Album Notes

On her self-produced second record, Gypsy Heart, Lizzy Rain has combined her training as a classical pianist and her love of rock and roll to form her own unique sound, which is best described as Indie Orchestral Rock. Surrounding herself with some of the finest musicians Minneapolis has to offer, the songs on Gypsy Heart feature her elegant, melodic piano and unique vocal style backed by veteran guitar players Mark Knoll and Kenny Wilson, classically trained violinist Laurie Melting, and Chicago-like horn section of Zack Lozier on trumpet and Gus Sandberg on sax, flute and piccolo. Singer Cate Fierro provides a second female voice throughout the record, and bassist Nick Salisbury and drummer/percussionist Tim Zhorne round out the group as the tight, fluid rhythm section. Lizzy returned to Winterland Studios to record Gypsy Heart, with Todd Fitgerald and Joe Salgado engineering and Brian Johnson mixing. Regarding Winterland Studios and her relationship with Fitzgerald and Johnson, she says "I found a great thing in Todd and Brian while recording the first record. We forged a relationship based on mutual respect, trust and integrity. I don't forget things like that. I will absolutely go back and record the third album with them."
As a writer, she is both fearless and vulnerable. Clearly outspoken and wild at heart, Lizzy Rain wears her maturity on her sleeve like a celebratory banner and invites us to do the same. She writes about her life experiences and observations in a way that is both matter-of-fact and profound. Drawing the listener in with an almost mystical grasp of the human condition, she puts into words what most people would if they could; stories of hope and acceptance, loneliness and despair, romantic fantasies gone awry, courage prevailing over fear of the road not taken. Perhaps her most poignant songs are those written about her deep and abiding love for her child, combined with fear for that child in an increasingly violent society, and of what we are leaving that child and the next generation if we do not take environmental responsibility.
When Andrew Volna, owner of Noiseland Industries in Minneapolis, (manufacturer of both her records) told Lizzy Rain that releasing two records in the span of 18 months was impressive, her response was simple and plaintive, "I was delayed. I have no time to waste."