Quality Americana

Lia Graham’s powerful and unique folk offering Small House is perfect for an afternoon daydream. 

The heavy bass and drums by producer Chris Pitts and piano by Kyle Lawson really push these songs into a deeper direction, drawing out emotions for the listener. It’s mixed in a saturated way that stands out with headphones, driving deep into your chest as you unravel each of Graham’s stories.

There are times when the piano is making sounds like a wind chime in “When,” and the bass finds a groove on each song that creates its own melody. The singing style here also leaves room for many emotions as it changes intensity.

Small Town Roots

Graham was immersed in the arts while growing up in Texarkana, a small town on the Texas-Arkansas border. Her mother is an artist and painter, and the writings that formed Small House take inspiration from Graham’s move to an unfamiliar city near the Dallas metroplex. 

“It was my first time being away from friends and family,” Graham said. The songs “all have this consistent theme of change. I decided to lean into it and create a little EP from it.”

The album was engineered and mixed by Guillermo Murillo with mastering by Scoops Dardaris.

Take Five

“Take Five” opens with a soothing organ, and creates a subtle build up to the chorus.

“A lot of people think it’s about taking a break, but to me it’s looking back and realizing time has passed so fast,” Graham said. “People say time moves faster when you get older and they weren’t lying. They’re telling the truth. If you don’t slow down for a second everything’s going to go flying past you.” 

Sonically this is a very understated, yet intricate web of instrumentation. Graham’s music seems to flow in slow-motion if you close your eyes, yet the tempo of the tracks and rhythm section are moving at a speedy pace.

“I was at a point where I was looking back on things and realizing how far I’d come, how much progress I’d made, and I was really proud of it, but it felt like nothing had changed,” Graham said. “I felt like the same person but I had grown so much.”

Deep Ellum

Graham is scheduled to perform in April at the Arts Fair in historic Deep Ellum, and recently traveled to Austin for South by Southwest.

“It’s my first EP,” Graham said, who also performs with OK Neighborhood.

The music video Graham made for “From the Ground” is scheduled to be shown at Thin Line Fest, the longest running Texas documentary film festival held in Denton.

Support the Arts

Support the artist by streaming and purchasing Small House on Bandcamp.

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