I have to be honest and admit that I’ve been following Liza Anne’s journey for quite some time. I met her years ago when she had just decided to make the move to Nashville for school as an aspiring singer-songwriter, and I was immediately drawn to her incontestable ability to connect with people through her words. I remember listening to her first album The Colder Months, specifically her single “Watering Can”, and thinking this girl’s got something. She has always been vehemently magnetic. And, although quite a few things have changed — an appearance on Conan and an opening slot for Kacey Musgraves and Ray LaMontagne, to name a few — the fiercely talented artist who feels bigger than life feelings and so poetically carries them into each of her songs to encourage conversation about the real stuff (anxiety, sexuality, love, loss, and everything in between) remains. This week all eyes are on 20-something, Nashville local, Liza Anne. Let’s begin.
Instagram handle: @lizaannemusic
Location: Nashville, Tennessee.
Originally from: Saint Simons Island, Georgia.
Occupation: Musician / Artist
Tell us a bit about yourself: “Hi Bleu! My name is Liza. I moved to Nashville about seven years ago from a tiny island called Saint Simons Island off the coast of Georgia. I went to school for a moment and then started touring full-time around summer of 2014. I haven’t really stopped since then. I’ve gone through a lot of cycles in the last four years — cycles of health and unhealth, love and losing it, friends and new friends, hurting and being hurt, religion and no religion — the dualities are endless. But, I think even more than cycles, I’ve just been in intense periods of growth. I am not good at being still and sometimes that makes me tired and other times it is a really helpful force into never being stagnant or getting stuck in one thing for too long. I’m getting better at learning to rest and have days off. I really do feel, in the last year especially, that I’ve reached some sort of deeper understanding of myself — my rituals, my routines, my mind, my emotions, my body, my sexuality, my spirituality — that couldn’t have happened unless I went through all those dips and peaks.”
Favorite thing about living in Nashville? “My friends and the tiny moments of ritual that make it feel like I have something to come home to when I’m away. As much as it changes, it’s still small. And, there are points of reference that make me feel a little less spread all over when I come home from a tour.”
What’s your approach to style? “Comfort, ease, and what I can imagine Winona [Ryder] once wore on a day where she was feeling extra free.”
Signature look / everyday uniform? “It changes every month or so. Currently, it’s this light yellow oversized linen blazer, belted baggy denim and a vintage Valentino white top with these Acne tennis shoes I got for very cheap.”
What’s the story behind the red beret you wear on stage? “I’m not sure if there’s a story. I got it when I was in Paris around the time of making Fine, but Dying. Something about it felt right, and I ended up wearing it for almost two years — on Conan, on tour in Europe, in music videos, every night on stage. It was a little stamp of my own personal power that made me feel really capable. I feel like clothes should do that. I’ve yet to figure out what the next iteration is, but I’m excited.”
Favorite designers? “Tibi, Colina Strada, and Kara.”
Shop Liza's Style
The Rey Linen Blazer
$875, Arjé
Baggy Oversized Jeans
$168, Agolde
Vintage Valentino Linen Blouse
$183, Vestaire Collective
Steffey Leather Sneakers
$380, Acne Studios
Transparent Design Dress
$501, Collina Strada
Recycled Tweed Long Blazer
$795, Tibi
Chainmail Crossbody Bag
$295, Kara
Luna Cropped T-Shirt
$150, Sandy Liang
Rowan Boots
$1,150, Tibi
Dragonberry Tie-Dye T-Shirt
$126, Collina Strada
Pinch Shoulder Bag
$371, Kara
Favorite local shops in Nashville? “Anaconda, Wilder, Pre to Post Modern, Lemon Laine, and Pangea, but they closed recently which is a bummer and a note of how much Nashville is getting unnecessary face-lifts left and right.”
Fave online shop? “I don’t online shop much, but I really love DePop and Heroine.”
Favorite small brands discovered on IG? “Kara, Sandy Liang, Collina Strada.”
Favorite shops (in-store or online) to shop for home decor? “Pre to Post Modern, Wilder, Ikea, and honestly, I’ve been finding so many amazing mid-century pieces on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist.”
What’s on your current want list? “Gucci glasses with yellow lenses, Article Couch, Mu-Tron Bi-Phase, and a week at Onsite, this incredible place that is a years worth of intensive therapy for one week .”
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Cult beauty product? “I’m a huge fan of Glossier products, but my go-to everyday is a tinted moisturizer and rose water. I keep both in my purse all the time.”
Favorite local boozy drink of choice? “Toy Soldier at Bastion.”
