Lisa Germano: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added

Inline

Revision as of 07:21, 17 August 2008

Lisa Germano (born June 27, 1958) is an American singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has released seven albums featuring her often-hushed vocal style, confessional lyrics, and distinctive violin. Her 1994 album Geek the Girl received widespread critical acclaim, including being featured as a top album of the 1990s by the music magazine Spin. She is also known as a guest performer and/or session musician on over sixty records by a variety of artists, including John Mellencamp, Simple Minds, David Bowie, Neil Finn, Sheryl Crow, Iggy Pop, Jewel and Eels.

Biography

Born Lisa Ruth Germano in Mishawaka, Indiana, she was one of six children born into an Italian-American Catholic family. Her parents were teachers and musicians, and she and her siblings were encouraged to learn an instrument from an early age. At the age of seven, she wrote her first piece of music: a 15-minute opera on the piano. She would later learn the violin, an instrument that would ultimately guide her to a professional career in music.

She made her professional debut as violinist in John Mellencamp's band, first appearing on his 1987 hit album, The Lonesome Jubilee, then spending the next seven years working and touring with him. During this time, additional tours and recording sessions with the likes of Simple Minds and Indigo Girls motivated Germano to do something on her own.

Germano issued her first solo album, the lo-fi On the Way Down From the Moon Palace, in 1991 on her own label, Major Bill Records. Without major distribution and promotion, sales were low, but the album helped bring Germano to the attention of Capitol Records, with whom she signed in 1992. Her major-label debut, Happiness, was released in July 1993, but just prior to its release, a personnel shake-up had occurred at Capitol, which resulted in the departure of most of her benefactors at the label. Once it became clear to her that the album was not going to receive the level of promotion that she had expected, Germano lobbied successfully to have the rights to the album returned to her, and later that year, she signed with the influential British independent label 4AD Records, who, at that time, had a manufacturing and distribution deal with Warner Bros. Records in the US.

4AD founder/president Ivo Watts-Russell was a big fan of Germano's work, and took an unusually active role in her first releases for the label, remixing some of the tracks from Happiness with John Fryer, who had produced and/or engineered several other of the label's acts and had been involved in Watts-Russell's This Mortal Coil project. In early 1994, 4AD issued a limited-edition EP, Inconsiderate Bitch, which contained five of the remixed tracks; and in April of that year, Happiness was reissued in a radically different form. The new version had very different artwork, and the songs, some of which were remixed, had been completely resequenced (two tracks, including her cover of "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'", were omitted, and replaced by two others that had been recorded around the same time, including "Destroy the Flower"). Her third album, Geek the Girl, was also released later in 1994. The album earned Germano the most praise she'd yet received from the press, becoming a critical favorite and a noted album from the 1990s. Much attention was given to the track "...A Psychopath", which contains audio taken from an actual 9-1-1 emergency phone call placed by a woman who was being terrorized by an intruder in her home.

Her next album, Excerpts From a Love Circus, arrived in 1996, and received a fair amount of acclaim in publications ranging from independent-oriented magazines to the likes of Spin and Rolling Stone. The single "I Love a Snot" received a big push from her label, but was largely ignored by radio, and sales for the album were static, at best. Earlier that same year, Watts-Russell approached all of 4AD's artists with the idea that each act would find another artist or band to collaborate with on three songs, and the resulting recordings would be released by the label as a monthly series of EPs. Germano chose to work with the Tucson-based rock band Giant Sand, but after their tracks had been recorded, 4AD decided that the series would be unfeasible, and scrapped the idea. Germano and the members of Giant Sand liked the results and enjoyed collaborating, and despite their respective labels' lack of interest in the recordings, they decided to record an album's worth of material together. Germano's manager and Giant Sand's manager worked together and struck a deal with Thirsty Ear Recordings to release the album as a one-off project. The musicians went back into the studio and completed the album in less than a week; they decided to release it under the name OP8, and the album, Slush, was released in February 1997. 1997 also saw the release of another Germano collaboration of sorts, when the Excerpts track "Lovesick" was remixed by drum & bass producer Underdog (aka Trevor Jackson, later of Playgroup), and released as a single on his Output Recordings label.

