Track-by-Track: Lisa Cerbone Spells Out Her Album ‘Nowhere I Have Ever Been’

There’s a personal touch to everything Lisa Cerbone does, and it’s what makes her the artist she has become. Cerbone reemerges with the release of her new album, Nowhere I Have Ever Been, her sixth studio full-length. This became a very personal record for the singer-songwriter, an intimate indie folk album that closely considers love, memory, and belonging. To acquire inspiration for this record, Cerbone looked deeply into her past. She looked back at family stories shared with her by her father and her experiences growing up in New Jersey. She also did her own genealogical research, which provided her with new perspective on her family roots. In looking back and doing this research, Cerbone uncovered forgotten aspects of her past. As any great songwriter does, she transformed them into songs that link the past with the present.

Through her lengthy and successful career, Lisa Cerbone has become highly regarded for her poetic lyrics, hushed vocals, and innovative fingerstyle guitar playing. With each passing album, she finds a way to evolve more and discover new inspiration. She is both a reflective and evocative singer-songwriter who learned to love music from heroes like Joni Mitchell, Elliott Smith, and Jason Molina. Cerbone is defined by her grace and charm, an artist not trying to be anything but herself.

We are happy to be joined by Cerbone today for an exclusive Track-by-Track rundown of her impressive brand new album Nowhere I Have Ever Been.

“All of these songs were recorded in San Francisco one week in the summer of 2025. I tend to get a little nervous performing in front of people, so Nathan Winter (the engineer) and Mark Kozelek (the producer) would often step out to the roof while I played each song alone five or six times until we captured the right take. We repeated this process for every track, and I think it’s one of the reasons the record feels so intimate.

“Many of these songs are centered around unrequited love and the longing to feel connected to someone or something. They’re also rooted in family stories, growing up in New Jersey, and the family research I’ve done in recent years. At its heart, though, this record is about how easily love can be lost.

“I was listening to Elliott Smith quite a bit while writing these songs, mesmerized by his inventive chord changes, melodic phrasing, and fingerstyle patterns. His influence runs deep throughout much of this album.”

1. “That Night at the Fair”

“I wrote this after listening to a mix of Edith Piaf, Elliott Smith, many of Mark’s songs, as well as songs like ‘Send in the Clowns’ and ‘Moon River,’ which may seem like an unlikely combination, I realize. I’ve always loved the strong melodies of these artists and in these songs. I wanted this track to set the tone for the album in a similar way.

“I was also thinking about a specific time when I was young, in high school. We had to move out of the house where I grew up, and we didn’t know where we were going to go. It was a time when everything felt very uncertain. At the time, I felt the need to hold onto a relationship I had with someone who broke my heart.

“The song is about that fragile hope and the way we sometimes believe that if we lose love once, we will never have it again. It is about that temporary but overwhelming sense of sadness, and the foolishness we feel when a relationship ends.”

2. “The Missing Year”

“This song is loosely based on my grandmother, who lost her mother to the Spanish flu when she was only 5 or 6. She rarely spoke about it, but I imagined how she must have sensed something was wrong, watching the adults around her for clues in a time when such grief was rarely discussed openly, especially to children.

“I wanted to write about the emptiness that must have echoed through their house, and about how she cared for her younger sister, shielding her as best she could. After their mother’s death, the siblings, including her younger brother, were separated into different orphanages and never saw one another again.

“Despite it all, my grandmother remained stoic throughout her life. Most of what I know about this period came from my father and from my own research.

“This song seemed to come together very quickly when we were recording it. I love Mark’s background vocals, and when he started to snap his fingers on the last verse, we decided to keep it in the recording.”

3. “Pretend Like You Belong”

“We didn’t have much money for vacations when I was young, so my cousins, aunts, and I would pile into a car and take day trips to the Poconos. We would wear our bathing suits under our clothes and bring sandwiches in paper bags for lunch. And we would sneak into resorts just to use their pools. My much-older cousin would always remind me to ‘pretend like you belong’ so we wouldn’t get kicked out.

