Lisa McCormick
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Lisa McCormick

Brattleboro, Vermont, United States

Brattleboro, Vermont, United States
Band Folk Acoustic

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"Says Who? - Quotes about Lisa McCormick"

"This is one singer/songwriter who is really worth hearing!"
-- The Washington Post

"This woman is an absolute genius. She is funny, sexy, smart, literate, sardonic, witty, ironic, and she sings with all the power of a rock diva."
-- New England Performer Magazine, Boston, MA

"ARTIST OF THE YEAR!" - Maine Public Radio

"I couldn't believe the power of McCormick's voice in the raw...all ragged emotion, playful exuberance, palpable presence...a remarkable performance by a remarkable singer/songwriter" Metroland, Albany, NY

"McCormick can cover the literate folkie territory like a hundred other sweet-voiced divas since Joni Mitchell, but she could also rock a roadhouse if she wanted to, throw her comedic weight around in a stand-up club, deal jazzy spoken-word poetry, and melt your heart..."
-- Seven Days, Burlington,VT

"Gifted with a powerful, passionate voice and superb writing skills, McCormick can rivet with just her guitar..."
-- New England Folk Almanac

"Lisa's strong stage presence, self-effacing humor, witty material, and full guitar sound won the audience over quickly...She is one of those rare performers who is every bit as entertaining in a solo performance as in a fully orchestrated recording."
-- MIXX Magazine, New Haven, CT
- Various


"At long last! Sexy Songs for smart folks"

by Dave Madeloni
Northampton, Mass. -- One of my favorite scenes in the 1982 film Diner involves an argument among buddies who are evenly divided about which singer has the best "make-out" records - Sinatra or Mathis. The cocky Mickey Rourke character waltzes into the diner and settles the score - by declaring, "Presley."

I got pulled in not because I sided with the Mathis faction, but because I find the notion of "make-out" music intriguing - an important but overlooked genre that is rarely discussed these days.

Lisa McCormick's fourth, and brand-new, record Mystery Girl is the quintessential "make-out" album - one that in a perfect world, would be the talk of the town.

The Putney resident, who until now has made her name as an intelligent and clever folksinger, has made an intelligent and clever . . . make-out record - sexy songs for smart folks.
In a recent e-mail exchange, I asked McCormick if that was part of her intention.

"I wanted to make a record that strikes a mood, creates an ambiance and sticks with it, without being redundant," answered McCormick. "And I wanted the mood to be one of sensuality and celebration - a little mystique, a little sexiness, something you would want to hear while sipping an exotic beverage across the table from a captivating campanion in a candlelit cafe. I wanted to make a record that would act as a suitable soundtrack to life's simplest yet most delightful offerings: love and intrigue, joy and passion."

McCormick succeeds on all counts. Her sultry delivery, amorous-yet-spiritual lyrics and warm torch-jazz accompaniment make for a sensuous, sometimes steamy, listening experience. The vibe may be old-fashioned but some of the songs have a post-modern twist.

"Well, the song 'Mystery Girl' is actually inspired by the new-to-human-history phenomenon of Internet romance," explained McCormick. "The sociologist in me was asking, 'What is new in the world of love and romance?' The lyrics to 'Mystery Girl' are meant to be an e-mail from one secret cyber-lover to another."

The languid "All in Good Time"
("And slow is fine/You don't rush the divine") which features local hero T-Bone Wolk on upright bass; and John Isley's tender sax, has that vaguely familiar, timeless quality. "I felt as though I was channeling my own personal Tony Bennett angel," said McCormick. "I found myself drawn to singing some smooth feel-good loungy jazz, and being me and being from Putney, had to toss in the spiritual stuff. . . . People who know my work well accuse me of always working in references to God and to sex. The songs on Mystery Girl make no apologies or obscure references to either: it is all right out there!"

Recent trips to Central America inspired McCormick to include a touch of Latin spice to the proceedings.

