Lisa Loeb discusses wide range of artistic talents ahead of Niagara Falls show

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- Lisa Loeb on Nov. 22 will be performing at Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls, ON in addition to Crash Test Dummies and Northern Pikes. Loeb, a woman of many hats, spoke with WIVB ahead of the show about her music, children's albums, radio host work, acting, her eyewear line, and more.

She said to expect a full "range of songs," from radio hits, to deep cuts, and new music as well.

"It's going to be me with a guitar, so it's going to be a very intimate show," she said. "Probably lots of stories and a lot of music."

Loeb, who was the first person to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart without a label, with her 1994 single "Stay (I Missed You)," discussed the staying power of the song over the past 31 years, saying she's had an appreciation for the song from the minute it happened.

There was a little blip in there early on when -- it's funny, we still laugh about it -- the drummer in my band back at the time, and I still play with him, Jon Feinberg, we were playing at CBGB's right after the song got really popular and CBGB's was a classic club in New York City for rock bands, and we were playing this kind of smallish show at CBGB's and he said, 'Are we going to play "Stay?"' He was like, 'We shouldn't play it, it's too popular.' And I'm like, 'Of course we're going to play it. People drove in from out of town to see that one song.'"

She said the song has taken her all over the world, and because her song, she can look back in fondness knowing it wasn't a song that was requested by a record company.

Loeb also hosts a daily show on Sirius XM "90s on 9," where she interviews artists, including Crash Test Dummies, LeAnn Rimes, and "Weird" Al Yankovic, among others.

She discussed the timelessness of the decade and why music from that era still resonates with people.

"It was definitely a time where most of us were still writing songs with instruments," she said. "You'd have to sit with a guitar, with a piano, maybe with a beat, but the digital technology, although we were using it to a certain extent, especially in the '90s, I recorded my first few albums on digital."

She said the ability to play a lot of songs with just a guitar, just a piano, or a cappella also lends itself to the decade's timelessness.

Though she is known for her talent on guitar, she first learned piano, as did her siblings.

"That was the instrument that everybody -- you took piano lessons," she said. "And then when I was a young teenager, I was almost scared to tell my dad, like, 'Hey, you know what? I really want to switch to guitar instead of doing piano.' And I felt like I was I was like breaking the tradition and at some weird way."

She said her parents were very supportive of the switch, and that she still occasionally writes with a piano rather than guitar.

Loeb won a Grammy for Best Children's Music Album in 2018 for "Feel What U Feel," and plans to play a children's song or two, which she said have more of a folk-y take than anything.

Though she started putting out children's albums before she even had kids, mostly because of her nostalgia for her own childhood, Loeb said her kids have certainly had an influence on the way she writes. She specifically citied her daughter's love for "grown-up records" as a driving factor. She said her kids have "never been kids music fans, per se; they just like good music."

"The first record I made once I started having kids was actually a nursery rhymes record, and because I didn't realize how attached, for some reason -- kids really do like nursery rhymes -- and I thought it'd be really fun to do an album of classics," she said. "From there, I went back to doing more originals and and covers of songs that aren't necessarily those nursery rhymes."

Loeb said she likes playing music for both adults and children, as switching between the two allows her to change her storytelling method. She said her influences for her children's music come from places like Sesame Street, Steve Martin, and the Marlo Thomas record "Free to Be... You and Me."

She has also appeared in a number of television shows and films -- from comedy, to dramas, animation, reality TV, horror, and the occasional cameo as herself. She said acting was a big passion for her as she was growing up, all while developing her skills as a musician, though her music was more successful.

In addition to appearing onstage or onscreen, Loeb has also co-written a kids' musical, which began in Miami and has since been performed off-Broadway. She said her and the other creators behind the musical are working on getting it to tour.

"It's a musical that's near and dear to my heart," she said. "It was inspired by my summer camp record called 'Camp Lisa,' and we wanted to tell a story about summer camp."

Loeb has also launched an eyewear line, inspired by her iconic style, over 15 years ago. Having worn glasses since she was a young teenager, Loeb found that style, and has since learned that she's helped people of all ages feel comfortable wearing glasses. The line is available at Costco, both in the U.S. and Canada.

Loeb said she is looking forward to the Fallsview show and seeing her Niagara Falls fans.

Tickets to the show are available at this link. The interview can be watched at the top of this page, as well as streamed on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, or below. https://anchor.fm/s/105cffc3c/podcast/rss