ACL Artist Profile: Lissie

Elisabeth Maurus has quietly been establishing herself as a rising alt-country singer-songwriter to be be reckoned with for the better part of the last year as Lissie. Bolstered by her strong, throwback voice and her talents on the guitar, she has garnered comparisons to Stevie Nicks, Neko Case and early Sheryl Crow. Her first EP, last year's Why You Runnin' was herald as one of "The Eight Most Auspicious Musical Debuts of 2009" by Paste Magazine, and All Music Guide called it "one of 2009's finest folk releases." The five song set even managed to crack the top 10 on Billboard's folk charts. However, much of Lissie's success has been overseas, where she is signed to Columbia UK. As such, she has primarily focused the publicity for her proper debut, Catching A Tiger, in Europe, where in the month and a half since it's release has peaked at #22 on the British charts and #17 in Norway. While the album doesn't hit the US until August 17, success should find Lissie, if given the right opportunity, based on her talents and her knack for writing catchy, heartfelt slices of Americana. --Ryan Lester

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