BIO
Eliza Lynn is a folk, blues, and gospel songwriter whose concerts blend original songs, storytelling, and communal singing — what she calls a “healing hootenanny.”
Eliza Lynn grew up singing, writing songs on the way to pre-school. As a student at Warren Wilson College, she looked for low, bluesy songs to sing before realizing that she could write them herself. She produced her first album, Frisky or Fair at Collapseable Studio in West Asheville in 2005. This community produced album was the product of the generosity of Eliza’s musical friendships and her community. Eighty families and individuals financially supported its creation, with thirteen musicians giving their time. In 2006, Eliza put a band together with Mike Alexander playing the bass.
For years, Mike had toured with bands and songwriters, playing upright and electric basses. During his years in Asheville, you might have seen Mike playing with Scrappy Hamilton, David Lamotte, Stephanie Morgan, Whitney Moore, or at the Tressa’s jazz jam or hosting an open mic at the Grey Eagle. While playing in the band together, Eliza and Mike fell in love and produced Eliza’s second album together: The Weary Wake Up in 2007, recorded at Echo Mountain. In 2008, Eliza played live at Abbey Road Studios in London for XM Satellite Radio and at the Belfast-Nashville songwriting festival, meeting songwriting heroes Dougie Maclean and Nancy Griffith.
Then Mike moved to Sedona, AZ to pursue a desert adventure and Eliza moved to Nashville, TN to record a breakup album called Haven (2009). She recorded Together (2011), a community produced cover album, and later her fourth original album, Goodbye Nashville (2014) in Scotland. After more than a decade of releasing original albums and gigging, Eliza pursued a call to graduate theology school and wrote a thesis called In Belief of Tears: American Blues as an Entrance to the Psalms of Lament. Merging blues, folk music and liturgy, Eliza played in churches, schools and prisons prior to the pandemic. She was teaching songwriting in a women's prison when Covid-19 hit.
In 2022, Eliza moved to Camp Verde, Arizona to reunite romantically and musically with Mike Alexander. Eliza and Mike are again making soulful music together. They recently relocated to Greenville, SC and love being back in the Southeast, where Eliza and Mike recently got married! They are playing original songs on a variety of instruments including an audience favorite: the racquet! With sing-alongs and opportunities for others to be heard, performance is an inclusive opportunity for the medicinal element songwriting to be felt by all. Eliza and Mike are recording a gospel album and are delighted be working with Chris Rosser at Hollow Reed Studio in Asheville. Anticipated release date is the fall of 2026.