"When I decided to travel to Guatemala to study Spanish, I asked a Guatemalan friend who lived in Brattleboro at the time if he could recommend a couple of Spanish songs I could learn that would be familiar to folks in Guatemala," explained McCormick. "He handed me a Jose Feliciano record and pointed out 'Toda Una Vida' and 'Odiame,' which I set about learning to play and sing. And as it turned out, it was great to have those two under my belt when traveling with my guitar in Latin America. I had so much fun singing them that I decided to put them on Mystery Girl. The third Spanish song is the only song I ever wrote in Spanish - and it is about my experience of living in Antigua, studying a foreign language and trying to find my way to my daily dose of Diet Coke!"

One would think that McCormick struggled to record in an unfamiliar language. Not so.

"Singing in a foreign tongue is easier than speaking, because you say the same thing every time! No need to worry about vocabulary and conjugations!"
- Brattleboro Reformer


"Mystery Girl - CD Review"

by Lindsay Cobb_(ezwriter99@yahoo.com)

Lisa McCormick announces her intentions early on, in the title song:

"Paint me a picture on the line
With candlelight and caviar and champagne wine
Paint me a sultry singer in a sequin gown
Dance me across the neon in the saxophone town"

That's exactly the self-portrait McCormick paints throughout this CD. Her third full- length recording, Mystery Girl marks a bold departure from her previous folk-rock roots, exclusively exploring smokey nightclub jazz and fiery Latino rhythms. The result is her strongest and most consistent recording yet.
For this task her voice sounds stronger than ever, whether purring seductively or belting out lusty Spanish lyrics. Just the way she trills her "r's" is worth the price of admission. Supporting her is Julian McBrowne's savvy production, and a band that's tight as fishnet stockings. T-Bone Wolk on guitar and keyboards, John Isley on sax, Michael Tate on drums, and Zev Katz on bass, as well as various guest musicians-all perform with authority and verve.

Along with McCormick's focus of musical style is a focus of subject matter. Her previous recordings featured songs that dealt with a wide range of topics: contemporary angst, the quest for understanding God, the security of long-term love, and jivin' in the afterlife. On this recording, however, it's safe to say that almost all the songs are about one thing: sex. Whether with a long-term main squeeze or a one-night passing fancy is a question left for the listener. However, in McCormick's hands, and in keeping with the musical style, the lyrics employ the delightfully subtle turns of phrase that mark the best of a previous generation's Tin Pan Alley. For instance, in the song Lay Me Down she sings:

"Some suspicions do come true
Some fruitions flabbergast you
Some admissions fast track you
To a point of no return"

Or this, from Ninety Eight Point Six Times Two:

"The factor of the body heat
Multiplied by two beneath the sheets
The heights that will be reached exceed
What all logic would conclude"

As I listened, I had decided that this recording may be the best "make-out album" since the 1964 jazz/Latino collaboration between Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto. But it seems McCormick already noticed the similarity, as she sings in Fringe Behavior:_

The Girl From Ipanema -
she's still walking down that street
And everyone she passes still goes 'ahhh'
Let's start right there and see
where our imaginations lead us.

Similar to k. d. lang's All You Can Eat in its sustained exploration of the joys of carnal passion, Lisa McCormick surpasses lang with her open-hearted soulfulness and fearless personal experimentation. Listen to Mystery Girl with someone you love, or at least someone you've got your eye on.

Copyright 2003, Peterborough Folk Music Society.
This review may be reprinted with prior permission and attribution.

- Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange


"Sacred - CD Review"

by Lindsay Cobb(ezwriter99@yahoo.com)

If you were dating Lisa McCormick, and she sat you down to "Talk About the Relationship," it would not necessarily be an ordeal. In fact, you both might have a good laugh, albeit a rueful one. Judging from her songs, McCormick is less likely to get angst-ridden about love, and more likely to view it all with a sharply sardonic sense of humor, from the first heart-stopping glance and breezy come-on line, to the whole histrionic history of disappointments, regrets, tenderness and longing. On Sacred, McCormick's second full-length CD, she explores all these aspects of love, and as one song suggests, no matter what kind of mess she finds, she'll still "call it beautiful."

