Lizzy McAvoy is a prolific songwriter, gifted multi-instrumentalist, talented producer, and if her YouTube videos are any indication, a darn good cook. Lizzy’s songs have been recorded by artists such as Jo Dee Messina (“Love on a Maybe”), the Shires (“Speechless”), and Caroline Kole (“Hey Boy”); and Sondr’s rendition of her “Live Love Learn” (feat. Peg Parnevik) has received over 11 million streams on Spotify and over 5 million views on YouTube. Her songs have been featured on Nashville and The Best of Me soundtracks, and in a high-profile Dodge Ram ad.
As an artist, Lizzy has four albums under her belt, including Be Brave, which was chosen for CMT’s Artist Discovery — spending 12 weeks in the top 10 and three weeks at number two — and her most recent offering, Diary of a 20 Something. Lizzy hosts a cooking show, The Girl in the Apron, and has also been a popular fixture at Sweetwater’s GearFest, demonstrating products for Martin, Rupert Neve Designs, and Bose. Although her schedule is unbelievably hectic, Lizzy was kind enough to chat about her career, her studio, and her decade-long relationship with Sweetwater.
The First Creative Spark
When most teenage girls are worried about getting their driver’s licenses, Lizzy had larger ambitions. She left her hometown of Newark, Ohio — a city of fewer than 50,000 people — at the age of 16 to pursue a music career in Nashville. Lizzy didn’t always have stars in her eyes, however. For most of her childhood, she assumed that she would take over her father’s construction company when she grew up. She also loved softball. Her plan was to play softball in college, get a degree, then come back and run her dad’s company. “I never dreamed of leaving Ohio,” Lizzy insisted.
Lizzy wrote her first song at the age of 11, after witnessing the devastating events of 9/11. She recalled reading a story about a child who lost his father in one of the towers. The child took a football to ground zero, along with a note about how he hoped he and his dad could play football together again one day in heaven. She remembers bawling her eyes out — it was the first time she had witnessed something truly horrible. “It felt really emotional to me,” she said. So she went into her parents’ piano room, and for the first time, transformed what she was feeling into a song.
The Dream Is Born
Lizzy’s family has been instrumental to her success, beginning with her first trip to Nashville at the age of 13. “I remember that first trip like it was yesterday,” she said. “I just knew in my heart that I was meant to be here.” After that first trip, Lizzy became obsessed with writing songs. She became fixated on Nashville and its close-knit music community. “The dream was born,” she remarked.
Lizzy’s parents encouraged their daughter’s newfound passion, taking her back and forth between Ohio and Nashville for the next couple of years so she could attend songwriting workshops and network within the local music community. According to Lizzy, networking is vital to success in the music industry. “Relationships have kept me alive,” she said. Lizzy found a mentor in acclaimed songwriter Jason Blume, who told her parents, “You need to get Lizzy here — Lizzy needs to be in Nashville.” And Lizzy said, “My parents took that seriously, which is an incredible thing for a 15-year-old.”
Destination: Nashville
Lizzy’s parents made a deal with her. They told her that when she finished high school, they’d move to Nashville so she could pursue a music career. But Lizzy didn’t want to wait that long, so she found an independent study program through the University of Nebraska, finished high school in a year and a half, and graduated at the age of 16. Lizzy’s parents made good on their promise and moved the family to Nashville. By the time Lizzy was 18, she had signed her first publishing deal. “It just took off from there,” exclaimed Lizzy.
A Girl with a Guitar in Her Hand
Lizzy says that she has always loved singing and performing onstage with a guitar in her hand. In fact, it was this love of performing that fueled her songwriting. She realized that she loved performing her own songs. “Covers are okay,” she said. “But the connection between performing a song that I wrote and how it interacted with a stranger is one of my favorite things.”
“I moved to Nashville to get a record deal — to be a touring artist,” Lizzy noted. But then she realized how amazing the songwriting community was in Nashville. As far as a musical career goes, it was everything she wanted. She wanted to write. She was amazed at how top-tier songwriters could take a listener to new places with their imagery, and she wanted to know how to do that. She wanted to know how to connect with people the way the music she was hearing connected with her, so she worked tirelessly to become the best songwriter she could be.
