JAZZ SINGER
LIZZIE THOMAS
AWAKENING A NEW ERA
From NYC jazz clubs to global stages, jazz vocalist Lizzie Thomas breathes new life into the Great American Songbook. Her new album, Awakening, explores healing, connection, and self-discovery.
“MUSIC IS THE ANSWER, NO MATTER WHAT YOU BELIEVE, IT HAS THE POWER TO DISSOLVE BOUNDARIES, LABELS, AND LIMITING BELIEFS.”
LIZZIE THOMAS, JAZZ VOCALIST, SONGWRITER
Lizzie Thomas doesn’t just sing jazz; she tells a story with every note. In a city where the genre is part of the very fabric of life, she stands out, not just for the richness of her voice but for how she makes each song feel as if it were written for that exact moment. She doesn’t treat the Great American Songbook as a relic of the past; she bends and reshapes it, bringing something undeniably fresh to its timeless melodies. Whether singing in the low light of a downtown club or on a grand stage halfway across the world, she draws you in not with theatrics but with intention.
With Awakening, Lizzie steps into something more intimate. This album is not just a project; it’s a lived experience pressed into vinyl. Blending jazz, neo-soul, and R&B, it flows with emotion through love, loss, memory, and becoming. Tracks like Community wrap you in warmth and rhythm, while Home inspired by a dream visitation from her mother, floats into another realm entirely. The songs aren’t just played; they unfold, like pages in a diary left open.
Recorded over time at New York’s legendary Powerstation and featuring the Grammy-winning Harlem String Quartet, Awakening is as much a love letter to jazz as it is a declaration of self. Lizzie isn’t trying to fit into the genre’s past. She’s shaping what’s next—with honesty, reverence, and a fearless ear for where music can go. In an age of instant hits and noise, she offers something rare: music meant to stay.
We sat down with Lizzie to discuss Awakening, her creative process, and how she uses sound to entertain, connect, and heal.
You’ve gone from the quiet hum of Pittsburgh to the electric pulse of New York. How have those shifts in place and energy shaped your approach to music?
Living in the South gave me the space to develop my musicality and songwriting at my own pace, while NYC demands urgency and the drive to seize every opportunity. Balancing deep creative growth with a go-getter mindset isn’t easy, but I believe knowing who you are and what you want—and surrounding yourself with people who support that—is essential. It’s a challenge, but that’s the path I’m committed to.
Awakening feels like more than just an album; it’s a conversation between genres, pulling jazz into the worlds of neo-soul and R&B. What was the moment you realized you wanted to break those boundaries?
Jazz is rooted in tradition and improvisation—the American Songbook and the vast eras of instrumental jazz form have an endless, rich history. As a vocalist, the challenge is to find your own voice within these beloved classics, but over time, I felt a deep pull to express myself through original work. Awakening is a reflection of that journey, infused with the essence of jazz but also colored by the sounds I love: neo-soul, pop, R&B, and beyond.
“Home” feels like a deeply personal track as it lingers. How does your mother’s memory shape how you create, and what did it feel like to channel something so intimate into your music?
Home is about my mother and her transition into another dimension—it came to me through a vivid dream where we danced together, her presence radiant and angelic. I often receive songs through meditation and dreams, where my conscious and subconscious meet without boundaries. Writing Home allowed me to process deep emotion, and like much of my music, the channeled expression is here to serve the collective, to help us move through our emotions and make sense of the unseen.
Power Station has mythic status—Springsteen, Madonna, Bowie. When you walked into that studio, did you feel its history? How did that space seep into the sound of Awakening?
The songs on Awakening were recorded over the course of a year and a half during three separate sessions at Powerstation—and honestly, I never wanted to leave! Every few months, I’d return to the studio to record the latest songs I had written, capturing my artistic growth in real-time. You can hear the evolution in the album itself as the music developed over that extended period. Recording at Powerstation allowed us to fully immerse ourselves in its legendary creative energy—it’s truly been my favorite place to record as an artist.
“I KNOW THAT I PERCEIVE THE WORLD THROUGH MY HURT, SO TO EXPERIENCE THE FULLNESS OF LIFE AND ITS BEAUTY, I FOCUS ON TRAINING MY MIND AND FEELING THE EMOTIONS TO DISSOLVE THAT HURT AND FIND RESONANCE.”
“Community” isn’t just a song; it’s a statement. At a time when the world feels increasingly fractured, do you think music, especially jazz, still has the power to bring people together?
Music is the answer—no matter what you believe, it has the power to dissolve boundaries, labels, and limiting beliefs. It taps into something deeper, often awakening thoughts and emotions you didn’t even know were there. Music is felt, not argued with. Its vibration is the secret sauce that shifts the energy of any space it touches. Yes, I believe in the power and transformation of music.
Your voice holds this beautiful tension—it can be delicate and intimate one moment, commanding and bold the next. Do you think about that contrast when writing or performing, or does it happen naturally?
Thank you!—that’s such a great question. My foundation as a trained vocalist gives me the tools to shape and deliver a song technically, but when I perform, it’s all about the emotion. I only sing music that resonates with me on a deep level. I put in the technical work during rehearsals so that, in performance, I can fully surrender to the feeling and let the story come through.
What’s exciting you right now? Are there new sounds, ideas, or creative risks you’re itching to take, places you want to push jazz that feel uncharted?
Oh yes! I’m feeling incredibly inspired in 2025! I’ve made some bold changes in my life, each one guiding me toward a path of freedom and doing things on my own terms. The words that resonate with me this year are *expansion* and *collaboration*. I love to travel, and I’ll be touring Europe and Ireland, with some creative trips to Mexico planned as well. With the release of my album in August, there will be a strong focus on ensuring the world hears my music and that I can share it on a global scale. This isn’t something that can be achieved in just one year—it’s part of a multi-year vision to connect through my music and help heal humanity through sound. I’m also dedicated to using sound as a healing frequency, blending my original music, jazz, and therapeutic vibrations to create an atmosphere of sound healing.
Jazz is about being in the moment, responding, and letting go. Has making music changed the way you move through life? How do you stay grounded in your work, in yourself, in the chaos of it all?
Music is a reflection of how I’m moving through life. Everything stems from my belief systems: Who am I? What do I believe? Am I cultivating a life that inspires both myself and others? Staying grounded starts with taking time for myself. I meditate, take walks, catch up with friends, meet new people, and continue to learn by staying curious. If I respond defensively to something, I make a note of it and reflect on it the next day during meditation. I know that I perceive the world through my hurt, so to experience the fullness of life and its beauty, I focus on training my mind and feeling the emotions to dissolve that hurt and find resonance. This is how I stay grounded and seek to experience the beauty of life.
“This Love is about being driven to not settle for what is easy or comfortable. Going for the thing that you know will set you free.” — Lizzie Thomas
Experience Lizzie’s Awakening Album release show on August 8th at DROM
Tickets are now on sale Click here to get yours.
LIZZIE THOMAS ON SELF-LUXURY, SOUL CARE, AND HER DAILY MANTRA
Discover how jazz artist Lizzie Thomas defines self-luxury, what she does to feed her soul, and the powerful words she turns to in times of challenge. Her answers are as inspiring as her music—grounded, graceful, and soul-deep.