Perhaps appropriately, McCormick begins the CD with a kind of shopping list for the perfect lover:

"I like a lover who will kiss
That little spot on the side of my neck
I like a lover who won't miss
Those little signs that I am a wreck
I like a lover who calls-
But not too much-on the phone
I like a lover who knows
When to leave me alone"

According to McCormick, sometimes attraction is all in the mind, and you can tell when someone is projecting their ideals onto you:

"He doesn't know me from Adam / But he's acting like I'm Eve . . . / He invents me to be what he'll see / When he opens his eyes / He invents me to play and to say / Everything right."

Nonetheless, knowing it's a head thing rarely keeps your emotions from taking over, and then you may wish that your increasingly significant other would give you an excuse to dump him/her:

"Do something stupid / So I can get you off my mind . . . / I can't afford to want you / The way that I do."

Some folks may want to take a kind of passive-aggressive tactic to short circuit an affair gone wrong:

"I was gonna tell you how much you look like my favorite movie star / I was gonna tell you how cool and sexy and savoir faire you are / I was gonna pick up the check at the end of the meal . . . / I was gonna tell you how I really feel / But I forgot."

Then again, others take a more direct approach:

"You can claim I'm insane / You can blame where you came from / But 29 reasons have led me to here . . . / Gonna waltz out your, waltz out your door."

But when love works, then it
remains strong and enduring despite the day-to-day problems. The songs on Sacred that come closest to love songs are about just such long-term relationships, solid and rich:

"There's a reason why the vintage wine / Years since it was on the vine / Is rare in its delectability / This is the love you were talking about / When you said . . . / Grow old with me."

Then, every little moment can be magical, and even a brief separation can feel exquisite in its bittersweetness:

"I will not wake up in your bed / I am not even in your time zone / But I keep hearing how you said / We are under the same moon."

When McCormick isn't exploring relationships, her songs on Sacred take a more philosophical bent. The title track, which discusses ways of experiencing and honoring the Divine, asks a lot of good questions and then, wisely, is content with not knowing the answers:

Where is the holy? Is it living in temples and shrines?
Does it shine down from the heavens?
Does it well up from the planet?
Reach out from inside? Where does sacred reside?

Another such tune is Get Out of Jail Free, a rumination inspired by a game of Monopoly:

"If you could take back / One moment of your life / What would it be? / I think every baby / Should get one token / To spend as they like / To get out of jail free."


Rounding out the set are some pure pop tunes that show off McCormick's whimsy. Jersey Shoretown Bar" vividly evokes the salt air and stale beer of a juke joint in the Springsteen State, while Purgatory Cafe takes a finger-snapping trip to that "little place kinda in-between" in the afterlife, where "they got deviled ham sandwiches, angel food cake, and hot black coffee," and where McCormick shows off some bebopping vocal pyrotechnics.

The decision to record "live in the studio," with little or no over-dubbing, makes for a production that's not quite as slick as McCormick's first recording (the Jonathan Edwards- produced Right Now), but certainly does sound more playful and spontaneous. Throughout, the back-up band performs with spirit and enthusiasm; of particular note are John Platania's tasty, downright sexy electric guitar, T-Bone Wolk's delicate accordion and mandolin, and Mark Murphy's evocative cello. As you can tell from this mix of instruments, the music ranges from rhythm-and-blues to ballad to full-tilt rock. McCormick's voice amply accommodates each mood shift, sometimes sounding as gutsy as Ella, sometimes as breathy as a latter-day Tori Amos, and always as confident, wry, and emotive as only Lisa McCormick can be.

Confidence, humor, and a little emotion - the sort of combination anyone needs to tackle love and life nowadays.


