LISA SANDERS: Daughters of the Rising Tide

For more than three decades, Lisa Sanders has quietly built one of San Diego’s most enduring musical careers, blending country, folk, blues, gospel, and soul into songs that prize honesty over flash. Her latest release, Daughters of the Rising Tide, may be her strongest statement yet. Co-written and produced by JT Nero (Birds of Chicago) and recorded at Hen House Studio in Nashville, the album surrounds Sanders with an extraordinary cast of musicians, including Sadler Vaden, Steve Dawson, Jamie Dick, Christopher Merrill, Kristin Weber, Larissa Maestro, and special guest Allison Russell—but the true centerpiece remains Sanders’ unmistakable voice and deeply human songwriting.

The album is built around transformation. Again and again, Sanders returns to themes of growth, vulnerability, self-acceptance, and discovering purpose—not through grand declarations, but through lived experience. Her songs never feel rushed. Like the tides referenced in the title, they move with quiet patience, trusting listeners to settle into their emotional current.

That confidence is evident from the opening moments of “Late Rose,” where swampy slide guitar and lush strings frame a song that unfolds without a conventional chorus. Instead, Sanders allows the story to breathe, culminating in a spoken final verse that recalls the intimate storytelling tradition of country music’s golden era. “Gold Rush” continues that thoughtful approach, cleverly redefining treasure as wisdom rather than wealth. The shimmering guitars beautifully mirror one of the album’s finest lines: “Been an ancient fool and a newborn sage.”

Elsewhere, Sanders proves remarkably adept at uncovering emotional depth in ordinary language. “Simple” explores its title from every imaginable angle, transforming familiar imagery into something quietly profound, while “Diamonds” wrestles with the bittersweet realization that personal growth often means you can never truly return home—not because home has changed, but because you have.

The title track stands among the record’s emotional high points. Anchored by the haunting question, Will you shed your skin again? it slowly builds with sweeping strings, sparse percussion, and subtle dramatic tension. Sanders’ version of country music doesn’t evoke dusty highways as much as the California coastline itself—beautiful, powerful, peaceful, and occasionally terrifying. There’s a distinctly oceanic quality to these songs, as though every lyric arrives weathered by salt air rather than desert wind.

The musicianship throughout is exceptional. Sadler Vaden’s guitar work alternates between sharp, stinging leads and warm, chiming melodies, while Steve Dawson’s pedal steel provides equal measures of ache and comfort. The strings add cinematic richness without ever overwhelming the songs, serving the storytelling rather than distracting from it.

The closing track, “Unicorn,” offers the album’s final emotional revelation. Contrasting endless headlines of violence and division with the refrain, But in my head I see unicorns and rainbows, Sanders makes a compelling argument that choosing love, joy, and imagination isn’t naïve—it’s an act of quiet resistance.

In an age that often mistakes louder for deeper, Daughters of the Rising Tide finds its strength in restraint. Richly performed and beautifully written, it’s an album that reminds us some of life’s greatest truths arrive not like crashing waves, but like a tide that slowly changes the shoreline beneath our feet.

Lisa Sanders’ CD release will be held on Saturday, August 15, 7pm at the Vision Center for Spiritual Living, 4780 Mission Gorge Pl. Special guests include Riston Diggs, Calamity Duo, Ashley E. Norton, and Kamau Kenyata.