Label Makers - A Beautiful Mystery - by Liz Hill
STRUT
October 6th, 2006When Atlantic Records signed Liz Larin's band, Rebel Heels, in the late 1980's and released her solo debut in 1994, it seemed Larin's dream of playing music for a living was coming true. Then reality set in.
"It wasn't about listening to the music," Larin says. "It was all about what publicity folks wanted Larin, whose songs are tough, independent pop-rock anthems, to sex up her image.
But Larin, a songwriter from age 10 and self-taught piano and guitar player, wouldn't budge. "By continually pushing the idea that the only a woman can provide for herself if to exploit her beautiful body, we are not giving your women enough good options," she says. Larin returned to her hometown in 1999 to release music on her own label, Bona Dea Music.
Once touring nationally, Larin is now content collaborating with friends, writing music for commercials and playing local shows, including a regular Wednesday night gig at Goodnite Gracie in Royal Oak. "I have to (play live)," she says. "When I don't do it, I feel like I'm dying."
Larin keeps busy by writing songs every day - my favorite is "Furthest Distant Orbiting Satellite," the sweet love letter to her father, off her latest CD, Wake Up, Start Dreaming - and doing research for a book on how music benefits health. Larin knows firsthand the magical experience of making and listening to music. "It's a beautiful mystery to me," she says, "and I just turn myself over to it when I perform."
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