Copyright 2002, Peterborough Folk Music Society.
This review may be reprinted with prior permission and attribution.
- Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange


"Seduction Goes Global on Lisa McCormick’s New CD, “Talisman Groove”"


Affirmation in a Sultry, Worldly and Well-Wrought Package

By Jon Potter

When I asked Lisa McCormick why she named her new CD “Talisman Groove”, she said, I liked the idea of groove. I felt like I wanted the album to have that feeling. And the idea of a talisman…the idea that having something that to you has tremendous positive power.”

Not unwittingly, McCormick found a name for her newest album that reveals much about its character. What’s in a name, you ask? In “Talisman Groove”, quite a bit.

Like her previous release, “Mystery Girl”, “Talisman Groove” has smart sexiness to it, but it’s wrapped up a more musically adventurous sound. The result is seductive and celebratory, simultaneously intimate and inclusive, an affirming embrace of love, sensuality and simply living life happily. But it’s not superficial. McCormick’s lyrics are well-wrought, lyrical and utterly honest; they come from a place of maturity but they’re not afraid to kick off their shoes and stomp in puddles. There’s an irrepressible sexuality here, too, but it ’s not raw and hormonal, it’s grown-up and seductive.

All that positive power is complimented by music that is rich, worldly, and eminently listenable. McCormick’s songwriting got a passport, and it’s been well-stamped. In “Talisman Groove” you’ll hear elements of salsa, tango, Latin, reggae and many other styles, and instrumentation that includes cello, accordion, sax, trombone and slide guitar, in addition to the standard guitar, bass, drums, and keyboards. Many of the songs favor minor keys, which merely adds to their allure. This album extends a seductive finger and beckons you into it.

To the credit of McCormick and co-producer Julian McBrowne, these elements are blended well and play nicely with McCormick’s voice, which is in fine form.

The first song, “Desire”, sets the tone, both musically and lyrically. It opens with a declarative statement – a woman seeking to know something more about desire – and then kicks into a propulsive salsa beat. By the end of the song, much of what “Talisman Groove” is all about has been established. It’s an invitation to live, love and have fun, delivered in an ear-catching worldly envelope.

Other highlights for me include the minor key “This is a Kiss”, a sultry disarmingly honest song that features Sabine Rhyne on cello; the loungy, Tin Pan Alley-ish “My Little Peace,” with a nice solo by Draa Hobbs; the stark plaintive cello opening of “Love Above Complexity”; McCormick’s soaring vocals on “Something About Me and You”; the wonderful reggae pulse on “Wing & a Prayer”, a song which also features guest harmony vocals by Jonathan Edwards; the wonderful minor key Latin dance of “Fool Me Once”; and the utterly fun, completely honest lyrics of “Sex & Consequences”.

The end result is an album that stands as polished art, a well-formed blend of songs, musicianship, lyrics and production. While worldly and affirming in its reach, its seductive, personal and intimate touch make it what I would call an ideal “date CD”.

Make a date with “Talisman Groove”.
- Brattleboro Reformer, September 13, 2007


"The satiating allure of exotic rhythms: Versatile songwriter performs new, vibrant CD"

Welcome to my century
To my post-traumatic family
To the death of spontaneity
Read it and weep
Kiss it goodbye
Wrap it in plastic
Tell your children why

Heady words, which one might imagine hearing in the context of an urban poetry slam or a thought-provoking, pop-cultured hip-hop tune, but, no, they're delivered within a deliciously smooth, reggae-paced melody called "Sex & Consequences by Vermont singer/songwriter Lisa McCormick.

One of the strongest songs on "Talisman Groove" — the newest of McCormick's four CDs and the centerpiece of her concert Saturday night at the New England Youth Theater in Brattleboro — it's a nicely ripened reincarnation of a somewhat more bitter version that appeared on her first album 10 years ago.

Flexing supple vocal muscles against culturally diverse backdrops throughout the CD, McCormick writes lyrics that are consistently compelling and candid, whether it's turning the courtship tables with sly savvy and bossa nova bravado in "Fool Me Once" or speculating on a coveted invitation into an artsy clique in the lush salsa of "Cassie's Inner Circle."

