Elizabeth ‘Lizzy’ Long was introduced to the bluegrass music world in 2007 when she joined banjo legend Earl Scruggs and foster father Little Roy Lewis on the album Lifetimes.
Subsequently, Long and Lewis began touring as The Little Roy & Lizzy Show.
Earlier this month (May 4, 2015), Lizzy Long released her debut solo record Blueberry Pie, introducing a selection of new songs and a favorite from the 1964 motion picture Mary Poppins.
Ms Long spoke first about the songs on her album ….
“I wrote a majority of the songs but also had great writers, Joel Lindsey, Val Drucas, Randall Garland, Carl Jackson, Lyn Rowell, Mark Brinkman, Lee Black and Twila Labar, collaborate and write some.”
Of the end product she says ….
“It’s very different from a Little Roy and Lizzy thing…because it features things I have always wanted to do or try. When I was getting ready to start this album I spoke with Rhonda Vincent about it…and she encouraged me to do it. I intended for her to listen to all the songs and help me choose…but that honestly…scared the bejeezus out of me..cause I wrote a majority of the songs, plus her schedule is crazy. So I took as much info that she gave me on song selection and just went from there. I intended for it to be straight up bluegrass…but …being raised up on The Lewis Family, Mac Wiseman, Jim and Jesse, Dolly, Earl Scruggs, Fleetwood Mac, Mahalia Jackson, Loretta, Hank, Merle, George, Walt Disney and etc. It ended up with something more than just bluegrass. So this album is bluegrass based …with what I love on top of it. Take Feed the Birds from Mary Poppins – I know I need to explain why this is on there…the related thing is… It’s my favorite childhood movie…I remember as a child singing this song in a Vintage Fisher-Price Cassette Recorder Model 3808, that had a little mic. First recording experience I ever had. Plus, the heartfelt meaning of helping others in this song. So, Wayne Haun and I, while we were writing charts, love Disney’s music and decided…why not. The other song is the duet with Rhonda on God is There …Buddy Spicher had me take Orchestration and Arranging at Belmont in Nashville. Being a fiddle player, I just love strings and the feeling they can add to a song. The rest of the songs also have little things but not as much as these two.”
The full track listing is as follows …
Blueberry Pie / Speak Now / Communication Breakdown (featuring Sam Bush) / Love, I’m in Love (featuring Ernie Haase and Signature Sound) / God is There (featuring Rhonda Vincent) / It Don’t Take Much / Figueroa Mountain (featuring Sam Bush) / Backwoods Lullaby / Feed the Birds / Love’s a Mountain Road When My Heart Cries (featuring Sam Bush) / When My Heart Cries.
Alongside Ms Long are Little Roy Lewis (banjo and autoharp), Jason Webb (accordion), Glen Duncan (fiddle), Joel Key (mandolin), Brett Rader (guitar) and Kevin “Swine” Grantt (bass fiddle) providing the core band and Destiny McGuire and Wayne Haun (both adding harmony vocals).
Recorded and mixed by Kevin Ward and kiloWatt Studios, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Blueberry Pie was produced by Kevin Ward and Lizzy Long and is released on the Vine Records label.
It is available direct from ‘Lizzy’ Long at the Little Roy and Lizzy website and at her show dates.