Sales began to sag noticeably with the release of Slide (produced by Tchad Blake) in July 1998. 4AD's distribution deal with Warner Bros. had come to an end, returning the label to its independent status; for Germano, that meant that Slide received less promotion, since her label no longer had Warners' resources to draw upon. That summer, just before the album's release, she was invited to join The Smashing Pumpkins (whose fourth album, Adore, was released just weeks before Slide) on tour as violinist and backing vocalist. Initially, she turned them down, but Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan convinced her that her role would be somewhat collaborative in nature, and she agreed to the tour. She joined the band in Chicago for four weeks of rehearsals in preparation for a four-month tour, but then, the night before the tour was to begin, she was dismissed by Corgan (via their tour manager) with no explanation, and the Pumpkins embarked on the tour without her. That fall, intent on resuming the promotion of Slide, she went out on tour, first opening up for Eels, and then later headlining smaller clubs; but while on tour, she was notified by 4AD that they were dropping her from the roster. By the end of 1998, she announced that she was done with the music business, and dispensed with her management.

Germano moved to Hollywood, and began working at an independent bookstore. Songwriting, however, remained an integral part of her life, and she kept connected musically by collaborating with other artists, such as David Bowie, Neil Finn, and Joey Waronker, on various projects. She returned to her solo career in 2002 with a flurry of releases. Independently, she released two compilations of songs from her back catalog: Concentrated is a selection of "greatest hits" with a few oddities (such as the Underdog remix of "Lovesick"); Rare, Unusual or Just Bad Songs, however, is comprised entirely of rarities (like "Breathe Acrost Texas", which was omitted from the reissue of Happiness) and tracks that had never been available before, and each copy came with an insert painted by Germano herself. Later that year, she began gathering songs she had been writing and recording (mostly by herself at home) over the previous two years, and sent CDs of these tracks to a few labels and various friends in the music industry; the first to respond was her longtime acquaintance, producer/label executive Tony Berg. After the relative success of the ARTISTdirect family of music-related websites, co-founder and then-CEO Marc Geiger decided to start an actual record label, leading to the creation of the Ineffable imprint with Berg in 2002, with Germano as the label's first signing. Her sixth album, Lullaby for Liquid Pig, released in April 2003, features performances by guitarist Johnny Marr (formerly of The Smiths, currently of Modest Mouse), Neil Finn, and Wendy Melvoin (Prince and the Revolution, Wendy and Lisa). As before, the album met with critical acclaim, but the label itself was not successful enough for its owners, who shut it down shortly thereafter.

In 2006, Germano was invited by former Swans leader Michael Gira to join the roster of his label, Young God Records, who released her latest album, In the Maybe World, in July of that year. Young God reissued Lullaby for Liquid Pig on June 26 2007 with a bonus disc of unreleased live recordings and demos.

Discography

Germano has worked on a number of albums, both as a solo artist and as a collaborator.

Solo releases

On the Way Down From the Moon Palace - Major Bill Records, 1991
Happiness (CD) - Capitol Records, 1993/4AD Records, 1994
Inconsiderate Bitch (EP) - 4AD, 1994
Geek the Girl (CD) - 4AD, 1994
Excerpts From a Love Circus (CD) - 4AD, 1996
Slush (with OP8) - Thirsty Ear Recordings, 1997
Slide (CD) - 4AD, 1998
Concentrated (CD) - self-released, 2002
Rare, Unusual or Just Bad Songs (CD) - self released, 2002
Lullaby for Liquid Pig (CD) - Ineffable/ARTISTdirect, 2003
In the Maybe World (CD) - Young God Records - 2006

Guest appearances

The Lonesome Jubilee - John Mellencamp (1987)
Nomads Indians Saints - Indigo Girls (1990)
30th Anniversary Concert Celebration - Bob Dylan (1993)
In Flight - Linda Perry (1996)
Time and Love: The Music of Laura Nyro - Various Artists (1997)
The Globe Sessions - Sheryl Crow (1998)
Electro-Shock Blues - eels (1998)
Oh, What a Beautiful Morning - eels (2000)
Shootenanny! - eels (2003)
7 Worlds Collide - Neil Finn (2001)
L'Absente - Yann Tiersen (2001)
Anna - Anna Waronker (2002)
Heathen - David Bowie (2002)
0304 - Jewel (2003)
Strong Currents - Hector Zazou (2003)
"From a Shell" - from Underworld (soundtrack) (2003)
Impossible Dream - Patty Griffin (2004)
Want - Michael Brook (2006)
Columbus Day film soundtrack - Michael A. Levine (2008)

Covered

Slide - by Adem"Takes"(2008)

