Lijie

Musician/song-writer Lijie (pronounced Lee-Jay) was born in China, and moved to the United States when she was five and began living the stereo-typical Asian/American life of focusing on good grades, learning to play classical piano, and proceeding to college to become anything other than an artist. After college, she decided to forgo her finance degree and instead, move to Los Angeles, wait tables for two years, and pursue her dream of being a singer. She started writing music, playing at o...

Musician/song-writer Lijie (pronounced Lee-Jay) was born in China, and moved to the United States when she was five and began living the stereo-typical Asian/American life of focusing on good grades, learning to play classical piano, and proceeding to college to become anything other than an artist. After college, she decided to forgo her finance degree and instead, move to Los Angeles, wait tables for two years, and pursue her dream of being a singer. She started writing music, playing at open-mic nights, and booking shows. These shows led to her meeting other musicians whom she would later make music with and would record on her album ROAM. The key players include drummer, Curtis Byrd, and guitarist Adam Schuman. Lijie was approached by an indie label, and though she chose not to sign with the label, it was through this process that she met Erik Colvin, a "nice, kind, amazing musician," alumni of the renowned Berklee School of Music in Boston, who helped her produce her first album, ROAM. "My dream is to make beautiful music...music which people will listen to and FEEL something. The kind of music that strikes you and knocks you down. We live in a world which often tells us to hide our emotions, and to always be positive. And I understand the value of positive thinking, it is a wonderful thing, yet we can not deny or ignore the realities of life. How can we be authentically true to ourselves if we choose to see only one side of the coin? Music is that place, the safe place where a listener can put on headphones and say 'I'm not the only one who feels this way...'" Music free my soul...