When I'm Alone - Background & anecdotes
With
LissieLissie tells the story behind 'When I'm Alone', the song that launched her career, from its 2010 success to Questlove sitting in on drums for a TV performance.
What's in the course
25 lessons (1h 37m) · 1 free
Lesson transcript
The Story Behind "When I'm Alone"
So when I'm alone, I feel like, you know, it's the song that is responsible for my career in many ways.
- It was the iTunes Song of the Year in 2010.
- It got up to number one, at least for a day, in Norway in the summer of 2010.
- I performed it on The Tonight Show.
I've had all of these big experiences because of "When I'm Alone."
A Memorable Performance
A fun memory was when, you know, the band and I played on Jimmy Fallon. This was before he became the main host of The Tonight Show.
- His band is the Roots.
- Our British drummer, Stuart, couldn't get a visa to come over to the US just to do this TV show.
So Eric Lewis and I, my original bandmates on bass and lead guitar, didn't have a drummer to play with us. Somehow it worked out that Questlove actually learned "When I'm Alone" and played it on the drums with us.
We performed "When I'm Alone" with Questlove on the Jimmy Fallon Show. That was pretty major!
The Impact of a Song
The song just kind of got me buzzed.
- I was getting press.
- I was getting radio play.
- It was briefly on Radio 1 before I became more of a Radio 2 artist in the UK.
So much opportunity came from "When I'm Alone." I've been in multiple situations in different countries where people, if they've been having some drinks and see me, will literally run over and sing, "When I'm alone with you."
I love this because it is so special to me that it has been special to so many people. I forget sometimes how many places my music has found its way to.
A Life Beyond Music
I live on this farm and have kind of this other life next to my music life. It's fun when I get out and about to realize that maybe someone danced to this song 12 years ago at a festival with the man they now are married to and have three kids with.
I've seen how this song was the soundtrack of the summer of 2010 for people. I get to follow up with them, people who were 20 then, and now in their early 30s.
It's heartwarming to know that it was a song they associated with the summer they fell in love, or other significant moments in their lives.
I just feel so honored that I get to be part of people's stories via my music.
25 lessons
1h 37m of structured video lessons
Advanced video features
Slow down, loop a passage, follow along
Mobile, tablet & desktop
Practise wherever you are
100% satisfaction guarantee
30-day money-back guarantee
Meet your guru
Meet your guru
Lissie is a folk-rocker who grew up in Rock Island, Illinois, near the Mississippi River, speaking her mind and writing songs from an early age. Fans first fell in love with her voice on the five-song EP 'Why You Runnin'', produced by Bill Reynolds of Band of Horses, which Paste Magazine ranked among its Eight Most Auspicious Musical Debuts.
In 2010, her first full-length album 'Catching A Tiger' unassumingly established Lissie as a global voice. Stateside praise was matched in the UK with acclaim from the BBC, Evening Standard, Uncut and The Independent, who described it as "as refreshing a slice of pop as these jaded ears have heard in years." The album went on to sell 300,000 copies worldwide - 100,000 of them in the UK, where it was certified Gold.
Highlights along the way:
- Nominated for Best Breakthrough Act at the Q Awards, and tapped by VH1 as a "You Oughta Know" artist
- Festival sets at Glastonbury, Hard Rock Calling, Latitude, Secret Garden Party and Bestival
- TV appearances including Later with Jools Holland and Sunday Brunch
- Screen roles in Loudermilk and David Lynch's Twin Peaks, where NME praised her "intense" performance closing the episode with the Stevie Nicks-esque 'Wild West': "Rock Island's most exciting troubadour more than earned her Lynch-commissioned screen time."
- 'Carving Canyons' (out September 16), her first full-length album since the UK Top 10 'Castles' in 2018
In her guitar course, Lissie shares the chords, strumming and songwriting instincts behind her songs - everything you need to start playing like Rock Island's finest troubadour.