Such complex human impulses and interactions color much of McCormick's work and moved me to ask about the sources of these weighty scenarios during a recent conversation.

"Well, I majored in sociology at Marlboro College," she laughed. "I thought I had to study high-brow things."

A native of Albany, N.Y., McCormick's explorations of music began early.

"I started playing guitar when I was 10," she reflected, "and it continued as a hobby through my 20s, but then the quarter-life crisis happened when you say, 'Wait a minute, what do I want to do with my life?' Music was where my heart was and I didn't want to regret not having given it a serious try."

Still, her lofty collegiate achievements have served her well, informing her lyrics with astute observations about human nature — her own as much as that of others — and weaving sociological depth into every song.

Plenty of other poetic wordsmiths have roots in academia, in fact, from Gram Parsons' theological work at Harvard and Lou Reed's English courses at Syracuse to Nick Drake's literature studies at Cambridge and Suzanne Vega's degree in that same field from Barnard.

The latter especially comes to mind when listening to McCormick's wise yet refreshingly idiosyncratic wording, for she's got a similarly palpable love of language that's always made Vega's lyrics meaty and meaningful, with that same plush yet plain-speaking intonation. The crucial difference is that McCormick's voice shifts through several subtle modalities, depending on the story she's telling and the geographical setting in which she's telling it, with a bit of time-travel to musical eras of yore as well.

In "This Is a Kiss," her smoky timbre conjures the gentle rumba of Julie London's 1965 recording of "So In Love" by Cole Porter, replete with enigmatic key changes and elegant intimacy. Likewise, Tracy Thorn's emotional fortitude and straightforward messages in the early days of Everything But the Girl come through in McCormick's "Something About Me & You."

A number of the album's tunes also surreptitiously transport us to warmer climes from which sultry, if not steamy, themes regularly emerge.

In "Love Above Complexity," Middle Eastern textures infuse lines that sew the present to the past, under a veil of romance and mystery.

Let's roll this back to long before the Internet
Let's make believe that we are lovers in antiquity
Living in an age when we place love high above complexity

Other offerings affirm that less can be more, as with "My Little Peace," a beguiling gem with jazz luminary Draa Hobb's nimble guitar interlaced by consummate drummer Allison Miller's shimmering, uncomplicated percussion.

All the musicians on "Talisman Groove" are cream-of-the-crop locals and there are a lot of them: Michael Tate also on drums; T-Bone Wolk on bass, mandolin, accordion and slide-guitar; Steve Leicach on percussion; pianist Peter Schott; Tim Thrasher on bass; cellist Sabine Rhyne; Erik Lawrence on sax; Danny Blume on electric guitar; trombonist Dan DeWalt; and Julian McBrowne — co-producer with McCormick — on percussion and vocal. There are also special appearances by guitarist Mark Anthony Jacobs and vocalist Jonathan Edwards.

With all the global moods these folks helped create on the album, I asked McCormick where her travels have taken her, fully expecting a lengthy, diverse list of exotic locations like Marrakesh, Buenos Aires, Seville or Istanbul.

"Actually, in the last couple of years I became addicted to world music Internet radio streams," she explained, "and it had that effect, where I just sort of moved from one culture to another musically. It's a sublime, inspiring experience and I wanted to emulate those genres creatively."

"I did spend a bunch of time in Guatemala," she said, "and went to Jamaica right before I wrote 'Sex & Consequences.'"

An intriguing, relationship-weary, slightly sardonic sermon, its opening ska cadence and twangy echo recall early Selector while McCormick's vocal authority summons Chrissie Hynde's seductive, velvety mettle.

Curious about her expansive melodic library, I asked McCormick who she listened to as a kid.

"Historically, I grew up on The Beatles, Neil Young and James Taylor," she said, "Because of them, I developed my view about the quality of songwriting. That's what it's about — it's supposed to say something and do something."

