Seven years ago, at the tender age of 16, Liz Seaver stood in front of a jam packed audience in the Millbank theater and played support to one of Ireland’s biggest singer-songwriters, Damien Dempsey. While many of us would be quaking in our boots at the mere thought of this, Liz stood undeterred. She laughs and says, “I thought I was so old back then. It was a bit [nerve-racking] but he’s a lovely guy, real down to earth, just normal so I didn’t have any problem with that. It was in a town near where I lived so I think there was a lot of support there for me and not just for him.” Since playing this, her first major gig, she has been in hot demand as a support act for other major musicians and has gone from strength to strength playing her own material for audiences all over from Dublin to Paris.

Liz plays her own brand of folk-pop on acoustic guitar and piano. It’s her broad vocal range that brings colour and life to her songs however. She launched her first album ‘Till the Day Fades in’ in 2005. The Skerries born musician describes the evolution of this album as an “accident”. She says “I was working when I was about 15 for a music centre in Balbriggan in Co. Dublin and I was giving lessons and looking after rehearsal rooms and being on the desk and stuff like that. One of the guys there said would you ever think of recording some of your songs. And I said ah sure maybe like, I hadn’t really thought about it, I was gigging and that as well and he said here I’ll get a guy in and we’ll meet you and record some stuff and see how it goes so I kind of decided to record three songs and then it ended up five songs and then it ended up ten songs, so it happened. Each step I took I said why don’t I take it a bit further so it worked out that way.”

It certainly did work out. Liz is currently in the process of recording her second album. As she says herself, “I’m trying to make one on purpose now. I’m writing at the moment and I’ve got a good bunch of songs and I have some of them recorded already, but it’s all self financed, it’s not like you can spend a heap of money go into the studio for a couple weeks so it’s quite a slow process, so that’s the way it is.”

She draws inspiration for her music from her own life experiences. “A lot of the songs at the start were just me being a teenager, how I was feeling. It was like my diary really more than anything else. Most of the stuff I sing is coming from me. I don’t really feel a need to write about other people or something, I don’t know. It’s always again about, people in my life or how I’m feeling or things that are happening around me.”

Liz graduated from NCAD last year with a degree in fine arts. She describes this creative background as being a fantastic help. “I ended up doing sound art in sculpture so I ended up recording in studios. My piece for my end of degree show last year was purely sound based or vocal based, not music or songs as such but it was sounds so I think that helped me create my own song writing.”

Her music has been very well received in Paris. Liz was asked to play in a trendy venue in central Paris called Sentier des Halles last October and has been over and back ever since. She will be playing her next gig in the venue on June 7th and plans to do a showcase over there also.

She describes Paris audiences as being very different to the Irish. “Because I’ve been playing in Ireland for so long it was a bit daunting to go over and play to an audience that might not understand everything I’m saying but I thought they were really receptive. They love music over there and the fact that I’m Irish I think made them love me even more. It’s kind of strange, it’s a different vibe, it’s weird though when I was playing they’d clap along and they’re quite upbeat as an audience.”

There has been a huge burst of female singer songwriters in the last few years, particularly in England. Liz says this has been a bit daunting but she still finds there’s a lack of Irish female musicians. “I think a lot of the gigs I played in Ireland, it’s always been with a group of guys and then I’m the girl so I’ve always had to try and fight my corner a little bit. I started playing when I was really young so they saw me coming in and think that I was fresh faced and judge me before I played.”

Liz’s style of playing certainly won’t be judged by the likes of Simon Cowell anytime soon. “I think that x-factor is for a certain kind of a person and I’m guilty. I watch it every time; I’m always addicted to it. Whether it’s my fear of being rejected I don’t know. I don’t think it’s the way I’d like to go.”

Instead, Liz is really looking forward to playing at this year’s Soul Festival, where she will be playing in Meeting House Square this Friday! “I’m delighted because I enjoyed it last year, it was a great vibe, the whole barbecue and beer and it went well. I think it’s a great festival I really enjoyed it. I played in the Stephens Green centre as well, that was an experience.” Liz’s talents are complimented best live so get down early and don’t miss out before the Parisians have her all to themselves!

By Aine Gilligan

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