Best friends. Singer/Songwriters. Sisters of the heart. And another title to add to their resumé… StarCentral Magazine’s Best Duo Group of the Month for July 2012!

Native New Yorkers, Alissa Liebler and Lyz Mortati have been performing as individuals for years before deciding to join forces, creating ‘Alissa & Lyz’, to compete in their high school’s battle of the bands called ‘Elwoodstock’ early last year. “The first night that we ever performed as Alissa & Lyz was such an amazing experience for the both of us…we both realized that our ticket to success was each other!”

It was the start of great things for the two multi-talented 16-year olds. Soon, they had started a YouTube channel (their music has garnered over 30,000 views and nearly 250 subscribers!) where they perform covers from a diverse range of artists from Carly Rae Jepsen, Jason Mraz, Rihanna and Colbie Caillat. They also found themselves in demand for variety shows, gigs and school performances. “It’s a great feeling when someone says they can relate to something we wrote, or that they love listening to us, or that they’re inspired by us…being with each other on stage and getting to work with each other is an added bonus!”

But their greatest inspiration is Taylor Swift. “She inspired the both of us to start writing music…she showed us that bad things happen to good people and there are healthy ways to cope with the experiences that happen to us….” They also inspire each other to keep persevering and keep going with their music, “…even when we get stuck on lyrics or are going through hard times…” At no other time was each other’s support so important as when they performed at a battle of the bands in a neighbouring town where the audience were, for once, not made of people they knew, and the bands they were competing against were mainly rock bands! “…you can imagine the looks on their faces when we walked in with cowboy boots and flannel shirts on!” But by the end of the night, they had earned their respect, “gained more fans and we challenged ourselves.”

Following in the footsteps of their favourite artist, Alissa and Lyz plan to be country singers/songwriters. In the near future, they hope to be able to compile their original songs to be recorded into an album. But it is being able to perform for their fans that drives them most of all. “…we want to be the voice of the underdog. We perform to speak for those who want to be heard.” With voices like theirs, Alissa and Lyz will not likely be ignored.

Click here for Alissa and Lyz’s YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/alissaandlyz

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