Lisa Marie Ellingsen Takes Over the Parlor Room, and Talks About Upcoming Record

You have an album coming out this month "Nola to Noho." What can you tell us about the new release? What fueled the inspiration?

Nola to Noho is a collection of songs that were written while living in New Orleans (Nola) and Northampton, MA (Noho). Locals call New Orleans Nola and locals call Northampton Noho. So I thought it was a cool play on words and a way to convey that this is a collection of songs written from two different geographic standpoints and at two different times in my life. That being said, I feel that there is a lot of continuity to these songs as far as the nature of my songwriting is concerned. The inspiration for this release is the songs themselves. I really love these songs and wanted them to have a permanent home. I felt that the songs deserved that.

Was there any specific storyline you had for the record when writing?

I generally write about what is going on in my life at the time. Songwriting is very cathartic for me. I’ve tried to branch out as a songwriter from just my own issues to story songs or what is going on around me.

When writing music, what are your influences? How long does it typically take you to write a song? Do you keep coming back to the piece and revising?

Some songs just seem to drop out of the sky. Some songs can be written is a few hours or days. Others take months or years of editing. I still have pieces of songs that are great from years ago that I hope I can find a way to finish someday. My songwriting influences are from artists that I feel are honest and unique. I can’t sing a song that feels disingenuous to me. I also try not to sound like everyone else at the time because eventually that fad will go by the wayside. I try to write songs that people could love today and 50 years from now.

What are your influences musically and lyrically?

Even though this record is all instrumental, for your prior release, where do the lyrics draw from. This record is not all instrumental, there is only one instrumental on the record, called Akumal. So let’s clear that up right away! Musically my influences are anything with great guitar. I grew up listening to alternative rock and new wave. As I studied the guitar I grew to love folk, blues, country, and bluegrass as well. Those uniquely American forms of music really add a lot of personality and depth to music and I try to reference those styles in my playing. Lyrically, Lucinda Williams, Kathleen Edwards, Dolly Parton, Morrissey, and Bono are big influences.

What was the recording process like for the new record? Did you self-produce? How long did it take to write and record the album as a whole?

The recording process was slow going as I was working a full time job while making the record. It worked out really well though as I had a few weeks in between sessions to come up with ideas. So between my initial meeting with the producer, Anand Nayak, and the mastering of the album it took a year. That was really ok though. I am an independent artist and I was working on my own timeline, not that of a record company. I actually wouldn’t trade the process for doing in two weeks or something. I got a lot out of having time to reflect on the ideas, mixes, etc…I hired a producer because I really wanted this to be a great record and thus far self-producing is not my strong suit. Working with Anand was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Will we see you touring in the near future?

Certainly I will tour regionally in the northeast. I will venture out farther if it makes sense for me to do so.

What do you hope to accomplish in 2017 with the new record and beyond?

I hope for people to discover who I am and grow my fan base. My first goal was to make a great record for these songs and for myself. I have met that goal and now I want to.

Lisa Marie Ellingsen Plays at The Parlor Room at Northampton, MA on Friday, June 2 at 7:30pm