Success Surprises Detroit’s Liz Larin
TOLEDO BLADE
June 27th, 2003TOLEDO BLADE ARTICLE:
Music, Theater & Dance | Article published Friday, June 27, 2003
Success surprises Detroit’s Liz Larin
Singer-songwriter Liz Larin makes her Toledo debut at Mickey Finn’s Pub tomorrow.
By DAVID YONKE
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Success surprises Detroit’s Liz Larin --
When it comes to rock and roll, the Motor City has plenty of heavy hitters, from Eminem and Kid Rock to Bob Seger and the White Stripes. But when it came time to hand out this year’s Detroit Music Awards, the big winner was a relative rookie, singer-songwriter-guitarist Liz Larin.
Larin, who will make her Toledo debut tomorrow night at Mickey Finn’s Pub, said she was as surprised as anyone when she took home six trophies: Outstanding Rock/Pop Recording, Rock/Pop Vocalist, Pop Artist, Rock/Pop Instrumentalist, Acoustic/Folk Vocalist, and Acoustic/Folk Songwriter.
"When I first read that I had 10 nominations, I thought it was a typo. I thought they got it mixed up," Larin said in a recent telephone interview. Then, when she kept getting called to the stage at the April awards show, "I didn’t expect it, didn’t see it coming. The whole night, I kept saying ‘Thanks, this is like an early birthday and Christmas all rolled into one.’"
The honors were for Larin’s CD titled "The Story of O-Miz," released in November on her own Bona Dea Music label. Built on a solid blues foundation, her music rocks with a mix of jangly guitars and smoldering sensuality.
Larin’s lyrics offer semi-autobiographical tales of love won and lost, with enough melody, mystery, and intensity to keep listeners hanging on her every breath. Although comparisons to other artists can be unfair, Larin has the same kind of gritty rock artistry that brought stardom to Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morissette, and Melissa Etheridge.
The disc’s title character ,"O-Miz," is basically an alter-ego, Larin said, with the disc being a musical "docudrama" about her life, taking lots of literary license.
"I have to sort of step away from myself and sort of see what I have," she said. "So in my head, I create characters and write short stories and explore things that allow me a chance to look at other personalities."
It’s a balancing act, being honest without getting too personal. The ambiguity lets listeners read between the lines and connect the dots that lead from "O-Miz" to their own lives.
"I know there are writers who just write, ‘I was driving down the road, thinking about you, girl,’" Larin said. "They’re just writing about their lives and what they see and do. I like to write about all kinds of crazy things, things I’ve seen and things I haven’t seen."
Larin, who grew up in the Detroit area, said she knew she wanted to be a musician by age 10, when she started writing songs and teaching herself to play guitar. It wasn’t just a phase, her parents found out the hard way. They tried to steer her away from rock and roll, but young Liz was so determined that she moved out of the house at 16.
"I come from a really nice family and when I look back at it, I think, ‘Oh, my poor parents!’ They probably knew more about what I was getting into than I did," Larin said. "But I was absolutely going to do it. So, for the peace of everybody, it was best that I move on."
She stayed alive by teaching guitar after school and playing gigs at night, she said.
Eventually, Larin formed a Detroit rock trio called Rebel Heels and was signed by Atlantic Records. The three musicians moved to England to get things started, but the band didn’t last.
"Things happened, there were a lot of silly pressures, and the band sort of imploded on itself," Larin said.
Atlantic asked her to stay on as a solo artist, and Larin moved to Los Angeles and recorded one solo disc for the label, "Test Your Faith."
She moved back home to Detroit in late 1998 and began working on her music and running her own label without any pressures, expectations, or interference from record executives.
"I was really happy to come back and regain what was left of my sanity," Larin said.
"The people in the Midwest are real. Hollywood is a place where people come to make money real quick and then get out. It’s not about music or people or caring. ... I finally realized: ‘Don’t be dumb. Go home!’"
Liz Larin performs tomorrow at Mickey Finn’s Pub, 602 Lagrange St. The Rick Nease Band opens at 9:30 p.m. Admission is $5. Information: 419-246-3466.
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