Lizzie No invites music fans to “come on down to the heartbreak store” for the singer-songwriter’s concert Friday at Mauch Chunk Opera House, West Broadway, Jim Thorpe.

“The Heartbreak Store” appears on the indie-folk artist’s third album “Halfsies,” released in January on Thirty Tigers/Miss Freedomland. Shortly thereafter, WXPN-FM (88.5), the Philadelphia adult-album-alternative radio station, named No its March Artist to Watch.

No deems “Halfsies” a video game, tracing character Miss Freedomland’s journey from internal and external exile to liberation.

Freedomland references the same-titled New York City theme park, dedicated to American history, that operated from 1960 to 1964. No’s mother, a Miss Freedomland pageant winner at age 5, inspired the video-game-like “Halfsies.”

Through the game’s levels, Pac-Man ghosts of white supremacy chase Miss Freedomland, who represents No and the audience.

The character, by album’s end, “has escaped Babylon with her chosen family,” No said. “She has won some hugely important battles by freeing herself mentally and slaying some of her enemies. She still has a lot of work to do as she begins to make the world anew.”

In naming “Halfsies,” the gender-nonconforming artist - who prefers they/them pronouns - felt the word was “a good visual representation of the alienation I was trying to describe in many of the songs on this record.

“‘Pain without a referent knocks me on my back’ was one of the earliest lyrics I wrote for this album,” No continued. “I think it stuck with me because many of us can relate to the feeling of having a scar or a sense of loss that we can’t quite explain.”

An activist and civil rights advocate, No tackled politics in their first video. Released in 2017, “Sundown” addressed social injustice and black-life struggles.

No, pulling from blues, folk and country, released debut album “Hard Won” in 2017. Other genres have since entered the mix.

“My second album, ‘Vanity,’ integrated rock/hard-core influences, R&B grooves, folk, country, pop, you name it,“ said No, who co-hosts the “Basic Folk” podcast. “I would say that ‘Halfsies’ is a continuation of my musical explorations.”

Born Lizzie Quinlan in the Bronx, New York, No has “always played music. I come from a musical family. I started taking harp lessons in the fifth grade. I picked up the guitar in 2016 when I won a Gibson SJ100 in the American Songwriter Lyrics Contest.”

No, currently residing in Nashville, Tennessee, counts ZZ Top, Indigo Girls, Cardi B, Maren Morris, Corinne Bailey Rae and PJ Harvey among their musical influences. Nonmusical influences range from poet/educator Tracy K. Smith to activist Assata Shakur.

In choosing a stage name, No opted for a phrase they often heard as a child and one that serves as a reminder of the power in saying no.

Before going solo, No was one-half of folk duo Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. While “Hard Won” did not yield any music videos, “Vanity” tracks “Narcissus,” “Loyalty” and “Pity Party” received the video treatment, as did “Niagara,” from the 2020 EP “Holidays.”

No previewed “Halfsies” with a “Lagunita” lyric video, plus videos for “The Heartbreak Store” and “Annie Oakley.” The latter track includes a nod to Lucinda Williams - whose “Hot Blood” ranks among No’s favorite songs - with the lyric “Lucinda on the radio.”

Grammy winners Attacca Quartet and Allison Russell, along with Brian Dunne, appear on “Halfsies.” In terms of dream collaborators, poet/singer Kara Jackson and country singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton top No’s wish list.

No, who has appeared at festivals such as Hardly Strictly Bluegrass and SXSW, has toured with the Black Opry Revue, plus artists such as Patrick Haggerty, the late Lavender Country lead singer/guitarist, and Iron & Wine.

With U.S. and European dates set through November, No looks forward to playing Jim Thorpe. “I’m going to share songs from across my catalog, with beautiful, vibey accompaniment from guitarist Will Greene. I’ll tell some stories. We’ll have a great time.”

No’s career highlights, thus far, include “moments when young girls have told me a song of mine means something to them, or they are learning my tunes on guitar.”

While making inroads in folk and country music remains a challenge for women of color, No’s biggest career challenge “is continuing to make records despite not being rich. Working-class artists are an endangered species right now.”

As No wants to “keep making great records,” they offered advice for acts starting out. First and foremost, artists should develop their relationship to their intuition.

“If you don’t know what success looks like to you, you will waste a lot of energy trying to reach goals that won’t satisfy you, and impress people who don’t have your best interests at heart. If you love the work more than getting attention, you won’t need anyone’s advice.”