Stars of the AVT #3: Lizzie West
This post is one of a series profiling the hundreds of performers I’ve presented through my American Vaudeville Theatre in celebration of its 15th anniversary. Don’t miss the American Vaudeville Theatre’s 15th Anniversary ExTRAVaganza in the New York International Fringe Festival this August!
Lizzie West’s high water mark in terms of national fame came with her five record deal she signed with Warner Brothers Records in 2001, followed by the release of her debut record Holy Road: Freedom Songs in 2003.
If a fortune teller had told me that that was in Lizzie’s future when I knew her in the late 90s I wouldn’t have blinked. She is an amazingly self-assured character. Like all the great ones, she not only has an act, but a persona, a big one which she carries around with her 24/7. In the 90s she used to dress like a cowgirl when she performed. But when I’d see her in the neighborhood walking her dog on Bedford Avenue in the morning or afternoon, her street clothes were the sort of street clothes one would put together if one were costuming what a star wears when they’re not performing. Sometimes, it was the Garbo look, disguised with big plastic sunglasses, a light raincoat and a kerchief. Or sometimes she’d affect (or not affect) that she was still in her apartment, wearing curlers and a housecoat. Once she was carrying a coffee cup full of coffee. Not a paper cup from the deli, or even a travel mug from home. She was carrying her ceramic coffee mug from the breakfast table.
I got to know her when the amazing Jonny Hoppe, who ran the open mike night at the Charleston Bar & Grill decided to move on, leaving she and me to host it on alternate nights. There was a whole scene there. Lizzie had recently come from Nashville where she’d only just picked up the guitar and begun writing songs. (Her background was in theatre). I’d seen her play when Johnny was hosting and we’d keep running into each other. Later, I took over the open mike completely, and she would play all over the place, especially her sister’s bar over on Metropolitan. She played some rock shows I hosted at the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center. Long around 1998 she played my vaudeville show at Surf Reality a few times. In 2000 she went on tour, and that’s where she was discovered by the record scouts.
What I especially loved about her, in addition to her style, her voice, and her tunes, was the positive theme of Americana she threaded through all her writing. She was constantly overtly citing Emerson, Whitman and the Beats as influences, and as you can imagine that endeared her to me deeply. Anyway, here’s an official video of one of her Warner Brothers’ songs
As you can see (once you get past the commercial) the Americana themes are there at least in the visuals, but the whole thing is slicked up and professionalized quite a bit. The real Lizzie is a bit rougher and rawer and — frankly — nuttier.
It may be that she chafed at the restrictions of being on a major record label. It may be that her record didn’t chart (it didn’t). Or perhaps a combination of the two. But Lizzie and Warner Brothers parted ways after that first record. Since then she recorded a second album for Appleseed Records I Pledge Allegiance to Myself (2006), has performed, done some writing and has had a baby. You can read all about what she’s up to nowadays here.
To learn more about vaudeville past and present, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and wherever nutty books are sold.
