Fleetwood Mac Tribute Band

Little Lies band is a Fleetwood Mac tribute band that not only captures the nuances of Fleetwood Mac, but a myriad of talented good times musical artists.

This band radically weaves in elements of surprise on a continuum of entertainment that flows on streams of memories. I had a chance to catch up with them during the holidays and here is what they had to say:  

Silvia: First, how do you believe you impact your audience? It seems to me that you transport them in time through sounds, your sounds!  

Lisa: When I go to a performance of any kind, I want to be mesmerized, I want to be transported, I want to be moved in some way...so as a performer, this is always my goal.  If I am just a girl standing in front of a mic I become very self-conscious.  So my goal is to suck the audience in with emotion, humor, excitement and energy.  I purposely pick songs that bring out these characteristics in me. Every song strikes some kind of chord with me and I act that out onstage.  Of course, it doesn't ALWAYS work. Sometimes audiences just want background music so they can talk, eat, or whatever.  Those are painful nights for me.  I'd rather be naked in front of the Pope.  Music should be an escape, or cathartic, or send some kind of message to your soul.  At least, that's what it has always been for me.

Silvia: Next, the music of today compared to the sounds of the 70s, how do you
compare them?  I did a little research and found the top twenty
artists in the 70s were Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Queen, Eagles,
Lynyrd Skynyrd, Who, Aerosmith, John Lennon, AC/DC, Deep Purple, Black
Sabbath, Elton John, Boston, KISS, Rolling Stones, Beatles and
Fleetwood Mac. Why a tribute to Fleetwood Mac?

Lisa: Today's music ain't got the same soul...hahaha, sorry couldn't resist.  I am personally glad that the music of the 70's and 80's has never died.  Kids still listen to this stuff, my son knows more about 80's artists than I do.  But I know what you are asking...music of today is interesting, and because I am gettingolder I think a lot of it is junk.  

But I am excited about the artistry of some musicians. Lady Gaga is an extremely talented young woman, for example, and ironically I am not impressed with her antics on the big stage...its when she sits down to a piano that makes me almost weep.  She is a true musician and she gets how to pull her audience in.  

Unfortunately (for me) she is catering to a younger demographic most of the time.  I also love John Mayer's music...his lyrics are honest and come directly from his inner child...and his guitar playing? Forget about it, he is sick. (in a good way) The simple answer to your last question is: Fleetwood Mac fit us.  

Deek & Long had been considering putting together a Pretenders Tribute, because I have a lot of Chrissy Hynde's characteristics...but it was just always in the back of our minds. (Like someday we might get around to it.)  When we met Laurie Richardson, it hit like a ton of bricks...she reminded us so much of Christine McVie. 

PLUS, I think Fleetwood Mac has a wider demographic. Their music has touched everyone, in some way. They were never a "fad band", they appealed to the romantics, the rockers, the nerds, everyone, even Mom & Dad.  Plus, FM had more than one sound.  In fact, every song is different than the one before.  I remember hearing Tusk for the first time as a kid, and thinking this is Fleetwood Mac?  What?  

On top of everything else, its a challenge.  This music is NOT easy.  Andy and I like to keep moving forward.  We are goal oriented people, which is why we get along so well. We were ready for a new project that would grab our audience's attention.

Silvia: I love the fact that you did a Led Zeppelin song with a female
singer! Lisa you rock! I had no idea that could be done! I would
love to hear more ambidextrous songs that have androgynous qualities.

Lisa: Thank you.  I do some Rolling Stones too.  I kind of think of myself as a female version of Mick Jagger onstage.  Its so hard for me to play those intimate venues because I want to jump up and down so badly.  If you ever have a chance to see Juliette Lewis perform, that is my ultimate goal.  She is amazing.

Silvia: Last, I’m wondering how Little Lies came about? I heard the story but
please fill me in again, it’s a great story!

Lisa: Andy answered this one pretty well.  I was deathly ill, but whenever something like that happens I try to tell myself there is a reason.  THIS was the reason, God wanted us to work with Laurie Richardson.  I honestly believe that.

Here’s a bit on what Andy Long had to say:

1. Audience Impact:  great question and is kind of hard to answer at this point as far as the Little Lies Band goes since it was our first gig as Little Lies. But, with our other groups what we have found is that every audience and every night is a little different in that there are different moods, different tastes and a different energy dynamic.  It could be a smaller place or a larger event but whichever the case we try to cater our set based on the mood of our audience. We typically use a predetermined set list but a lot of times we will work outside the order of the set list depending on the energy and mood of our audience.

2. 70s music compared to today’s music: Actually, I like a lot of the newer music lately. I’m not sure if it’s because of the rise of indie labels but to me there seems to be a resurgence of younger artists who can actually play an instrument and write unique songs that can appeal to more than a single demographic. Our 17 year old son Dante is also a musician and a purveyor of new music. We’ve noticed that when he learns a song, in a few months we hear that song on the radio. He has turned us on to The Killers and Cold Play and we turned him on to Pink Floyd and U2 which is a historically reminiscent equal or should I say influential sound which a lot of the newer bands seem to possess.  We really like Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Corrine Bailey Rae, Edel and Jet.

3. Lisa doing Led Zeppelin. Yes, I love doing that stuff too. Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin is probably my most influential guitar player when I was first learning how to play. When Lisa and I first met the only real rocking stuff she was doing was by Pat Benatar.  Most of the stuff she was singing was a bit mellower like Sarah Mclaughlin, Brandi Carlile and Dido. But, after hooking up with me she started rocking it out a little harder. Now we cover a wider range of material and learning more stuff as we go.

4.How Little Lies came to be: a few months ago Lisa got really sick and came down with a bad case of bronchitis. We were doing about 8/10 gigs a month and she had been singing through the sickness until one night she lost her voice at the very end of the gig and we had another gig the next day. She was in terrible shape the next day and couldn’t even get out of bed. My only choice at the time was to cancel the gig for that night which was a new gig at a place we had never played before. I called my drummer Keith Boyer who had been playing with Laurie Richardson along with Dave Sale on bass, (another old friend of mine) for several months on nights Deek and Long weren’t gigging and suggested we call her and see if she would be interested in covering it. Laurie is a lot different singer and player than Lisa but there was just enough crossover that we said, “what the heck lets do it.” It turned out to be a good gig and the owner booked us for another date. But, after playing with Laurie and hearing her play the keyboards and sing, and she was such a cool person I just threw the idea of a Fleetwood Mac tribute band at her. To my surprise she looked at me and said, “Oh my gosh I love Fleetwood Mac and I already know and performed a lot of their songs!” From there is where it started. That was about 2 months ago and here we are today.

Gold Dust Woman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaaygF9is00&feature=email

Little Lies Schedule, save the dates!

Jan 20th - Little Lies Band at Trevi Entertainment Center doors open at 8pm cost is $10 address: 32250 Mission Trail, Lake Elsinore

(this is going to be taped for television - we need a huge audience!)

Jan 28th - Deek & Long Band at Stellar Cellar 8 - 11pm address: 28636 Front Street, Old Town Temecula

After the show tell us your seduction stories of Little Lies. Did you dance on the table…which, by the way, actually happen while they played a rendition of Lady GAGA!