Lily Schaffer

Artist Information

Biography

"Lemonade, the debut album by Chicago singer-songwriter Lily Schaffer, immediately brings to mind the wryly clever pop of Aimee Mann and Fiona Apple. With a canon of strong songs that are as witty as they are biting, as catchy and pop-minded as they are literate, Schaffer is set to garner quite a bit of attention with Lemonade."

-Examiner.com

Lemonade, released independently by Lily Schaffer, was recorded at Velvet Shirt Studios in Chicago and was produced by long term Chicago music veteran Danny Shaffer. Contributers on the album include Gerald Dowd of Frisbie and Jim Dinou of the Most Dangerous Race. Lily and her band recently did a set for ENE’s Chicago Rocks segment. Lily is also the long running host of the open mic at the Innertown Pub in Wicker Park on Thursday nights at 10pm.

Instrumentation

Lily Schaffer: vocals, guitar
Frank Pratt: bass
Jim Gifford: drums
Brent Seatter: guitar

Discography

Lemonade LP, 2009

Audio

• rubber match
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• nebula
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• trigger
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• all he wants
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• firecracker
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Lyrics

• rubber match
• all he wants

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Lily Schaffer Lemonade LP review [+ Show ]
  

  Lemonade, the debut album by Chicago singer-songwriter Lily Schaffer, is perfectly named. It’s both ...Lemonade, the debut album by Chicago singer-songwriter Lily Schaffer, is perfectly named. It’s both sweet and sour, pairing airy pop melodies with tales of unhappiness and imperfection. This cocktail of sweetness, sadness and clever cynicism makes it clear that Schaffer has studied under the school of Aimee Mann, the reigning queen of unhappy-yet-hummable pop. For proof, just listen to album opener “Rubber Match” - which both musically and lyrically sounds like it could have jumped straight out of Mann’s catalog. Although the similarities are hard to ignore, Schaffer manages to avoid coming off merely as a disposable knockoff of the original. Her sugar-coated vocals sound a bit more ingenuous and the material is too good to ever seem irrelevant, consistently offering quality hooks, grade A performances by Schaffer's band and excellent, Jon Brion-esque production. The melodies of whimsically sad cuts such as “All He Wants,” “Nebula” and “Firecracker” are lush and immediately satisfying, and Schaffer keeps things interesting by spacing out the slower tracks with more upbeat, assertive material such as “Trigger” and “Pun,” which add some Liz Phair influence into the mix. All of these ingredients add up to create a strong debut that should appeal to any fan of literate alt-pop.

Setlist

Set lists usually consist of 12 songs that are usually originals, but I have been known to do an Aimee Mann or Fiona Apple cover every so often.

Basic Requirements

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