The beauty of being an aspiring singing sensation in 2025 is that artists now have 70+ years of American musical genius to reflect back on. A good case in point is Live At Joe’s Pub, the 2025 album by L.A. based Lizzy & The Triggermen. Anyone familiar with the Downtown NYC music scene will note Joe’s Pub is among the legendary venues for live music in the city.

On her 2025 album with her band, Lizzy slays the Joe’s crowd with versions of jazz and movie classics from yesteryear. Her big band backing adds spark and sizzle to these sometimes forgotten classics from the past. Lizzy’s assured vocals have been compared to vocalists from Ella Fitzgerald to Amy Winehouse.

Two songs here, “When I Get Low, I Get High” and “Sweet Marijuana” offer visions of Ella Fitzgerald and Cab Calloway. The historical elements notwithstanding, “Sweet Marijuana” is actually from the 1934 movie Murder At The Vanities, while Ella actually did record “When I Get Low, I Get High”, at age 18, back in the 1930s.

Lizzy’s big band version of “A Lot Of Livin’ To Do”, written by Charles Strouse, was one of the memorable moments from Bye Bye Birdie and Lizzy spotlights the moment, while her version of “Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead” from The Wizard Of Oz, while not as compact as say the 5th Estate Version from 1967, is more true to the theatrical presentation of the 1939 movie. The clarinet / vocal duet of Sidney Bechet’s “Waste No Tears”, is moving to say the least.

It just flows on like that on a very entertaining album featuring sophisticated singing by Lizzy backed by her 9-musician band. There’s even a couple retro-tinged 1930s-style instrumentals by her band, sans Lizzy. A trip down memory lane and the Great American Songbook, Live At Joe’s Pub, by Lizzy & The Triggermen will actually leave you yearning for the good old days in Old New York.

 

RMR Speaks To Lizzy Shaps of Lizzy & The Triggermen

 

RMR: Can you tell us where you’re from originally and where you live now and what you like best about it? Are you planning to play live in other countries?

Lizzy Shaps: First of all, thank you so much for the very kind words about our album and for taking the time to chat with me!

I’m originally from Chelsea, Massachusetts. I fell in love with performing doing Chelsea Community Theater, which I lovingly refer to as “Waiting For Guffman” meets “The Departed”, haha. I did my first musical at age four and a half. On opening night I had a raging fever, but still went on. Afterwards, I ran to my dad - who had been sweetly waiting in the wings the whole show - and said, “Ah, I feel so alive!” Decades later, I’ve never stopped feeling that indescribable rush every time I perform. It’s why I’m so thrilled to be releasing a live album, because nothing is more meaningful to me than live performance.

I moved out to Los Angeles many years ago which is where I’ve built my home base. I love living in a city filled with people pursuing their dreams. Someone once described Los Angeles as a “city whose currency is hope”, which perfectly describes why I adore this city so much. L.A. is also filled with some of the most incredible musicians in the world.

In terms of touring, the band has been lucky to tour all over the country! There’s something so wonderful about getting to know a city through its audiences. I can honestly say, we’ve yet to visit a city I didn’t end up adoring. And, yes, we would LOVE to get to play shows in other countries! Our new album has been getting a lot of radio play overseas... so perhaps we will get to tour internationally soon, too!

 

RMR: When did you form Lizzy & The Triggermen and how many albums have you released so far and how would you describe your musical mission with Lizzy & The Triggermen?

Lizzy Shaps: This is actually only our second album we’ve ever released. The world is so oversaturated with “content” these days, the last thing I want to do is add to the relentless chorus of “look at me” unless I feel like we have something really meaningful to say. I formed the band back in 2015 and waited five years to release our first album. I made a decision early on that instead of chasing algorithms, we would build a fanbase the old-fashioned way: by putting on killer live shows. And it worked! Within a couple of years we went from playing small speakeasies to selling out legendary venues like the Troubadour before we’d even released a track.

Our debut EP, Good Songs for Bad Times, was finally slated to be released in April 2020. And then, as we all know, the world shut down. Our team told us to hold the release until we could tour again, but my gut said the message of the album was tailor- made for that moment. I’m glad I trusted my intuition, because the record ended up charting #3 on iTunes Jazz Charts! But the most gratifying part was hearing how much joy our music was providing people in such a scary time.

