I first met Lizzy McAlpine through a computer screen.
It was September 28, 2022, and she had just surpassed 3 million monthly listeners on Spotify. "Ceilings," the centerpiece of her sophomore album "Five Seconds Flat," was starting to attract attention from indie-pop fans on TikTok.
Almost exactly one year later, I met McAlpine again, this time in person. It was September 30, 2023, and we were backstage at All Things Go, an independent music festival outside of Washington, DC.
Everything and nothing had changed. Her discography was the same; "Five Seconds Flat" is still her most recent release. But her audience has nearly quadrupled, with over 11 million monthly listeners on Spotify. "Ceilings" is now a platinum-certified smash with 350 million streams to date. For the festivalgoers I spoke to, McAlpine's was one of the most anticipated sets of the weekend.
Still, even with the buzz of stardom in the air, McAlpine was as sweet and stoic as I remembered. She graciously accepted all kinds of promo requests, packing her pre-show schedule with photoshoots and fan meetings.
"What else am I gonna do, sit around?" she said.
I tagged along for the afternoon before McAlpine took the stage — her final performance of the year — to give fans a behind-the-scenes peek into her festival day.