Press Release

Singer/Songwriter Liz Carlisle to Speak at Union City High School

9/10/07

COLDWATER - When country singer-songwriter Liz Carlisle takes to the podium at Union City High School at 9 a.m. on Friday, the 14th, she won't have her guitar with her. That's because this stop isn't a concert - it's a speech.

"This part of my career has just grown naturally," Liz explained. Liz was the keynote speaker for the 2007 Arabian Horse Association's Youth Nationals, a competition that draws over a hundred high achieving teenagers from the U.S. and Canada. "We didn't say, 'hey, we should do a speaking tour.' But I was very honored when the AHA asked me to do this, and I look forward to many more opportunities to speak to audiences of all ages, especially young people."

Chosen as the undergraduate speaker at her Harvard Commencement last year, Carlisle has been speaking in public almost as long as she has been singing. "I remember entering the declamation contest in the fifth grade and delivering my piece in front of the whole auditorium," Liz said. "It was 'Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes'."

These days, Liz's words from the podium (like those in her music) are her own. She talks about what she learned as a public school kid from Montana who went to Harvard and then struck out on her own as an independent singer-songwriter.

"When I talk to teenagers, I try to be really honest with them, especially about my mistakes or failures, where I felt like I could have done something differently," Liz says. "It's not helpful to have a role model if she's not real."

So what does Liz have to say? "The main thing I want to encourage kids to do is take care of themselves, physically, mentally, and spiritually," she says. "I think the hardest work of our lives - and the biggest achievements - happen internally. Once you get out of your own way and really get to know yourself, the rest is easy."

After Liz speaks Friday morning at Union City High School, she will travel to Detroit where she will open that evening for Clay Walker at the D.T.E. Energy Music Theatre.

Then on Saturday, the 15th, she will be appearing in her own show at Tibbits. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students and are available on line at www.tibbits.org, by calling 517-278-6029, or at the Tibbits administrative offices.