My musical mission with the band is the mission I think swing music has always had; to transport people away from their troubles, and recharge their spirit - the way only a wailing horn section can. The most thrilling moments in my life have been sitting in an audience - from Prince playing at the Forum to Stephen Dillane doing Stoppard to an unsigned jazz band tearing it up in the corner of a dive bar. My goal as a bandleader is to create that magic for our audiences.

 

RMR: What were some of your biggest musical influences growing up? How did you learn about the Great American Songbook, including classics that you recorded on your new live album, Live At Joe’s Pub and how do you feel about younger artists tuning into these classics from as far back as the World War 2 era and earlier?

Lizzy Shaps: I’ve always been a bit of a, (ahem), melodramatic person. For my first audition at the tender age of four and a half I sang “Shine On Harvest Moon”... on one foot! So perhaps it’s no surprise that my introduction to the American Songbook was via torch songs. The more deliciously tragic the better: “The Man That Got Away,” “Cry Me A River,” “Bill.” I was hooked. There was just one problem: I was self-aware enough as a kid to realize it would take decades for me to become world-weary enough to convincingly sing those songs. As I said, I’ve always been “a bit much”… haha.

I grew up listening to divas: Judy Garland, Maria Callas, Billie Holiday, Bernadette Peters, Audra McDonald, Sarah Vaughan. In these singers I found not just incredible artists, but women who fearlessly defied the societal corseting women are expected to adhere to. Their voices weren’t polite, timid, demure, but larger than life and steeped in that gorgeous patina that only can come from time. Judy singing “Somewhere Over The Rainbow" in the film is beautiful… but her rendition at her famous Carnegie Hall show is divine.

As I’ve developed my own sound with my band, I am hugely inspired by these women, which the repertoire on this album reflects. We’ve got songs like Eartha Kitt’s “I’d Rather Be Burned as a Witch” and “Everything’s Coming Up Roses”, which has been a calling card for divas, including Audra’s most recent transcendent turn as Mama Rose.

Now to your question about younger artists turning to these great old songs... I think that’s wonderful! The genius of so many of these classic tunes is how timeless they are. People often mistakenly write off old songs as quaint and irrelevant. But many of them are actually incredibly subversive, edgy, and just as relevant today as when they were written. So it’s no surprise to me that they are resonating with younger audiences.

 

RMR: How did you meet up with and then work with Benny Goodman’s former trombone player Dan Barrett? 

Lizzy Shaps: There are certain people who truly change your life. Dan is one of those people. For a bit of context, I met Dan in a moment of utter insanity when I decided to pause my successful Hollywood screenwriting career and start a 10-piece trad jazz band. I had absolutely no idea where to start or what I was doing, just a deep conviction that it was what I was supposed to do. Thankfully the universe guided me to Dan who is not just one of the most brilliant big band arrangers, but also a legendary player, himself. I still have no idea what compelled him to believe in me so quickly.

Before he’d even heard me sing, he’d signed onto the project and sent me a list of who I should call to staff the band. “Just tell them I’m in the band.” Little did I know I was calling the absolute best trad jazz musicians on the West Coast. I’ve found in life sometimes blissful ignorance provides the necessary chutzpah to do something bold. Every single person I reached out to said yes because Dan was vouching for the project.

The last person I called was Dan’s top pick for the guitar chair who proceeded to skeptically ask me who else was in the band. I rattled off the names. Suddenly there was a long pause. Finally he said, “I have no idea who you the hell you are, but somehow you have managed to put together the best band in Los Angeles.” That was the first moment I got nervous!

Over the years the band has evolved from just doing covers to performing our own original songs… like “Outta Your League.” I choose the repertoire as well as compose our originals and Dan arranges them. So the band’s sound is definitely a wonderful synthesis of both of our tastes and ideas. We made a decision early on that we would not pretend that the last 100 years of music hadn’t happened. Consequently, in our music you can hear a variety of influences: from 1930s big band to bebop to R&B all in the course of one song. I think the fact that we are a modern band inspired by retro sounds - rather than a nostalgia act - helps our music resonate with modern audiences.

 

RMR: Did you choose the tracks that appear on the Live At Joe’s Pub album? What tracks were the most fun to record and which were among the most challenging to play live?

Lizzy Shaps: This live album was actually a fortuitous accident! I’ve always wanted to record a live album, because I think the band really thrives in that context. But we had zero plans to make an album that night we played Joe’s. In fact, no one in the band even knew the shows were being recorded! At the last minute, I asked the venue to film and record our two sets, so we could have footage of us playing at such an iconic venue. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that would result in an album!