Favorite local cafe or restaurant and menu item of choice. “Easiest thing I’ll ever answer. The savory oats at Cafe Roze. I mean, literally every taste you didn’t know you needed in starting your day. Mushrooms and oats and coconut milk and a perfectly poached egg with mustard greens. I am nearly in my car en route just typing this. It’s perfect. I add bacon because my blood sugar deserves it.”
Go-to dinner party recipe? “I love to bake. Gluten-free / dairy-free desserts are my specialty.”
What’s always in your fridge? “Lots and lots and lots of Bubly sparkling water.”
Fave on-the-go snack? “This is too much, but these organic versions of Slim Jims. Don’t drag me.”
Tell us about what you do! “I’m an artist. I guess performing artist is a better term. I write songs, make records, tour the records, write more songs, play more shows, make more records. It’s a cycle I’d be happy to be spiraling in for a very long time, each phase having its own benefit of the mind and body and emotions.”
You recently opened for Kacey Musgraves! What was that experience like and how did you prepare? “It felt really electric the entire time. She’s an angel — on and off stage. Her world spins in this really self-sustaining and inviting way. Everyone on her crew and in her band are extensions of that magic energy. I felt really inspired because in a smaller way, that’s what I feel I have with my band. It felt really honoring to be invited into that environment.”
Any advice to other singer-songwriters looking to break into music? “Look to other people for bravery, sure. But, look inside yourself for everything else. The message, the mood, the feeling, the means of getting it all out — that’s you.”
Current album / song you’re listening to? “SUMMER GIRL BY HAIM SUMMER GIRL BY HAIM SUMMER GIRL BY HAIM — oops! It’s the only song I think exists right now. Oh, also everything Lizzo. Sometimes when I feel depressed, I put her live videos on and the moments in between songs where she tells you to love yourself feel more like church to me than any god I ever believed in before.”
Currently reading? “Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh.”
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Favorite apps you use on the reg and how they help you? “Co-Star and The Pattern. Both are a daily mirror into myself based on the time, place, and month / day / year I was born.”
Favorite Netflix / TV series at the moment? “Fleabag is it.”
What’s your sign? “Aquarius sun, Scorpio moon, and Libra rising. Hello, I’m a mess. But I’m really entertaining.”
What inspires you each day? “Josh, my boyfriend (eye roll whatever I would have eye rolled to like a year ago). But, genuinely I live with a very intuitive, caring, strong, zen, and creative person who has no ceilings, a posture towards emotional health, and a way of calming me down from any mania I’m swallowed in moment to moment. He’s a very balanced person, always easing the gap between extremes and challenging me by seeing my highest self and being like, ‘Yo, you can be her everyday, so do.'”
What’s a recent movement (political, economic, social) that you think everyone should be supporting and why? “I don’t know where to begin, I feel like I could make a list of hundreds of things. There are so many incredible movements happening as a result of the terrible mess we are in right now — globally and in America specifically. I think being involved and in-the-know of anything that gives light to situations outside of your own. We’re all very good at curating our own comfort, but look to the comfort of others. If someone is in pain, you’re in pain. We’re all on this thing at the same time for a reason, so look to the person next to you and wonder about what they might need. That’s what I’m drawn to politically, economically, and socially — wondering about realities outside of my own and doing everything in my power and life privilege to empowering that.”
What’s your morning routine? “When I’m doing it: waking up, stretching, cooking, coffee, and a lot of writing and reading books and listening to music that makes me happy. A really long walk. And, trying not to do any sort of ‘work’ thing before, like, noon.”
Any grounding practices or rituals you have set in place? “I like to sort of orient my life and rituals around the phases of the moon. Taking the different phases as different moments throughout the month to ground, look into myself, and assess what is around and inside of me. I have different rituals for full and new moons. But, just enjoy the feeling of small ‘new years’, as I work best on short-term goals. So, the phases of the moon are very easy to make shifts and immediately look back to the last phase and see how far I’ve come.”
Guilty pleasure / necessary indulgence? “Sex and the City binges and massages.”
Night in or night out? How do you spend it? “Night in! Ideally, doing nothing. Maybe playing music. Maybe calling my sister. Maybe sleeping. Maybe trying on all my clothes and planning outfits (a practice that has been with me since 2003, thank you very much). Smoking weed and watching early 2000s Disney Channel original movies. I would HIGHLY recommend Princess Diaries in that context. ”
Any cool spots in Nashville worth mentioning for out of towners to check out? “Burger Up for food, Bastion for drinks, and Flamingo for dancing if it’s not too crowded.”
You have a free day all to yourself. What do you do with it? “Rest, but more realistically, catch up on things. Make lists of all the dreams I can’t wait to live. I don’t really know how to slow down.”
What’s on the horizon for you? “A new record, a lot of shows in the fall, and finishing my first book of poetry and doing something about it.”