“This song is about those carefree days riding in the car while my cousin drove, feeling included in something adventurous and mischievous. Mark’s guitar solo always makes me think of the sunshine from those times. It seemed to shine brighter than any other time of my life.”

Lisa Cerbone ‘Nowhere I Have Ever Been’ album artwork

4. “Good Time Charlie”

“This song is also inspired by my grandmother, but it focuses on when she first met my grandfather, working at a cigar factory in Newark, New Jersey. He had a reputation of being a ‘player,’ and the song is written from her perspective as she watches him flirt with the other women working there.

“She feels drawn to him but also senses the heartbreak that could follow. Still, she imagines a romance that might lift her from the monotony of factory work and hardship. They did, in fact, marry, but his womanizing continued, and from photos of that time, it is easy to see the sadness in her eyes.

“Mark had this great older guitar from the 1930s that had the perfect tone for this song. We recorded my voice and guitar live, with no overdubs except a harmony part.”

5. “What Country Are We In?”

“When my father was in his 50s, he fell in love with a woman who I believe was the love of his life. This song reflects their relationship and the feeling he must have had of being swept into something vibrant and new after his divorce.

“I remember how deeply hurt he was when she chose to marry someone else who was more outwardly expressive and brought her expensive gifts. In the photos I have of them together, though, my father looks happier than I had ever seen him. I’m grateful he experienced that kind of love, even if it was brief.

“The song begins quietly, but when it comes to the chorus, there is a momentum that builds, much like the feeling of being overtaken by love.”

6. “Can’t Get It Out of My Head”

“This is an ELO song I loved in the 1970s. I wanted to create a stripped-down version that felt entirely different from the original.

“I’ve always gotten lost in thoughts about situations I can’t resolve or control, which is why I think I connected to this song so strongly. It also fits the album’s theme of love that lingers but never quite materializes. Placing it after ‘What Country Are We In?’ felt natural, as we all tend to quietly ruminate after a heartbreak.”

7. “Cheating at Cards (Roland, Norwich State Hospital, 1936)”

“While researching my grandmother’s siblings, I discovered that her brother Roland, who was only 2 when their mother died, had the most chaotic childhood of all of them. He was constantly passed between orphanages and relatives, which I’m sure was very difficult for him.

“Eventually, after accidentally shooting and wounding a friend, he was committed to a state hospital in Connecticut. The family intended to blame his aunt for the incident, but I believe she committed him to protect herself. I was able to obtain his medical records, and ironically, he became the family member I learned the most about, down to what he was wearing and even what he kept in his pockets.

“This song tells the story of the circumstances that placed him in the hospital and his insistence that he did not belong there. Whenever a doctor asked why he thought he was institutionalized, he would answer, ‘I don’t know.’ That simple phrase carries so much weight.

“After more than 30 years in the institution, he was finally released and worked as a janitor for the rest of his life. I find comfort in knowing he survived in his own quiet way and persevered.

“Both Mark and I play rhythm guitar on this one. Scott MacPherson, who played with Elliott Smith, plays drums at the end of the song. I love the way it seems to come out of nowhere.”

8. “Where Are You Going So Late?”

“My father often told me a story about asking his own father, night after night, where he was going. One night, as the car rolled slowly forward, my father stood on the edge of it and asked again. Anxious to leave, my grandfather pushed his face back so he could drive away, most likely to meet a woman. My father fell into the road, and his own father did not look back or stop to help him.

“It was a moment that marked him deeply and one he never forgot as he told me the story many times over the years.

“In the final verse, I enter the song to tell him that I see him as that innocent boy, with ice cream on his chin and playfulness in his eyes, the way he always should have been seen.”

9. “Tied to Sorrow”

“I had been listening to Daniel Johnston’s music and had watched a documentary about him when I wrote this song. He was very much on my mind.

“This is likely the oldest song on the album and one I rewrote many times over the years. When it finally felt complete, it seemed like the right way to close the record.

“This collection is about people trying to find their way while carrying things that hold them back, like trauma, loss, and sadness. The ‘strange angels’ I reference are those individuals: fragile, flawed, yet still always reaching toward connection, belonging, and something higher.”