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.”…