Lissie's music had already appeared on shows like The O.C., Veronica Mars, and House by the time she moved to California, and she widened her fan base by launching a weekly songwriter's circle at her local bar, Crane's Hollywood Tavern, and releasing a self-titled EP.

Returning to the U.S., Lissie headed west and settled in Los Angeles, where she became a fixture on the local venue circuit and landed a national tour opening for Lenny Kravitz. Lissie was also something of a rebel she got thrown out of high school during her senior year, spent a brief period at Colorado State University, relocated to Paris for a semester, and eventually ditched college altogether to pursue her music career. The granddaughter of an international barbershop quartet champion, she grew up singing in theater productions, eventually picking up the guitar and playing her own songs at local coffee shops as a teenager. Lissie Maurus was raised in the riverside town of Rock Island, Illinois, and she drew upon those blue-collar Midwestern origins to create her own form of indie folk music.

Lissie pursuit of happiness