The Origin of a Gearhead
When you talk to Lizzy McAvoy about studio equipment, one thing becomes abundantly clear: this lady is a proud, card-carrying gearhead! But her decent into studio rat-dom wasn’t deliberate — it was born out of necessity. After Lizzy signed her first publishing deal, she spent almost $2,000 on demos in Nashville studios. “I was going broke,” she exclaimed.
Beyond that, she wasn’t always happy with the end result. She felt that the standard U 87 -> heavy-handed compression -> Auto-Tune treatment didn’t suit her voice. She figured that there had to be a way for her to record her own guitar and vocals. And she knew that learning about engineering would enable her to capture the sound she heard in her head. While she considered her next move, Lizzy’s father recalled having done business with Sweetwater Sales Engineer Keith Schreiber during one of his past projects. He was impressed by Keith’s customer service and extensive knowledge, so he gave Keith a call.
Keith set Lizzy up with a (for that time) state-of-the-art starter rig: a MacBook, Digidesign 003 with Pro Tools, Alesis studio monitors, a Mojave MA-200 microphone, and a Universal Audio LA-610 channel strip. And when Lizzy needed something to spice up her Martin D-18 acoustic, Keith was on hand to help out, recommending a Portico 5012 preamp and Shure SM81 microphone. This setup remained her go-to rig for a year, and she still uses the mics and preamps to this day. Lizzy emphasized that she appreciated Keith’s professionalism — he didn’t treat her like “some little girl doing a guitar thing.” He took her seriously and hooked her up with pro-level gear. “Sweetwater played an instrumental part in how I got into production and engineering,” Lizzy noted.
Getting Bit by the Production Bug
When she first set out to master Pro Tools, Lizzy hit a few speed bumps. Since this was pre-YouTube, she relied on a Pro Tools 101 book and its companion instructional DVD. She recalled that she didn’t know how to Quick Punch, so she kept recording everything in a single take. She also remembered how she once deleted everything in a session, so she had to re-record the entire project. But she kept experimenting and kept learning.
Lizzy continued producing guitar/vocal demos for the next year or so and received many compliments on the quality of the recordings. But when she was tasked with preparing for a pitch for country superstar Keith Urban, she was instructed to “put a loop on it,” to which she responded “absolutely — no problem.” There was a problem, however. She didn’t know what a loop was, nor how to integrate it into her recording.
Lizzy stayed up all night playing with a loop library in GarageBand, trying to figure out how to use it. In retrospect, she noted, the result was horrible. That said, she experienced an epiphany. “When I heard that loop on top of my acoustic guitar, I heard drums, I heard bass, I heard electric guitar.” It was then that she knew that she was onto something new, something exciting.
Confessions of an Analog Junkie
Lizzy’s current studio is enviable — a hoard of instruments and handpicked analog gear centered around an Audient ASP4816 console. “I’m a studio mole,” she confessed, “and an analog junkie.” Lizzy loves the sound of the Audient’s preamps on drums. “Toms sound amazing,” she said. “You don’t need to touch the EQ.” She loves that the console puts space on a mix when you sum through it. She also noted how it changed people’s attitudes about the caliber of her studio. “Everybody was like — oh my God — you have a real studio!” And nothing had really changed — just the console. You can hear more of Lizzy’s thoughts on her ASP4816 on her Audient Vlog.
So with all this analog goodness at her fingertips, what other pieces of gear does she reach for? Lizzy didn’t even hesitate — her Rupert Neve Designs Shelford Channel is her favorite. “It’s like bacon-wrapping a fillet and dumping three sticks of butter on top and just letting it sizzle and cook and be delicious,” she gushed. She bought the Shelford Channel at the recommendation of Rupert Neve Designs Director of Strategic Operations Jonathan Pines. She said that she strummed one note on her acoustic guitar and fell in love with it. “It was totally worth the investment,” she said.
Beyond that, she still relies on her Mojave MA-200. Even though she’s had it for about 10 years, it’s her workhorse. “I’ve had hundreds of singers on it and it always sounds great,” she said. Lizzy also enjoys placing her Slate Dragon on vocals. MA-200 -> LA-610 -> Dragon is her preferred vocal chain. When she added it to her vocal chain, mix engineers were calling her and asking what she did different.