External links

@@ Line 37: / Line 37: @@
 Sales began to sag noticeably with the release of ''[[Slide (album)|Slide]]'' (produced by [[Tchad Blake]]) in July 1998.  4AD's distribution deal with Warner Bros. had come to an end, returning the label to its independent status; for Germano, that meant that ''Slide'' received less promotion, since her label no longer had Warners' resources to draw upon.  That summer, just before the album's release, she was invited to join [[The Smashing Pumpkins]] (whose fourth album, ''[[Adore (album)|Adore]]'', was released just weeks before ''Slide'') on tour as violinist and backing vocalist.  Initially, she turned them down, but Pumpkins frontman [[Billy Corgan]] convinced her that her role would be somewhat collaborative in nature, and she agreed to the tour.  She joined the band in Chicago for four weeks of rehearsals in preparation for a four-month tour, but then, the night before the tour was to begin, she was dismissed by Corgan (via their tour manager) with no explanation, and the Pumpkins embarked on the tour without her.  That fall, intent on resuming the promotion of ''Slide'', she went out on tour, first opening up for [[Eels (band)|Eels]], and then later headlining smaller clubs; but while on tour, she was notified by 4AD that they were dropping her from the roster.  By the end of 1998, she announced that she was done with the music business, and dispensed with her management.
-Germano moved to [[Hollywood, Los Angeles, California|Hollywood]], and began working at an independent [[bookstore]].  Songwriting, however, remained an integral part of her life, and she kept connected musically by collaborating with other artists, such as [[David Bowie]], [[Neil Finn]], and [[Joey Waronker]], on various projects.  She returned to her solo career in 2002 with a flurry of releases.  Independently, she released two compilations of songs from her back catalog: ''Concentrated'' is a selection of "[[greatest hits]]" with a few oddities (such as the Underdog remix of "Lovesick"); ''Rare, Unusual or Just Bad Songs'', however, is comprised entirely of rarities (like "Breathe Acrost Texas", which was omitted from the reissue of ''Happiness'') and tracks that had never been available before, and each copy came with an insert painted by Germano herself.  Later that year, she began gathering songs she had been writing and recording (mostly by herself at home) over the previous two years, and sent CDs of these tracks to a few labels and various friends in the music industry; the first to respond was her longtime acquaintance, producer/label executive [[Tony Berg]].  After the relative success of the [[ARTISTdirect]] family of music-related websites, co-founder and then-CEO Marc Geiger decided to start an actual record label, leading to the creation of the Ineffable imprint with Berg in 2002, with Germano as the label's first signing.  Her sixth album, ''[[Lullaby for Liquid Pig]]'', released in April 2003, features performances by [[guitarist]] [[Johnny Marr]] (formerly of [[The Smiths]], currently of [[Modest Mouse]]), Neil Finn, and [[Wendy Melvoin]] ([[Prince]] and [[The Revolution (band)|the Revolution]], [[Wendy and Lisa]]).  As before, the album met with critical acclaim, but the label itself was not successful enough for its owners, who shut it down shortly thereafter.
+Germano moved to [[Hollywood, Los Angeles, California|Hollywood]], and began working at an independent [[bookstore]].  Songwriting, however, remained an integral part of her life, and she kept connected musically by collaborating with other artists, such as [[David Bowie]], [[Neil Finn]], and [[Joey Waronker]], on various projects.  She returned to her solo career in 2002 with a flurry of releases.  Independently, she released two compilations of songs from her back catalog: ''Concentrated'' is a selection of "[[greatest hits]]" with a few oddities (such as the Underdog remix of "Lovesick"); ''Rare, Unusual or Just Bad Songs'', however, is comprised entirely of rarities (like "Breathe Acrost Texas", which was omitted from the reissue of ''Happiness'') and tracks that had never been available before, and each copy came with an insert painted by Germano herself.  Later that year, she began gathering songs she had been writing and recording (mostly by herself at home) over the previous two years, and sent CDs of these tracks to a few labels and various friends in the music industry; the first to respond was her longtime acquaintance, producer/label executive [[Tony Berg]].  After the relative success of the [[ARTISTdirect]] family of music-related websites, co-founder and then-CEO Marc Geiger decided to start an actual record label, leading to the creation of the Ineffable imprint with Berg in 2002, with Germano as the label's first signing.  Her sixth album, ''[[Lullaby for Liquid Pig]]'', released in April 2003, features performances by [[guitarist]] [[Johnny Marr]] (formerly of [[The Smiths]], currently of [[Modest Mouse]]), Neil Finn, and [[Wendy Melvoin]] ([[Prince (musician)|Prince]] and [[The Revolution (band)|the Revolution]], [[Wendy and Lisa]]).  As before, the album met with critical acclaim, but the label itself was not successful enough for its owners, who shut it down shortly thereafter.
 In 2006, Germano was invited by former [[Swans (band)|Swans]] leader [[Michael Gira]] to join the roster of his label, [[Young God Records]], who released her latest album, ''[[In the Maybe World]]'', in July of that year.  Young God reissued ''Lullaby for Liquid Pig'' on June 26 2007 with a bonus disc of unreleased live recordings and demos.