Singer Lissie on mixing music and life on her farm

WITH two top 20 albums to her name, a major record deal and a house in California, Lissie appeared to have it made.

But the singer wasn’t happy, so she decided to make some huge changes in her life.

She upped sticks and did what very few stars have done before her – bought a farm in the middle of nowhere in the American midwest and decided to take control of her own career from that remote hub.

It was a massive risk, but Lissie has never been happier and her gamble paid off, because her latest album, My Wild West, debuted in the UK Top 20 just like her previous two records.

As she prepares to return to for another UK tour, Lissie – full name Elisabeth Corrin Maurus – looked back with iN10 on her early days in the business and revealed what prompted her to make those changes.

After moving from Illinois to LA when she was 21, she toiled to make a name for herself, producing and selling honey at farmers’ markets to supplement her music income. Her hard work paid off when she was signed to Columbia in 2008.

“I was given an advance and no longer needed to figure out how to scrape money together for bills,” she said.

“But it took two years to make the album, which was frustrating.

“Once I got going I really enjoyed the experience of having that power behind me and I wouldn’t be where I am today – being able to come to Europe and have lots of people attend the shows – without that support.

“But after that first album, everyone I was working with moved on and the new people started strategising too much. I didn’t want to be made into anything.

“I found myself going through the motions and didn’t fight it. I wanted to be dropped by that point – and then I got my wish!”

Lissie had already moved from LA to a little town in the Californian hills called Ojai, but decided a bigger move was needed.

“I’ve always been an outdoor, homebody type. I grew up across the river from Iowa and I always said I would buy a farm there some day.

“By 2015, I decided that since I wasn’t dating anyone and had no kids, and with it being so expensive for rent in California, it was as good a time as any, so I bought a farm.

“In a lot of ways it’s been about beating the system for me.

“I decided not to wait for change – I became the change.

“I’ve got my land, now what’s the next stage of my life?

“I was in Iowa and drove around with my acoustic guitar, with no intention of competing in the industry. I went back to what I started with – sharing my stories and singing.”

At first, Lissie thought she would record some demos and be picked up by another major label, but she realised that wasn’t what she wanted.

Instead, she became her own boss.

She still has a tour manager, publicist and lawyer, but now she pays them herself, from her tour earnings, and financed and made My Wild West before licensing it to labels around the world.

“I’m enjoying being independent and trying to be a businesswoman,” she said.

“I’m about to turn 34 and I have a farm, a fanbase and I decide when I want to tour or when to print more vinyl or make more merchandise.”

Lissie can remember her first time in Scotland, playing Oran Mor as a support act.

She befriended Glaswegian foursome Kassidy when they were on the road together.

“We would get drunk and they started talking in really thick accents and I had no idea what they were saying,” she laughed. “I used to get them to say, ‘Highland coo’ again and again!”

She also recorded a track with Robbie Williams and worked with Snow Patrol, but continues to keep her feet firmly grounded.

“I’ve got lucky,” she added. “I’m from the midwest and you can’t get too high on yourself here.

“People in the arts get elevated to a level of importance but just because you can sing doesn’t make you any more important.

“It’s all about being one of the many.”

Lissie, Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, Nov 29

Chuck Berry was the man who invented rock ‘n’ roll – and he’s still influencing music aged 90