Lindsey Stirling discusses freedom, duality & aerial acrobatics ahead of Pittsburgh show

PITTSBURGH ― She's the virtuoso violinist who busts out electrifying dance moves while performing.

Lindsey Stirling's musical style is part classical, but more pop-rock; a duplexity she embraces on "Duality," her latest studio album she's supporting with a tour that visits Stage AE's outdoor amphitheater on Monday.

The numbers speak volumes about the popularity of Stirling, who's amassed nearly 4 billion YouTube streams, 27 million social media followers, 1.9 million album sales, three gold-certified albums, 1 million concert tickets sold, and a second-place finish on 2017's "Dancing With The Stars."

Lauded for her positivity, Stirling's stirring electric violin swipes conjure all sorts of emotions. From the beauty of "Serenity Found" to a danceable banger like "Les Fees," and the abundant energy of the fittingly named "Untamed," there's a wealth of feelings to absorb in her often vocal-less songs. Though the new album track "Survive," on which guest vocalist Sarah Blackwood from the band Walk Off the Earth joins in for an interpolation of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive," brings a different side of Stirling, inspired by a boyfriend's betrayal and their subsequent breakup.

Walk Off The Earth is the opening act on this tour, setting up a likely on-stage collaboration for "Survive."

We caught up with the 37-year-old Stirling last week, to learn what's new and find out what Pittsburgh concertgoers can expect.

The Times: Last time you played Pittsburgh was your 2021 Christmas tour, now we get to see you in summer.

Stirling: Yes, we're super excited. The show is doing good.

The Times: How does it look? What does it sound like? What are some of the highlights?

Stirling: It's very active. It's very theatrical, that's the best word I can use to describe it. It's just fun; from the costumes to the choreography, to the set design to the aerial acrobatics. It's a really full, engaging show.

You've helped design your own stage sets drawing from your video training at Brigham Young. Is that something you still have your hands on, the way the stage looks?

Yes, I'm always pretty involved in the show creation including the stage designs. I come up with the basic idea and then I have my team that comes together and they make it all possible with the ideas I bring forth. They make it a feasible thing.

Your new album is "Duality" and that's an inherent theme. What made you decide to talk about duality and approach it that way?

It kind of got started first by the music. I felt like I was almost writing two different albums as I was allowing myself to be a little more free in my writing. At the beginning, I really tried to contain it. I was like 'What's the sound?' Am I a rock album? Am I a pop album?' And then finally after struggling to pinpoint it I felt I should just write what I wanted, write what I felt, what I liked and then all these different sounds came out. In the end, I felt like I wrote two different albums, and I was like, 'oh, these are just the different halves of myself musically and they express the different parts of myself internally.' We're all so diverse; we all have different conflicting pieces of ourselves so it was fun to express that musically and thematically.

You jump right into duality with the song "Evil Twin." Do you feel like you have one of those?

I think we all do. There are parts of us that feel really strong, there are parts of us that feel really afraid. There are parts of ourselves that believe in us, and the very next moment there's a part of us that doubts. We all have this conflicting part of ourselves that isn't our best asset and we're our own worst enemy. We go through life and constantly have to re-evaluate what part of myself do I want to lean into, and what part of the possibly evil twin of myself do I want to let go of and not express or not believe in and stop doubting.

"Survive" is a very personal song for you. Was that cathartic to write and did you get a lot of feedback from fans who said they could relate?

I did really enjoy writing "Survive." At the time I didn't even feel the song I was writing. I wrote the song I knew deep down was true even if I didn't feel like it was true. I'd really just been through this horrible breakup when I wrote that song. And I thought, 'well, I can write a really, really sad breakup song about how devastated I am,' or I can manifest my own feelings because I know I'll eventually be OK. Eventually, I'm going to be grateful I'm not with that guy anymore if he's going to treat me terribly. So, I wrote the song I knew deep down was true even if it didn't feel true quite yet and that was a pretty empowering exercise. Now months and months later I do feel this way, and I am better off without this person. And I do feel stronger and, gosh, I am fine. I'm all right, you know? The heart lives on. The heart heals. But to be able to express it on stage every night and be able to make a music video about it and make media content letting other women tell their stories. And even men. Everybody's been hurt in some way. I'll say it's been really fun getting not only the feedback from fans but also have friends and family reach out and say, 'wow, this is so empowering' and to have them be able to share their stories. I'd never really written about that piece of emotion, a breakup in that perspective. So that was really cool.

You cover a gamut of emotions on "Duality." Does that tie into your concert setlist? Are there emotional crests or waves your show rides?

Yes, honestly, I remember thinking that as I was writing this album. Like, oh gosh, is this going to feel like a really scattered show with all the different sounds? But honestly, it's been really interesting as I've created this setlist and designed the show, I think it's the best-flowing show I've ever done. The journey that you go through with this music and the way the setlist is made actually takes you through all these different emotions, all these different styles of music in a pretty cool, seamless way. It allows me to bring out a lot of different feelings and a lot of different types of art. I'm pretty proud of this show. And the feedback has been it's the best show I've ever done. And it's continuously challenging and fun to perform.

How big of a band do you have behind you?

I have two bandmates and five dancers.

Is it all precision, choreographed routines with the dancers?

The entire show is extremely choreographed, even when I'm on stage by myself I do tons of choreography, but definitely when the dancers are out there. It's one of those things where (fans will say) 'Where do I look? What's happening? There are all these colors, there's all these costumes, there's choreography. The dancers are incredible, and my bandmates are as well, so there's a lot of talent on that stage.

Any vivid memories of prior visits to Pittsburgh?

We've loved playing there since our very first tour. We've played at Stage AE a lot and I remember a lot of great shows there. I remember the first time we played where there's now that little area for the merch booth. It's kind of fun to look at where the merch booth is now that we're in the big room. We're like, 'Aw, that's where it all started on that little stage.' It's fun to see it all at one venue.

If you go:

What: Lindsey Stirling in concert with openers Walk The Moon.

When: Aug. 12. Doors open at 6 p.m.

Where: Stage AE outdoors (rain or shine).

Tickets: $50 to 100 at axs.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Lindsey Stirling talks about high-flying show headed to Pittsburgh