INTERVIEW: Lizzie No Is Ready to Burn Country Radio to the Ground
Lizzie No is — at last — ready to unleash her new album Halfsies in January — and it’ll be worth the wait. Her new song “The Heartbreak Store” hints at the storytelling to come, with No imagining a speakeasy for the weary and the lonely to soothe their hearts for a while. In the music video, directed by Annalise Lockhart, it happens to look a lot like the Jalopy in Brooklyn.
Anyone who’s seen No perform live, or who has spent a millisecond scrolling her social media feeds, knows that No is hilarious. But in our interview, she’s deadly serious about what it takes to get her music out there — and how to make sure everyone else can, too.
Do you have any go-to albums to listen to in the van?
when i need to stay awake and remind myself that even though i’m exhausted i am indeed living my childhood dream, i listen to say it like you mean it by the starting line. when i need a singalong i put on weightless by liz longley. when we are close to the venue and i need to get pumped up i put on ‘good news’ by megan thee stallion.
Tell us about your favorite show you’ve ever played.
this is an easy one. in 2022 i joined the round-up tour, which was a big queer variety show headlined by lavender country. i had mostly been touring solo for the past couple of years, and putting a show together with patrick haggerty, paisley fields, austin lucas, and our kick-ass backing band the giddyups, was kind of scary in terms of collaboration and queer visibility. it felt like everything came together in chicago. we played cole’s bar on march 11th and i remember it as the wildest show i’ve ever played. i have never felt such an intense connection with a crowd, or such joy in being onstage with friends. the house was packed and everybody was drenched in sweat. i kept looking at my managers in the back of the room like “can you believe this?” it was heaven.
Have you ever been given something remarkable by a fan?
a chicago-based fan and friend bought me a guitar last month. and it couldn’t have happened at a better time. i’ve been getting ready to take my new album, halfsies, on the road, and i hit a plateau in my guitar playing. i had such a strong sense of needing something to push me in a new direction with my live show, but my budget had no wiggle room for a new instrument purchase. so i took a chance and half-jokingly posted an instagram story asking if anybody wanted to send me $700 for an electric guitar. lo and behold, somebody stepped up. i am very much in love with my new gretsch. and michael, you’re on the guest list for life.
What is your vision for a more just music industry?
every artist should own their masters. every musician should belong to a union. every single person working in the music industry should receive sexual harassment training. as a music community we need to stop calling men geniuses, because living on a pedestal enables them to abuse people. we need universal healthcare, childcare, and parental leave if we are serious about women being able to make a living in music. we need accessible public housing in cities like new york, los angeles, and nashville, so that musicians can afford to live in the places where job opportunities are most abundant. streaming services should be required to pay a standard, publicly knowable rate per stream. we need to fund public schools so that every child in america has access to instruments and music education from a young age, regardless of their zip code, race, or class. i would love to see a music industry that is actually accountable to the Black community, and transparent about the Black cultural foundation of all american popular music. i want a world where culture vultures like miley cyrus can’t get away with parodying Black culture, making loads of money, then pivoting to pop when a return to white innocence becomes profitable. every music venue should have a budget for fresh fruit and vegetables. every record label should be a worker-owned collective. a major research institution should collect and publish data on the correlation between artist gender and race, and the amount of money they receive in touring income, record advances, merch sales, and grant funding. music venues need to bring back mask mandates and enforce them. i want the fcc to issue a public apology to janet jackson. and enough with the vip sections at festivals.
oh, and mainstream country radio stations should be burned to the ground. they are an obstacle to anyone who is not white, straight, and patriotic from having a fighting chance in the genre. we can come up with something better.
Is there a professional “bucket list” item you would love to check off?
i would love to build out my label, miss freedomland, so that i could give artists i believe in the chance to make great records on their own terms. and a number one song on the radio would be nice. i WILL be a judge on rupaul’s drag race if it’s the last thing i do!
halfsies will be out on January 19th.
