Today we’d like to introduce you to Liz Tobias.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
If someone where to look at my high school senior yearbook, under the photo of Liz Tobias and next to the question asking, “where will you been in 5 years?” they would read a quote saying, “Come visit me in Boston, I’ll be doing my Masters in Music!!” That pipe dream was dreamt by a young 16 girl living in sleepy Adelaide, Australia who was dreaming as if she had no financial limitations and all the resources and time in the world to make it happen. I don’t know if many of you reading this have traveled to Australia, but it’s a looooong way from Boston. If you dug a tunnel through the earth starting in Adelaide, you’d probably pop out on the other side right near Boston… or maybe Worcester or somewhere. lol!
That dream got rain checked as I completed my undergraduate degree in music in little Adelaide, my childhood best friend became my boyfriend, who then became my fiancé and later on my husband. Together we dreamed of moving to Boston to do our masters, myself at NEC and him at MIT, but it just never got off the ground. Then in 2011 he disappeared and my life stopped in its tracks.
After months of rebuilding, I sat down with my family and discussed an alternate reality that 17-year-old Liz would have approved of. I traveled across to Boston for the first time to audition at the New England Conservatory and as soon as I walked through the doors of the school, I felt right at home. In fact, the whole of Boston was incredible to me. I could feel my life’s gravitational force was pulling me to the city to start afresh.
Finally, in 2012, I moved here, 12 years after the yearbook was published and perfectly on time to begin the rest of my life.
Please tell us about your art.
I’m honored to have a weekly residency singing and playing piano at Boston’s famous Top of the Hub restaurant. We get all kinds of people from all over the world with all walks of life visiting that place. You can imagine, the requests they bring me vary from Abba to Lady Gaga and from Frank Sinatra to Mariah Carey. I love it!
When I’m not paying the rent with those club and bar gigs, you’ll find me singing across all of New England at weddings with the Silver Arrow Band. Crazy brides and drunk wedding guests are hilarious and make my life eventful, that’s for sure!!
But…. the project that is closest to my heart is one that is still evolving and isn’t quite ready to see the light of day just yet. My debut album should be getting released towards the end of 2018. I’ve written a bunch of songs that feature the sounds of modern jazz with an undercurrent of Lebanese/world music culture. This Middle Eastern part represents the heritage of my family and their journey to Australia back in the 1940s. I’ll be recording it in NYC and look forward to a Boston release soon!
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing artists today?
The biggest challenge facing artists today is the current generation’s inability to focus on one thing at once. We all too often see phones lighting up around art shows and concert halls as the Insta or FB moment update is made. I watch my audience through the lens of their camera all too often. Yes, it’s flattering that my band and I get videoed, but it’s also sad that they’ve missed the nuances of my message because they’re trying to center the frame.
Kids these days, (yes, I said it), don’t seem to be able to be present the same way the generation before us could. What’s hilarious is that the generation before and the generation before that have complained about the same thing! Maybe we’re fulfilling the prophecy right on schedule.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
If you click on Liztobias.com there is a plethora thing to do and see and hear!
Contact Info:
- Address: 75 Forest Hills Street
Apt 1 Jamaica Plain MA 02130 - Website: liztobias.com
- Phone: 5083157538
- Email: mamajazz1@gmail.com
- Instagram: liztobias1
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.grace.92123?ref=bookmarks
- Twitter: @liztobiasjazz
Image Credit:
No photo credits needed,
The photo on the stage in my graduation outfit is when I was NECs 2014 student speaker and valedictorian.
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