Meet Lisa Liz

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Liz.

Hi Lisa, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I started making music by taking piano lessons and joining the band in elementary school. I had so much fun, and it quickly turned into my favorite part about school or the only part I liked about school! I continued doing band through high school and then started doing drum corps (kind of like a competitive marching band). After high school, I went to Arizona State University. I got my undergraduate degree in Music Education, and my Master’s in Music Performance. During my time at ASU. I played in many different bands and musical ensembles, both in and outside of school. It was at this time that I began freelancing throughout the Phoenix area.

After completing my music degrees at ASU, I started traveling to Japan for work – playing trombone in multiple shows, including the Tony and Emmy award-winning show, Blast! From 2008-2020 I traveled back and forth between Japan and Phoenix, AZ as a freelance trombone player. My main gigs in Arizona have been playing shows at Arizona Broadway Theatre and with a local band, The Hourglass Cats. In addition to those steady gigs, I have been a “gun for hire,” so to speak – playing in all sorts of musical ensembles and venues throughout the valley – from theatres to churches to clubs to wedding venues to retirement communities, to bars, you name it!

When the pandemic started in 2020, I had just started a contract with Carnival Cruises. I know, I know, great timing. The pandemic inspired me to move my work online, as it did for many of us. I focused a lot on my website, social media, YouTube channel, and creating a virtual private lessons studio. To this day, I still teach music lessons on Zoom, and I love it! Growing my online presence really helped me expand my “reach,” so to speak, and I was able to be discovered by more people worldwide. In 2021, I was discovered online and was hired to play trombone in Exposonix, the official house band of the World Expo 2020 in Dubai, UAE.

I have recently returned from Dubai and moved back to Phoenix. I am excited to see what’s happening next in the Phoenix area and the Phoenix music scene!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it has not been a smooth road. I have questioned whether I was doing the right thing multiple times in my academic and professional careers. After getting my undergrad in Music Education, I realized I did not want to be a band or full-time teacher. This was a hard realization, as I had just spent 4+ years working on a degree. But I just wanted to play music! The first Japan tour I did in 2008 sealed the deal for me. I got the travel bug, for sure! The freelance and traveling musician lifestyle is not for everyone, but I love it. I feel more at home in a hotel room than when I’m at home in a house or apartment. Being on the road constantly also comes with its own set of challenges. I have sacrificed many personal relationships and missed many important life events to continue to live this lifestyle.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My main job is pretty straightforward – I am a freelance trombone player. Playing trombones is definitely how I earn most of my income. There are certainly a few things that set me apart from other trombone players. The first is the style of music that I play. Many instrumentalists typically specialize in either jazz or classical since that is mainly what we were taught in music school. I was never super into either of those styles of music, and I have made a career mainly playing pop, rock, and show music. I love playing in bands, musical theatre shows, and onstage productions. I am more of an onstage girl than one who sits down in a symphony orchestra or concert band.

Being able to move and play well simultaneously is something that I use to help set me apart from other musicians. Another thing that has helped set me apart is my experience in marching band, drum corps, and production shows that have included extensive choreography. I also have some basic dance training in ballet and hip-hop styles.

Having a degree in Music Education has helped me out as well. I have a lot of teaching experience under my belt, so I always keep teaching as something I can do in addition to performing. I enjoy teaching new students of all ages and getting them as excited about music as I am! My online presence, social media marketing, and content creation skills are the last element that sets me apart. As I mentioned before, during the pandemic, I worked pretty hard to improve this skill set. In addition to performing and teaching, I have also done work arranging music, career consulting, social media consulting, studio recording, and audio and video editing.

What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
The most important lesson I have learned along my journey is to be myself and stay true to who I am, which is much harder than it sounds! My main goal is very simple – just to be happy. I want to wake up every day and do exactly what I want. I want to be doing the kind of work I like, playing the kind of music I like, and being surrounded by the kind of people I like. I realized I could achieve this by just being me. Not comparing myself to others or not trying to fit into a predesigned career path created by someone else. I had to embrace my differences, recognize my strengths and weaknesses, and go after what I wanted. I had just not to care what anyone else thought of me! Again, this is harder than it sounds, and I still try my best every day to achieve this. I am human, of course, and falter at times, as we all do, but I always try to keep that main goal in mind. One of the biggest things I have been thinking about lately is that being female in a mostly male field is a strength, not a weakness. That as a female, my voice is unique, and that is what will make me special and make me stand out. A teacher told me this in college, and only 10 years later am I just starting to realize and conceptualize what this means.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lisaliztrombone.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisaliztrombone/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisaliztrombone
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lisaliztrombone
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/lisaliztrombone
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@lisaliztrombone

Image Credits
Courtney Baxter, Holly Beaupre