Gratefulogue (Grateful-log)

Hi There!

This is a blog about being grateful. A gratitude catalogue blog, or a blog travelogue of my gratitude, you decide, but here goes:

I am very grateful:

To have connected with Paul Avgerinos (www.studiounicorn.net). He is a world class producer, musician, and a joy to work with. My songs are in heaven! But "as above so below", so they will also be available on CD and by download soon! It's gonna be good!!

For Billy Masters, Doug Yowell & Mike Viseglia for fabulous bedrock to build upon!

(www.myspace.com/billymasters, www.myspace.com/dougyowell) I don't think Mike's got a myspace so search for him!

To have Jeff Fasano & Jeff Chenault on my photography, artwork team. Again, both talented AND wonderful, my favorite combination! (www.jefffasano.com) (www.eleven07.com). The cover art will be nice to look at!

To be coached by Donna Reid (Voice and Alexander Technique). How many more amazing "And" people can I know?! (www.donnasreid.com) She's "beyond", trust me!

To have been supported & encouraged many times over by Gilli Moon. A talented artist in her own right whose intelligence and open-hearted spirit would help boost anyone trying to survive in indie singer-songwriter land. (www.gilli.net)

And many more, but in particular my family & friends. You know who you are. You shine! You help me see where I'm going. Thank you!!

And to the rest of you, thanks for being you!

Stay tuned!

Change upon Change upon Change

That's one of the titles to a song that will appear on my new album, when my new album appears. And said appearance is an event that I can't predict with total certainty at the time of this writing. I thought I could, but then I had to think again.

About a year ago, when I formed the vision of a new release, I must have formed vaguely. But now I am a year wiser. What did you say? Older? Humph! Either way, I now have a keener eye on what I'd like to do and who I'd like to do it with (kids! musically speaking!)

And I will reveal, in a very short time, who will be the quarterback for this venture and by the grace of a platoon of angels, I may even have the record out this fall...stay with me....it's possible. Better yet, help me hold a vision! YOUR musical vision...go ahead, dream away....just keep the budget reasonable.

What I can announce is that I have enlisted the incredible Jeff Fasano to take mad photos, the awesome Jeff Chenault to do outrageous graphic design, and the totally talented Irish potter, Anthony O'Brien, to lend a hand with the art. It will be a thing of beauty, that's for sure.

I can also say that I have been delving ever more deeply into the songwriting part of this singer-songwriter thing and feel real good about these ditties. I think you will, too. So, stay tuned!

And thanks for being you!

Life On An Even Keel

I wish!

Words like "even", "placid", "complacent" rarely, if ever, enter into the vocabulary of my life story. Maybe it's the kids (5 with "steps" included), the aging parents, the house, pets, the insane intention to have a career in music, all (or none) of the above that cause a never-ending rocking and rolling (ok, i'll let that stay) in my daily ride.

No sooner does the crisis that is Senior Pre-Prom planning get resolved, when up goes the cry to send, urgently, a box of "high fashion" clothes for an impromptu Runway Show at the Summer Dance Intensive. Wait...I was updating my bio!

Do you think it's easy to focus on snare sounds and harmonies when your first kid is about leave for his first year in college? How about summer birthdays, family vacation, relationship problems, torn tendons & Lyme disease? Did I mention the economy?

I've decided my life is trying to kill me. And the truth is, of course, it will. But not before I complete at least one more recording of songs about this crazy journey. It may be called "Made of Glass" it may be called "For Me", but whatever it's called it will be a work made with no apologies or whitewashing of real life...well, not mine, at least.

Having said that, the truth is, I generally don't complain in my songs, so no one need fear a litany of tunes about domestic drudgery. That's what blogs are for. ;)

Stay tuned.

A Lovely Journey

Hi Friends,

I just came back from a week on the emerald isle: Ireland. With sheep, cows, rolling hills, rocky coastline and tourquoise water the only thing there was to do there was revel in beauty. That and enjoy a pint of Guiness once a day!

It was about day 5 when I realized I hadn't seen a plane or helicopter for 4 days. The only things flying in the sky were birds, butterflies and the occasional bee. With a population of 4.2 million people filling a country the size of the state of Indiana (pop. 6.3 million) and very little industry the air was clean, the water unspoiled, and the landscape remarkable.

Of course we were hugging the west coast, which is far away from Dublin and the more populated areas south and east. But even Galway, the largest city on the west coast, was a kind of scaled down White Plains (no skyscrapers).

I have to confess, and I know it is not very sexy of me to do so, but we didn't see music in the pubs at night, we were feeling so quiet (and pretty tired at night) that the pub scene wasn't calling us. However, we did stumble upon some lunchtime music in the most lovely town of Doolin (actually the proported home of traditional Irish music) and equally enjoyed great local talent in during an outdoor festival in the town of Westport.

You didn't really think I'd get through Ireland without some musical immersion, did you? And of course, I had to come home with a handmade, handpainted Bodhran. Now, I just need to learn to play it. Any bodhran players out there?

Well, anyway, I'm refreshed, relaxed, renewed and ready for the months ahead. I will be performing at a benefit for INDIE MUSIC FOR LIFE in Mansfield, Connecticut, July 24th. If you are in the area come on by! www.indiemusicforlife.org

At the end of August, I will be showcasing at the 2008 WOMEN IN THE ARTS Conference in Spencer, Virgina. More on that later. www.indiegrrl.com

Cheers!
Lisa

The Maiden Blog

Hi there!

Ok, so I'm here, in blog-land. Wow! What a world...stepping onto its potentially thin ice...I note that we didn't even have personal computers when I was having my first fling with the record business, let alone the internet, itunes, streaming live audio and blogs! (Are run-on sentences allowed here?)

My children look at me like I'm some kind of Martian freak when I ask them (albeit for the 10th time) how to send back a comment on myspace. It took me 3 years to even join the myspace party and I think half the guests have already left.

I look out my window and see trees and a lake. It's serene and comforting in its apparent stability and slow evolution. It feels like a pace that a human being can digest, use and store easily. Technology changes at the rate of malignant cells racing across a bewildered body.

That is of course if you were born before 1980. It seems that if you were born after 1980, or thereabouts, you have techno inputs that those older of us just don't have. The rush of new technology coming toward you is exciting, like meeting hurricane waves with your newly waxed surfboard and your finely tuned body. It's something you conquer, ride to triumphant shores, then turn around and do again.

But I digress, if my 10 years in the business end of the record business was a first fling, this crazy romance with singing and songwriting might turn out to be a transitional relationship before I finally get serious and settle down.

I recently heard a song that said "hearts want what hearts want" (nice job Jeffry Braun) and I just wrote one that asserts "hearts know what to do". Putting these two thoughts together: my heart wants to do music...always has. The path? Well, that's where brute faith comes in. I believe our hearts do know what to do and if the rest of me would just follow along dutifully, I think I'll be alright. I guess that remains to be seen.