There was no rehearsal, no pre-planning. In fact, half the band (from L.A.) literally met the other half of the band (from N.Y.C.) at soundcheck! Perhaps the fact that we weren’t “trying” to make an album is why it turned out so great! You can really hear how much fun the band and audience are having. So to answer your question, the track-list was just the tunes we played in the course of the two sets. There were a couple of tunes we didn’t include, but the band was so on fire that night, it was hard to edit down… Which is why the album is 23 tracks! haha

I can’t say any particular song was more fun to perform than another, but I love hearing the band really cut loose on “Good Queen Bess” and “Struttin’ With Some Barbecue.” In terms of which tunes are most challenging...the hardest tune is definitely “I Love to Singa” which features a bunch of operatic high notes that I have to nail after belting for hours. Thankfully, I think it turned out pretty darn good, if I do say so myself… haha.

 

RMR: I like your covers of “A Lot Of Livin’ To Do” and “Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead”. Can you say something about choosing those two tracks? Do you find that younger people today are eager to explore these type of classics from the 1960s and in the case of the Harold Arlen song from The Wizard Of Oz, way back from 1939?

Lizzy Shaps: Thank you so much! I love both of those tracks, too! I’m a gigantic musical theater nerd… shout out to my fellow theater kids, so anytime we can find a Broadway tune to swing I’m all for it. I’ve always loved the groove in “A Lot Of Livin’ To Do,” and the Bebop licks Dan added in the horns are so tasty.

As for “Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead,” I’m a HUGE Harold Arlen fan, but I will confess, I actually find the song... kind of cloying… Don’t come for me! But it’s a testament to the genius of Dan’s super swinging arrangement that he was able to turn a somewhat grating song into one of my favorite tracks on the album! And I love that we incorporate the verse, which too often gets cut from songs.

I definitely think these classic songs are finding a new audience with younger generations. Our shows are filled with young people thanks in large part to the vibrant subcultures the band is a part of: swing dancing, pinup, vintage style not vintage values, cosplay, burlesque, etc. I think many young people feel disillusioned with social media and the disconnection of modern life so are turning towards scenes with a strong sense of community. I’m so grateful our shows provide an opportunity for people to come, dress up and escape the heaviness of the world for a few hours.

 

RMR: Tell us about your early musical training? I heard you also sing opera and do you still sing opera? Do you have some favorite albums you could tell us about and what artists do you feel are making great music today?

Lizzy Shaps: Yes, I did study opera for years! I’m so grateful for that training which helps me be able to sing for hours over a mini orchestra night after night. While I don’t sing opera any longer, we do find fun ways to weave in my classical background in tunes like “Waste No Tears”, a clarinet duet where I sing the 2nd clarinet part!. “I Love to Singa” is another tune where I get to show off some fun coloratura moments.

In terms of favorite albums.... ooh that’s hard. Some of my favorite albums include Jeff Buckley’s Grace, Maria Callas’ La Divina, Radiohead’s OK Computer, Ben Fold’s Rockin’ the Suburbs, Ella and Duke at the Cote D’Azur, Judy Garland Live at Carnegie Hall.

There are so many incredible artists making music now. I think the pendulum is swinging back towards artists making super specific music for subcultures, like how it was in the 1990s) which is resulting in a golden age of music. I’m obsessed with Charlie XCX’s last album “Brat” which ingeniously combines club music with hyper vulnerable lyrics about navigating being a woman. Lily Allen just released a powerful album, so did Haley Williams and Florence And The Machine. Some of my other favorite artists these days are Raye, Doechii, DakhaBrakha. The jazz world is also filled with exciting talent - from Emmet Cohen to Samara Joy to Laufey to Lucy Yeghiazaryan. It’s a great time for music!

 

RMR: Will you record another album next year and what kind of album would you like to release next? Will your next album feature classics or originals that you composed? What are your plans as far as writing and recording and performing live shows in 2025 and 2026?

Lizzy Shaps: We are actually in the studio right now working on our next studio album - which is going to be all original music! It’s a concept album that is definitely our most ambitious project to date. Very excited for people to hear it when it’s done! In the meantime, I’m working on composing the remaining tracks for it.

On the touring front, our schedule is filling up fast for 2026, too! As of now we will be hitting the Pacific Northwest, the Midwest, and Southern California. But I’m hoping to return to the East Coast and Southwest, soon. And, who knows, maybe finally get to go abroad!