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popular Twinings Tea commercial overseas . In 2014 , she issued her own covers EP , Cryin ’ to You , including Danzig ’ s “ Mother ,” Dylan ’ s “ To Ramona ,” and even Drake ’ s “ Hold On We ’ re Going Home ” – exemplary of Lissie ’ s diverse , often simultaneously arcane and playful taste . Last but not least , Lissie had the remarkable honor of appearing on David Lynch ’ s rebooted Showtime series ** Twin Peaks last year , trilling her track “ Wild West ” live . She also guested on last year ’ s MTV Unplugged – Summer Solstice album from Norwegian New Wavers a-ha , singing “ I ’ ll Be Losing You ” with bandleader Morten Market .
Castles seems to encapsulate more of its composer ’ s zen-like life philosophy than any of its predecessors . Lissie herself isn ’ t certain . “ But each album ’ s like this little marker in time , like , ‘ Oh . This is what I ’ m going through ,’” she reasons . “ And with this album , I went through a pretty agonizing relationship that wasn ’ t even a real relationship . So a lot of Castles was in real time , just me processing and working through things , and holding a mirror up to myself , too , because you can ’ t really blame other people for things that you ’ re participating in . So you can see it on all the songs , really – I don ’ t want to waste any more time repeating the same old patterns , so this is a darker album because I actually had to go inside myself and focus on what you don ’ t want , and then draw a line in the sand and say , ‘ That ’ s it . I ’ m done with all this faffing about – no more squirrelly dudes .’ So Castles helped me let go of a lot of toxicity .”
These post-winter days , Lissie has found herself thawing with her spring surroundings . And she ’ s thinking beyond simple dalliances , to a climate-change reverent future . “ It ’ s a long process with some of the things I want to do ,” she sighs . “ I ’ ve realized that even the trees I want to plant , I won ’ t see the payoff with that until 20 years from now . So it ’ s an evolving process , but it ’ s been a comfort to have it . But it ’ s great to get home because I do like to knit , and I ’ ll go down to the local knitting store , and I ’ ll get help . So I try to keep myself busy and crafty and creative .”
Given the abundance of its Hee-Haw cheesy TV ads , no conversation with this Thoreau-ish hermit would be complete without raising the possibility – has she ever once considered logging onto FarmersOnly . com in hopes of finding real , salt of the Earth love ? Lissie wants to laugh at the innate absurdity , but she can ’ t quite bring herself to . “ You know , I should sign up – I really need to ,” she cedes . “ People tell me that all the time , and I really probably should because I live such a bizarre life in terms of consistency and dating in any kind of normal , gradual way . So I probably will need to get on some kind of app ….”
Lissie plays in Rock Island on June 2nd as part of the 7th Annual Laura ’ s Legacy concert at Schwiebert Riverfront Park , an event she created with her family to honor the memory of her late aunt , Laura Swedberg Schoonover Bartel . All proceeds go to support the ALS Association of Greater Chicago and ALS Research University of North Carolina . She also appears at Milwaukee Summerfest June 29th .
26 illinoisentertainer . com june 2018