The Liza Colby Sound at Lola

Liza Colby

Liza Colby hails from Avon, Connecticut, where her father, a Grammy and Emmy Award-winning producer and composer of television and film scores, and her mother, the only woman ever to sing in the a cappella group the Persuasions, perform in nightclubs as the Colbys. At age 19, Liza moved to New York City, began singing hooks on rap tracks, and finally in 2009 teamed with comic Denis Leary's band, the Enablers. They became the Liza Colby Sound in 2009. The band quickly grew a following on the local club circuit, recorded three EPS over the years, and finally released its debut album, Object to Impossible Destination, on July 19, 2019. The Liza Colby Sound presently consists of vocalist Colby, guitarist Jay Shepard, bassist Alec Morton, and drummer Charly "C.P." Roth.

On this third night of a four -Thursday residency at Lola, the Liza Colby Sound highlighted almost all the songs on the new album, plus a few more from the past. The band has evolved with the addition of Shepard, a lead guitar virtuoso who has recorded his own album, worked with the High and Mighty Brass Band, Angela McCluskey, Mark Hudson & Friends, and Rock of Ages, and was the musical director for the show Rebel Rebel: the Many Lives of David Bowie. In past years, the Liza Colby Sound might have been compared to the Who; the musicians now align closer to Van Halen or Guns N' Roses. All this hard rocking chemistry was fronted by a seductive, smoky-sounding, mega-watt singer who wore very little on stage and shook, shimmied and crawled to the swirl of her acid-rock and blues-rock accompaniment. Colby's lyrics frequently expressed yearning, usually regarding unfulfilled or unhealthy user relationships, all while a stoner haze blasted behind her. The performance was loaded with classic rock swagger, built more for arenas than clubs.