Lissie grew up in Rock Island, Illinois, near the Mississippi River, speaking her mind and writing songs from an early age. She released her fourth studio album Castles in March of 2018. The new music follows the release of her 2016 album My Wild West, which received widespread critical praise.
Written predominantly from Lissie’s new home in Northeast Iowa, Castles represents a spiritual as well as musical development. It’s a portrait of an artist who has always been on the move and is finally creating a sense of permanency—a chance to catch her breath and reflect. Of the record, Lissie says, “The album title Castles and the themes of the music itself suggest a striving and a heightened vantage point. I can stand above myself in the tower of my mind and reflect on my relationships and life. There is a maturity, experience and self awareness to these songs that feel like a natural progression within the context of my work to date.”
Lissie’s album My Wild West—the follow up to Catching a Tiger (2010) and Back to Forever (2013)—peaked at #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and Top 10 on the Independent Album chart. Lissie also appeared in the most recent season of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks with NME saying of her “intense” performance: “Closing the episode with the Stevie Nicks-esque ‘Wild West,’ Rock Island’s most exciting troubadour more than earned her Lynch-commissioned screen time.”
About Bran Dunne:
Hailing from the Red Roof Inn, the driver's seat of a Honda Fit, the floor of the airport, the guest bedroom at your Aunt's and Uncle's house, the back seat of a 15-passenger van, and New York City, Brian Dunne is the companion you never knew you wanted. Equipped with a Telecaster, a Gibson Hummingbird and 17 dollars, he is coming to your town to play his guts out and then stand by the merch table.
"Bug Fixes & Performance Improvements" was produced by Brian and released in May of 2017 independently. It garnered a great deal of attention based on the quality of the songwriting and musicality, landing Brian on NPR's Mountain Stage and 2017's Cayamo Cruise, and tours with The Secret Sisters, Will Hoge, Rosanne Cash, Robert Earl Keen, Joan Osborne, Delbert McClinton, and a myriad of other songwriting heavyweights. The first two singles were picked up by SiriusXM radio, and if you visited a shopping mall during the spring of 2017, you probably heard the lead single "Don't Give Up On Me" being interrupted by an announcement that someone had lost their kid at the food court.
Brian followed the release of "Bug Fixes" with a live EP of stripped-down versions of previously released songs entitled “The Timber House Sessions”. Brian has now returned to the studio to begin his next LP with producer Andrew Sarlo (Big Thief, Nick Hakim, Local Natives), which is slated for release in early 2019 and expected to be "totally the most amazing thing you've ever heard," according to Brian's mom.