Lots of musicians talk about “recreating” themselves or making a fundamental change to their sound.
Not all have been as decided in their pivots as Liz Cooper.
Fronting her Nashville-based band Liz Cooper and the Stampede, the Maryland native honed a sound that helped her steadily become popular among indie rock fans. She released three EPS and a live album before finally unveiling a full studio album in 2018. By the following year, she’d earned an invite to the Newport Folk Festival.
Fast forward to 2021, and Cooper — then relocated to Brooklyn — released her first album under her own name, Hot Sass. That record sounded like a departure from her previous recordings — more brazen, raucous, even lusty.
With the February drop of New Day, Cooper, evolves her sound yet again, this time with a deep reflection during a period of great personal change, which included her coming out. Now living in Vermont, Cooper — already known as a talented guitarist — wrote some of her new songs on a piano she was gifted by a friend of a friend.
As described on her Bandcamp page, “These ten tracks scintillate with the kind of self-confidence that only beams through after you’ve aimed a sharp gaze inward — and realized that whatever you see in there will always keep changing, no matter how much you feel like you’ve got a grasp on it.”
Listen to Liz Cooper’s latest studio album, New Day:
Cooper and her new band visited DC9 in Washington, DC, on April 27, giving her many fans — and friends — in the DMV a chance to hear her latest work in an intimate setting.
Joined by bassist Sean McHugh, drummer Adam Christopher King and multi-instrumentalist Henry Aaron, Cooper showcased her new songs, but also reminded what’s not changed about her music: it absolutely rocks.
Parklife DC was on hand to photograph the packed show.
Setlist
Je t’aime
Boy Toy
Changes
Lucky Charm
IDFK
Loss of Signal
New Day
Motorcycle
Sorry (That I Love You)
Go Outside, Wave To Frank
Better Than Ever
Baby Steps
Slice of Life
Hot Sass
Motions
Shit!
Below are digital shots of Liz Cooper performing at DC9 in Washington, DC, the night of April 27, 2026. All images copyright and courtesy of Casey Ryan Vock.
