Catching Up With Lizzie
It's been a while since we last chatted with Lizzie about her big move. After stalking her social media over the past year, it's clear that she's sticking to her words and blazing her own path - one that I'm excited to share in my recent interview with her.
EDITION I Cont.
Are you still living in Plympton, MA?
No. I am not. It’s almost crazy how much has changed for me, yet again, but you can’t control what life hands ya!
Any new activities or hobbies?
So many new activities. After I left Plympton I moved back to Rosendale, NY with my parents. Rosendale is a little town outside Woodstock, NY. It was February and it was cold and I was really quite unhappy. Life in Plympton hadn’t worked out the way I had hoped (me and the beau broke up, well to be frank, he broke up with me). I thought about staying but a lot of what was important to me there involved him so I cut my losses. FIRST LESSON I learned in Plympton. You have to keep what is important to you as an individual and grow your passion so if you get DUMPED (hopefully never again) you are able to keep living the life you love with or without the wrong or right person.
So when I moved to Rosendale I got focused on music again. Really, the music industry, and my writing. I asked myself how can I get into this Ivory Palace that no one is offering me the keys to. How can I get in?
I had a chance encounter with someone who talked to me about my ability to write and my love of music. He told me about writing for music blogs and publications and how he was able to grow a portfolio doing it. I listened to him and got my first preview published a couple weeks after meeting him. (Shout out to BULLET MUSIC)
Have you met any cool new people?
This is the fun part! The writing for me has become my number one passion. Through it so many doors have opened and it’s unbelievable how many people I have had the pleasure of meeting. Highlight moment was meeting Warren Haynes this past summer. It was brief but it was a “this is my life?” moment.
[Editorial Side Bar: Who's Warren Haynes? You're probably more familiar than you think. Ever heard of the Allman Brothers?]
More than meeting celebrity musicians though I have had the opportunity to meet really important people in the industry. The guys/girls who make the wheels go round. Their advice has been invaluable. I have spoken to a lot of people also. My interview with Marco Benevento was really special for me because he’s a hometown hero (he lives in Saugerties, NY) and I just love his whole deal. I recently spoke to Paul Barrere the guitarist for Little Feat a legend in his own right and Scott Metzger (Wolf!) too. These musicians I interview don’t realize how momentous it is for me to get to share their stories. It truly is a dream.
So it's been a year now, how have people's perceptions of your move changed? Sometime forging your own path can be met with resistance.
It is almost annoying to people how I look at things but every decision is a story. I look at my move to Plympton as a chapter in what has now become the big book of my life. It’s a story with a lot of good memories and some not so good memories. I miss the beach. There is no beach in the Hudson Valley. People definitely JUDGED ME. I could feel the “what it didn’t work out there?” from miles away BUT the truth is It didn’t work out there! That is just all there is to it.
Have you discovered any new insights about yourself? Or maybe even some new questions about life you're meditating on?
I keep amazing myself with my ability to get over things. I have seen countless people really stop in their tracks, over breakups and set backs but I just keep truckin. It was not pretty when I left Duxbury/Plympton but it was another story to add to the book.
I also realize that believing in yourself is everything. It sounds so cliché it almost makes you cringe but if you don’t believe in you their ain’t a soul in this world that can help you with that.
One thing I think a lot about if I will get tired. Like actually physically tired. I spend a lot of time traveling to see music and that takes away from my personal relationships. The people who get me really understand it and the people who don’t I really can’t spend time on.
Last time you said these three words described you: Impulsive, In-Tune and Free. Do they still apply? Any you would add or subtract?
Those three still apply and probably even more so now. We can add focused to the list.
How's that book coming along (Waking Up in Plimpton)?
I am still working on it but we might have to rename it “Getting Dumped in Plympton”. I am just kidding. I don’t know when or if it’ll ever be anything but I work on it all the time.
Looking ahead, what goals do you have? Have they changed since moving?
If Rolling Stone Magazine calls I am their girl. My goal is to make a solid career out of writing and marketing in the music industry. I also want to make sure my life is always filled with music and this much passion.
Final Thoughts: Dear Lizzie, you're definitely following your HAPPY GIRLS ARE PRETTY GIRLS motto and I love it so much I'm going to use it myself. So glad you're continuing to be yourself and forge your own path, it's incredibly courageous. You're an inspiration to us all. Hey Rolling Stone give holler at your girl Lizze! xoxo Jules.
PS - You can check out Lizzie's work for Bullet Music here. Her interviews are insightful and clearly from a woman with sincere passion about her subject matter.