Up-And-Coming Country Singer Proves Following College Dreams Pays Off

Almost every college girl is guilty at one point or another of belting a Miranda Lambert song in the residence hall shower, drunkenly performing a Faith Hill original from the atop a bar stool or at least stereotypically singing a Taylor Swift tune into a hairbrush.

However, Vanderbilt senior Elizabeth Lyons performs for more than an audience of shampoo and conditioner bottles. Lyons, in pursuit of a future in country music, donned the stage at Canopy Club, 708 S. Goodwin, on Thursday following the release of her EP album, Elizabeth Lyons EP, in November.

Lyons performed a set of original songs from the album that, within 24 hours of its release, charted number 42 on the national country album iTunes charts. The album remained in the top 200 for a week and debuted number 10 on Billboard’s Heatseekers East North Central chart on Dec. 6.

However, Lyons kept the crowd guessing by playing several covers, which ranged from the challenging notes in Rihanna’s “Diamonds” to the fast-pace raps in Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop.”

Her recent success has only pushed Lyons to pursue her music career, despite having to balance a typical college life at Vanderbilt.

“Every week I’m either writing music or singing,” Lyons said. “I go back and forth between classes, my music publishing internship, writing and singing. It’s the best of both worlds!”

Lyons said she spends a great deal of time writing with producer Matt Nolen and Grammy-nominated songwriter Ryan Tyndell, who wrote Eric Church’s “Springsteen.” Writing, though, is what motivates her most.

“I like writing my own songs because I feel like I get to show my personality and tell a story, and I have a lot of stories,” Lyons said. “Through my stories I can share some common experiences that listeners have (also) experienced or felt similar feelings before.”

The sheer joy she feels when writing and performing also inspires her to push forward, Lyons said.

“I love that music can evoke an emotion, a feeling,” she said. “Music makes me happy and takes me to another place.”

This drive is reflected in her songs, like the single, “Go Girl.”

“As one of the lyrics of my song reads, ‘You only live once, girl. You know it’s a big world, and it ain’t gonna stop you, go girl.’ I live by that,” she said.

She said, according to her mother, this dream was instilled in Lyons since birth.

“I would sing any chance I’d get, whether it was singing in my crib or to Barney, (or) at least that’s what my mom tells me,” Lyons said. “I gravitated toward music. It has just been an innate quality I’ve always had.”

Despite growing up listening to the Spice Girls in the Chicago suburb of Winnetka, Ill., Lyons found country music to be her niche.

At her first figure skating competition, she performed to “The Kiss” by Faith Hill, and she still draws inspiration from country artists.

“I love following artists’ careers and listening to songs I relate to and become obsessed with them.”

Lyons will have the chance to meet and perform with other artists this summer at Summerfest, the world’s largest music festival, in Milwaukee, Wis. on Jun. 28, opening for headliner Phil Vasser.

“I’m so excited to perform…on the Briggs and Stratton ‘Big Backyard Stage,’” Lyons said. “I love that Vassar is a believer for a song to make a listener feel something and have a message.”

In the meantime, Lyons will continue her studies at Vanderbilt, writing, and touring other college campuses. After graduating in May, she plans to spend the summer touring.

“You have to dream big (because) nothing is impossible,” she said. “A career in music is my dream.”