The young phenom will release her debut album, 'WILL,' October 26.
Thirteen-year-old guitar phenom Li-sa-X will release her debut album, WILL, on October 26 via Sony Music Japan. In advance of the record, she has posted a playthrough video for the track "Little Wings," which also features 11-year-old guitarist YOYO. You can check out the clip above.
Of "Little Wings" Li-sa-X said: "This is a happy, speedy, and uplifting tune. YOYO, a super-technical 11-year-old guitarist from China appears as guest, interplaying solos and plays in harmony with me. The title is a pun on Mr. Jimi Hendrix’s famous tune, ‘Little Wing.’ I named it in plural form, ‘Little Wings,’ in the image of YOYO and I flying together. Originally, the song comes from a piece of idea which my dad was thinking to develop into a song with a vocal. I reshaped and expanded it to be more fitting to a guitar tune. So especially with the climax of the song, I tried to play as if I had been singing. I am happy with the outcome of the tune."
Said Li-sa-X about WILL: "I am very happy to release this new album WILL. Over the years, I have simply enjoyed covering music of various artists. On my debut EP [Serendipity] I released a year and a half ago, I was even able to have my own tune.
“Then I started receiving comments from people who had been watching me on YouTube and other media that they wanted to hear more original tunes, which gradually motivated me to write tunes of my own. However, writing original tunes was very difficult. Things did not proceed as smoothly I had wanted to; there were times I almost broke off my heart.
“Meanwhile, I had the fortune to have a chance to perform with a wide array of wonderful top-notch players. What electrified me was that each and every one of them had a strong personality, tone, and music, which were immediately recognizable. Their performances renewed and further strengthened my desire to have and pursue my own personality as a guitarist. This album is filled with such a WILL of mine."
Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.
