On Beat: Liza Hill

Portrait Courtesy of Liza Hill

Magnolia trees are a common site, to most people it’s just another tree, for Liza Hill it was a sign to apply to Belmont and continue her music career in Nashville.  

“My mom’s a horticulturist, so when each of her kids were born, she planted a tree for them, and my mom planted a magnolia tree for me. When you drive down Wedgewood, there’s magnolia trees everywhere,” said Hill. “We’re driving in and were on Wedgewood, and she looks at me...and she’s like that's your tree,” Hill said.  

Hill applied the next day to Belmont.  

Her parents were big supporters and drove her to pursue music, starting when she was young, recording voice memos using her parents' phone.  

“Instead of being like, ‘Hey, babe, cut that out,’ they were like, ‘Keep doing that...chase that,’ and so I just kind of kept doing that as I grew and they grew with me,” Hill said.  

When Hill was 15, one of her close friends who she would play music with, died, causing her to stop. 

 But in the middle of COVID she began to pick up music again.  

“I was so bored I started playing piano again... I was like, I don’t know what I want to do, and my mom was like, ‘Well, this music thing has always been stuck with you. I really think you should chase that,’” Hill said.  

Hill pulls her music influences from 2010 indie rock music, Sam Fender and lyricism from Bruce Springsteen. Music is a way of healing for both her and the listeners.  

“I really feel in the past year and a half I’ve developed my voice and established who I am as an artist,” Hill said.  

Hill tries to pull from life events either her or her friends are going through, then starting with the melody of the song, then writing the lyrics. 

“I have a couple friends who grew up writing in LA and they’re always like, ‘You’re such a Nashville songwriter,’ because I’m so involved in the story and making sure everything is pretty,” said Hill. “And they’re just like, ‘Girl, you’re thinking about this too much,’ It’s been a good reminder to me too, to take a step back sometimes, because you get so involved in your art, that you forget you’re making art.”  

Being an artist means taking chances with your feelings when you write. Artists commonly write about their emotions and are vulnerable with their audience.  

“Being an artist is a really weird thing because, for the most part, it is very pure, but at the same time, we’re all just looking around for other people to clap for us,” Hill said. “That’s kind of insane when you say it like that, but it’s true. If you write a song and people don’t clap, your feelings get hurt.”   

Right now, Hill is working on her first EP, called “Gold Record.” It’s about coming into young adulthood. The first single off her EP, “Teeth” is supposed to come out in April.  

SOCIAL MEDIA:  @lizahillmusic Instagram/Tik Tok 

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This article was written by Sarah Baker