Lizzy Rain, Indie maverick musician/bandleader/record label owner from Minneapolis, is a stunning example of what can be accomplished when given a second chance. A trained classical pianist from childhood, Lizzy started writing in her teens and never stopped. In the ensuing years school, work, marriage, divorce, and single parenthood followed. The music dream, a victim of the combination of the pressures of financial survival and familial expectations, was constantly put on the back burner.

Brought back to the music after suffering a severe head trauma in 2005, Lizzy searched for a partner to help her bring her long-ago ditched dream to life and found a powerful, compassionate and creative ally in the team of Todd Fitzgerald and Brian Johnson at Winterland Studios.

With Fitzgerald co-producing and the sought-after Johnson at the mix/master helm,  Lizzy Rain quietly recorded and released her first record, "Tiny Light,"  in February of 2008 on her own Mad Hatter Records label.  "Tiny Light" is a collection of piano based rock songs featuring supporting players Kenny Wilson on guitar, Jessy Greene on violin, Jim Anton on bass, and Christopher McGuire on drums. The strength of the songwriting, performances and production on "Tiny Light," combined with tireless grass roots promotion, has proven popular with music lovers looking for something other than mainstream pop, and has resulted in Indie airplay in Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire and Maine.

On her self-produced second record, "Gypsy Heart," Lizzy Rain has combined her training as a classical pianist and her love of rock and roll to form her own unique sound, which she now fondly describes as Indie Orchestral Rock. Surrounding herself with some of the finest musicians Minneapolis has to offer, the songs on "Gypsy Heart" feature her elegant, melodic piano and unique vocal style backed by veteran guitar players Mark Knoll and Kenny Wilson, classically trained violinist Laurie Melting, and Chicago-like horn section of Zack Lozier on trumpet and Gus Sandberg on sax. Singer Cate Fierro provides a second female voice throughout the record, and bassist Nick Salisbury and drummer/percussionist Tim Zhorne round out the group as the tight, fluid rhythm section. Lizzy returned to Winterland Studios to record "Gypsy Heart," with Todd Fitgerald and Joe Salgado engineering and Brian Johnson mixing. Regarding Winterland Studios and her relationship with Fitzgerald and Johnson, Rain says "I found a great thing in Todd and Brian, we forged a relationship based on mutual respect, trust and integrity. I don't forget things like that. I will absolutely go back and record the third record with them."

As a writer, she is both fearless and vulnerable. Clearly outspoken and wild at heart, Lizzy Rain wears her maturity on her sleeve like a celebratory banner and invites us to do the same. She writes about her life experiences and observations in a way that is both matter-of-fact and profound. Drawing the listener in with an almost mystical grasp of the human condition, she puts into words what most people would if they could; stories of hope and acceptance, loneliness and despair, romantic fantasies gone awry, courage prevailing over fear of the road not taken. Perhaps her most poignant songs are those written about her deep and abiding love for her child, combined with fear for that child in an increasingly violent society, and of what we are leaving that child and the next generation if we do not take environmental responsibility.

When Andrew Volna, owner of Noiseland Manufacturing in Minneapolis, (who manufactured both of her records) told Lizzy Rain that releasing two records in the span of 17 months was impressive, her response was simple and plaintive, "I was delayed. I have no time to waste."