CT River & Roots Concert Series: Lizzie No & Friends

You could say that Lizze No makes “Americana” music, in that her work pulls from the rhythms and traditions of Blues, Folk, and Country — not unlike the artists to whom she’s most often compared: Allison Russell, Rhiannon Giddens and Adia Victoria — but her collaborations with Brian Dunne, Pom Pom Squad and Domino Kirke display an undeniable Indie influence that allows No to move frequently and seamlessly between overlapping musical circles.

 You could say that Lizzie No writes “protest” songs, in that as a Queer, Black woman, her entire existence is a living, breathing, singing protest against a genre and a country that, on their best days, are reluctant to reckon with the very foundations upon which they were built. The erasure of Black artists is central to the myth of country music — what it means, what it stands for, where it comes from — and so simply by standing on stage and singing, whether it be in theaters across the country with the Black Opry, or at Queer Line Dancing nights with the Lavender Country tour, Lizzie No is staging a kind of protest.