Lissie today previews ‘Watch Over Me’ by sharing the previously unreleased song ‘Hey Boy’, which was written several years before the release of ‘Catching A Tiger’. The song is a raw and rootsy folk-rocker in which Lissie’s bluesy vocals fire a scathing criticism at the sexism and misogyny that she faced as a young female artist who was trying to make her mark on the music scene. Listen HERE.
Lissie reflects:
“I am so glad to be sharing ‘Hey Boy’, albeit nearly 18 years after it was written! When I was in college, I was out seeing live music almost every night. I would play open mics and eventually get to open up for touring acts that passed through town. There was a crew of musician guys who always seemed to mock me and my lyrics, trashed my posters around town and who insinuated that the only reason I was getting opportunities was because I was a silly young woman who was a flirt. That strangely felt like a normal thing to have to deal with then, so I just shrugged it off and kept going.
I wanted to be one of the guys, to be welcome in the music scene. Fighting for my right to exist and having to gracefully deal with the fallout of rejecting mens’ advances and misconceptions felt like a way of life, something to be accepted and navigated. It seems like this is now changing for the better.”
‘Hey Boy’ is the first song to be taken from ‘Watch Over Me (Early Works 2002-2009)’. A collection of nine unheard compositions which she wrote as she cultivated her talents being signing a major, the album will be released on July 23rd via Cooking Vinyl and is available to pre-order / pre-save here.
‘Catching A Tiger (Anniversary Edition)’ is also available to pre-order / pre-save here ahead of its June 25th release via The Orchard. It includes five previously unreleased tracks recorded during the original ‘Catching A Tiger’ sessions in 2009 with producer Jacquire King (Tom Waits, Modest Mouse) and Bill Reynolds (Band of Horses), including the recently unveiled ‘It’s Not Me’. The project has been supported with coverage from The Line of Best Fit, PAPER, Rolling Stone and more.
