“Schneckenburger’s playing is…quietly virtuosic…her voice is pure and clear, full of simple emotion.” -All Music Guide
The first year of the pandemic was a deeply creative time for Vermont based fiddle composer and song-writer Lissa Schneckenburger. When everything shut down (including her touring schedule), writing music became an essential outlet. Schneckenburger explains, “I had to write music to process my experience of living through such a difficult time. It was my life line”. The result was what Schneckenburger jokingly calls “overflowing bucketfuls of music” and enough new material for several album releases. The first album, Falling Forward, is a collection of Schneckenburger’s original fiddle tunes and two traditional New England songs, released in March 2023.
Lissa hired a star powered all female cast of musicians to record her compositions, and Falling Forward was recorded in December of 2022. The ensemble included fiddling producer Katie McNally, pianist Rachel Aucoin, bass player Mali Obomsawin, cellist Natalie Haas, and accordion player Karen Tweed. “These women are my heroes,” Schneckenburger says, “they are leaders in the acoustic music world, and it was such an honor to record with them.” The tunes range from lively to somber and introspective. Many reflect the tone of a riotous fiddle party with floorboards thumping, bow hair flying, and instruments and dancers in every corner. Falling Forward provides music for both meditation and release. Both of which feel appropriate in processing our collective experience as a society over the last few years.
During the past few decades, Schneckenburger has made music showcasing everything from traditional dance tunes, to original songs. The latter inspired by her experience as a foster and adoptive parent. Falling Forward has blended her love of traditional music with her love of writing, in her first fiddle forward album release in over a decade.
Lissa’s Teachings: Lessons and Music-Learning Resources
Are you or your child looking for an outlet to explore yourself musically and creatively?
Lissa teaches in person and virtual private music lessons for beginners and more experienced fiddlers and folk singers of all ages. In her private lessons Lissa teaches traditional repertoire from New England, Scotland, and Ireland. Lissa additionally offers vocal technical training, musicianship, composition, arranging, and ear training exercises to develop a student’s ability to learn by ear and explore their creativity. Want to learn some Irish fiddle tunes? Learn vibrato or get inspired to practice more? Become a more responsive and developed musician? Lissa will help get you there whether through virtual fiddle lessons, or learning in person at her home studio!
Looking to develop your auditory learning?
Lissa’s Learning By Ear Online Video Course is her most popular teaching resource, geared towards both beginners and expert musicians! You can purchase the video series to view remotely at any time, or attend live workshops virtually and in person. Sign up for upcoming workshops on zoom and in person *here*. Give your musicianship a boost and start learning fiddle tunes on the fly just by hearing them!
Looking to expand your musical repertoire?
Lissa offers her Patreon subscribers weekly fiddle lesson where she teaches one of her favorite tunes and offers technical insights. Access hundreds of tune learning videos, along with technique and practice tips, with new videos posted weekly.
THUNDER IN MY ARMS
Thunder in my Arms was Lissa’s first release of all-original music, and a song-cycle about attachment, parenting, and developmental trauma. After a decades-long career performing as a traditional fiddler and ballad singer, Lissa expanded her musical creativity. Schneckenburger’s personal experience as a foster and adoptive parent sparked her drive to write songs around the themes of families and resiliency. Thunder in my Arms is sung from a myriad of viewpoints. It can be at times brazen and innocent, resilient and triumphant, softly confessional and sweetly comforting.
“At a certain point I noticed that everyone we turned to for help with parenting was talking about the same thing: finding compassion, synchronicity, and understanding. In my attempts to be a better parent I found plenty of invaluable books and workshops that got that point across, but no songs! Music has this magical way of communicating emotion almost instantly. It allows human beings to synchronize with each other on so many levels. I set out to write songs that would resonate with other parents like myself.”
Lissa is raising money to donate CDs to foster and adoptive families! If you or anyone you know has been affected by foster care or adoption, send us a message and we’ll send you a free CD or download copy of Thunder in My Arms! To donate music to more families who would not otherwise be able to afford it, or order your own copy, go to: https://lissafiddle.com/store/thunder-in-my-arms/
Thunder in My Arms features: Lissa Schneckenburger (lead vocals, violin) Stefan Amidon (drums, harmony vocals) Ross Bellenoit (electric guitar). Zara Bode (harmony vocals) Corey DiMario (double bass) Natalie Haas (cello) Jefferson Hamer (acoustic guitar) Curtis Hasselbring (trombone). Cole Kamen-Green (trumpet) Ryan McKasson (viola). Emily Milly (harmony vocals) Alec Spiegelman (pump organ, woodwinds, saxophones, electric guitar) Jed Wilson (piano).
LABOR ON
Lissa’s Single Labor On centers around environmental activism, originally inspired by peaceful protests at the Merrimack Generating Station (Bow, NH). (Merrimack Generating Station was the last large coal plant in New England without a shut-down date). Fires were ravaging Australia, and climate refugees were being displaced in historic numbers due to drought, flooding, and food insecurity. It is increasingly evident that individual actions affect everyone. We as a society need to fight for our humanity. We need to stand up to governments and corporations that have no reverence for human life or the earth that sustains us.
Call your legislators and demand an end to fossil fuel use. Visit www.nocoalnogas.org, www.climatedisobedience.org, and 350.org to be part of the solution