She released her first album The Coming of John<\/strong><\/em> in 2003, and has been known as the Folk Rock Diva since performing in the Folk Rock band The Shiz<\/strong>, which she founded with her wife Liz Hogan in 2009.<\/p>\n

Lewis has issued three critically acclaimed releases on Louisiana Red Hot Records where she serves as VP and the Head of A&R: The 2018 solo piano album The Henderson Sessions<\/strong><\/em>, 2019\u2019s We Belong<\/strong><\/em> by the Lilli Lewis Project<\/strong>, and the 2020 My American Heart Red + Blue EP<\/strong><\/em>, which found one reviewer comparing Lewis to opera singer Jessye Norman, if she had been part of the folk-rock genre. In 2020, Lewis also released a single she co-wrote, co-produced and performed \u2014 the \u201cMask Up\u201d anthem for a public health campaign from Louisiana Red Hot Records and WHIV-FM featuring New Orleans favorites Kirk Joseph, Glen David Andrews and Erica Falls.<\/p>\n

Since the shutdown, Lewis has performed a powerful set for the Kennedy Center<\/strong>\u2019s Arts Across America virtual series, played “My American Heart” for a streaming voters’ rights benefit (where Patinkin became a fan), and performed for WWOZ-FM’s Piano Night virtual benefit. She also was selected to be a Folk Alliance International delegate for Global Music Match, an online collaboration showcasing 78 artists from 17 countries.<\/p>\n

Lewis has spent the better part of her 20 year career carving out space for herself in the music industry as an African-American queer woman of size. The Athens, Georgia native has recently been lending her voice to the industry\u2019s need to diversify its precepts by facilitating Folk Alliance International\u2019s \u201cCommitting to Conversation\u201d<\/strong> initiative to develop safe space for diversity within the Folk community, and by frequently serving as a panelist to discuss challenges and solutions for the industry\u2019s stated interest in diversity, equity and inclusion.<\/p>\n

Lewis has gone beyond discussion by spearheading the \u201cCountry Soul Phone Book<\/strong>,” a directory (currently in beta) built in response to media outlets who reached out and asked for a central location to find BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and disabled artists who are typically underserved in Folk, Americana, Country, and adjacent genres. Lewis is also co-producing an inaugural \u201cBlack Opry Fest<\/strong>\u201d that centers the contributions and artistry of African American artists in these genres, as part of an ongoing effort to develop a sustainable ecosystem for artists who often feel isolated and marginalized. The virtual festival and conference is scheduled to occur October 28-31.<\/p>\n

Also an active composer, Lewis was recently commissioned by Loyola University\u2019s Opera Workshop to contribute 12 original compositions for a cycle of micro-arias entitled \u201cCura Personalis\u201d including this work for Fats Domino\u2019s talented young grandson, award-winning tenor Antonio Domino:<\/p>\n

When Lewis featured in the Americana Music Association\u2019s virtual \u201cBlack Equity in Americana: A Conversation\u201d live-stream, she stated \u201cBlack artists and black art have been at the heart of Americana since its inception, and now we\u2019re in a position to address what this means from a relatively new point of view. It\u2019s as if we\u2019re being invited to celebrate the reality of the genre and its participants in a more overt and direct way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Americana <\/i><\/b>does just that.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cLilli Lewis is one of the best for pure emotional impact and sincerity in her artistry. If you haven’t heard her then do yourself a favor and become enthralled.\u201d<\/em> – Demian Roberts, photographer<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LILLI LEWIS IS: 1. A SQUISHY HUMANIST WHO LOVES PIANOS. 2. A CREATOR OF #ORANGEMUSIC–DISTANT, MORE SOBER COUSIN OF THE BLUES. 3. SINGER OF SONGS “FOR THE PEOPLE” WHO SOMETIMES LIKES TO GET LOUD ABOUT IT. 4. NEW ORLEANS’ SINGER\/COMPOSER OF RARE GRACE AND GRIT. \u201cAmong many highlights was New Orleanian singer-pianist Lewis\u2019s almost hymn-like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"index","bgseo_robots_follow":"follow","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-11","page","type-page","status-publish"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.folkrockdiva.com\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.folkrockdiva.com\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.folkrockdiva.com\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.folkrockdiva.com\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.folkrockdiva.com\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.folkrockdiva.com\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4258,"href":"https:\/\/www.folkrockdiva.com\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11\/revisions\/4258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.folkrockdiva.com\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}