For guitar tones, Lizzy trusts her Kemper Profiling Amplifier to deliver the goods. “I thought I was a purist,” she maintained. “I spent a lot of time building my amp locker.” But then a friend brought his Kemper over while tracking her Be Brave album. Even though she had plenty of high-end amps on-site, she preferred how the Kemper tracks sat in the mix. Her mix engineer complemented the tracks as well, favoring them over the miked tracks. So now Lizzy is a convert. “It’s user friendly,” she said. “I can track it without rattling the dishes upstairs. It’s a great piece of gear,” she concluded.
Last but not least, Lizzy praised her Triad-Orbit Starbird Boom. “I could not do what I do without it.” Lizzy works in a tight space, frequently by herself. She noted that she has clips and clamps everywhere for her microphones. She uses it for filming The Girl in the Apron as well. Why does she swear by Triad-Orbit? Lizzy loves that these booms are super strong. She recounted an incident when her old boom stand tipped over and damaged her family’s 1925 Steinway grand piano. After that incident, she knew that she needed a high-quality stand she could trust. And she found one in the Starbird. You can hear more of Lizzy’s thoughts on Triad-Orbit on her Triad-Orbit videos.
A Grateful Heart Is the Beginning of Greatness
Lizzy doesn’t name-drop or brag about her successes. She’s just proud to be doing what she loves. She recently celebrated 12 years of working in the industry professionally, and she’s still going strong. She’s grateful to still be relevant and thankful to be surrounded by a sea of incredible artists and songwriters. “I get to write songs, make records, produce, engineer, hang out with cool gear and instruments all day — and turn knobs and make things sound pretty,” she said. “It’s cool and inspiring.” As for the artists she’s worked with, they’ve all felt iconic to her. “They’ve helped me grow and they’ve helped me become a better writer and a better producer — and honestly, a better person.”
Living in the Moment
Focusing on the moment helps Lizzy maintain her sanity in an industry that’s infamous for being a wild rollercoaster ride. “It’s important to remember how much you love what you’re doing and keep falling in love with your craft,” she said. “You never know it all — you’re always learning.” She relayed that she used to be focused on “the big smash” or writing with the next big artist. Then she realized that she was so focused on the future that she forgot to live in the present, and there were lots of moments to cherish. She learned to simply relish the joy of working on a great song or being with a great writer or artist.
That said, Lizzy does have dreams and goals for the future. She’s been a fan of Brandi Carlile since 2007’s The Story and would love the opportunity to work with her. Lizzy cited Dolly Parton as being one of her idols: “I want to be her,” she said. “I want to be as awesome and business savvy and cool as Dolly Parton.” She noted that she would love to work with Charlie Puth — “I think he’s phenomenal,” she expressed. She also noted that she would love to write with songwriter/producer Martin Johnson, frontman of the indie pop band the Night Game. Lastly, she mentioned Panic! At the Disco’s Brendon Urie — “He has an incredible singing range; he’s one of the most unsung vocalists of his generation.”
Sweetwater — Her Industry Partner
Lizzy leans heavily on her current Sales Engineer, Mike Picotte, for guidance. “Mike knows my setup,” she said. “He knows what’s going on in my studio. So if I email him and I say I need a lapel mic — boom — I’ve got a great lapel mic. Mike knows what works for me, and most crucially, he knows what I like. He also knows my budget. He knows I don’t mind splurging if it’s a worthy splurge. But I’m not the sort of person who wants the fanciest thing I can get.” What’s more, if she has to update her system, she emails Mike to ask if it’s safe to do so. “That’s such an important tool to have,” she admits.
Lizzy is also a huge fan of GearFest, having attended as both a guest and an artist. “I can go on and on about GearFest,” she exclaimed. “Any Sweetwater customer has to go to GearFest — it’s a game changer!” Lizzy related that she has established numerous relationships with companies and artists at GearFest, which resulted in endorsements and partnerships. She also loves “geeking out” at the workshops. “It’s like going to Disneyland,” she said. “And I’ve been to Disneyland. I would totally trade Disneyland for GearFest.” And how does she explain GearFest to non-musicians? She says, “It’s like going to Comic-Con or a Star Trek convention.”
If you ask Lizzy what her favorite part of being a Sweetwater customer is, her answer is pretty straightforward: “The attention to detail, the caring — knowing that you have a great team supporting you means a lot.”
To learn more about Lizzy, visit Lizzymcavoy.com/.