McCormick not only writes clean, potent songs — in this case pushing beyond the bounds of jazz and folk into an indie-world-torch genre — she also customizes each tune for her own versatile yet exquisitely distinct voice, an instrument she clearly knows inside and out.

One play of this CD — the writing of which was funded by the Vermont Arts Council — and you'll hear a woman plenty satisfied with her personal evolution, ebulliently waving her inner clarity and bliss from transcontinental musical mountaintops. A piquant amalgam of Peggy Lee's flirtatious grace and Joni Mitchell's bold intelligence, "Talisman Groove" is a sensually erudite, meticulously crafted collection of songs that flawlessly showcase McCormick's charismatic vocal purity and her gifted posse of musicians as well.

Everyone who'll be on stage for Saturday's show is on the CD, so prepare yourself for a decidedly full, culturally diverse sound. As McCormick put it, "It's going to be a great bash."
- By ANNE LAWRENCE GUYON/ Rutland Herald, November 15, 2007


"Sexy, Jazz-Spiced 'Mystery Girl'"

By MuzikMan

"A decision to learn a new language, a deep and strong pull towards the ambient sensuality of jazz standards, and a couple of years of research and writing around issues of contemporary sexuality, are a large part this songwriter's inspiration."

When I first heard Lisa McCormick's (www.lisamccormick.com) music on my way to work one morning, I melted into my seat. Her incredibly smooth and sultry vocals and intimate approach aroused my curiosity and senses. The way she sang the Latin songs like "Toda Una Vida" and "Odiame" just knocked my socks off. She surely had to have Latino blood somewhere in her veins! In addition, her ode to love "96.8 X 2" says it all, directly with no pretense. That song is ripe and ready for radio airplay, as are many of the other tracks on the eclectic jazz-based recording "Mystery Girl."

I just had to find out what makes this girl tick, what inspires her to make such beautiful and inspiring music. If she was anything like her music, I knew I would be in for one hell of a ride asking her some questions!

Lisa McCormick has played guitar since she was ten years old, but never thought of herself as much of a singer until many years later. It was more by default she aspired to be a rock 'n roll lead guitar player and in her opinion she wasn't any good. To keep interested, she started writing songs and singing them, and through that process, found her bearings as a singer.

Having recorded four CD's of original material including "Right Now," produced by veteran folk/rocker Jonathan Edwards, a solo acoustic EP titled "Seven Solos," then another fully produced project, "Sacred," she felt a little time off was in order. That period of regeneration allowed new influences to settle in and have their way with her and the result was "Mystery Girl."

Many people who are familiar with McCormick's work say that this is the best she has ever done and she is quick to agree. Lisa noted, "There is purity about this project that I love. My producer, Julian McBrowne, and I did not carry on with this project with regard for the market, timeline, or any specific goals save for making the finest record we could make. Through that approach, we ended up with a CD on which every song is free to express itself fully. Of course, that also adds up to a CD which is tough to categorize and challenging to market, but I guess that is the tradeoff for doing pure creative work without worrying about how it will fit a particular niche."

For Lisa, writing the material for "Mystery Girl" was a culmination of some unlikely factors, which she never dreamed would end up joining together to form the project. AA decision to learn a new language, a deep and strong pull towards the ambient sensuality of jazz standards, and a couple of years of research and writing around issues of contemporary sexuality, are a large part this songwriter's inspiration. Through the CD she successfully expresses the musical explorations with sounds that draw from jazz and Latin influences. From a purely lyrical standpoint, her expressions, philosophy, mood, ambience and an overall conversation about love, sensuality, sexuality and human connectedness puts the music into the right setting and tone to fit the subject matter.

When I asked Lisa if she was of Latino background and if singing in a different language was easier than speaking it, she replied, "With a name like McCormick and a full crop of red curls, I'm afraid I cannot claim a drop of Hispanic origin. However, a couple of years ago I decided to try to learn Spanish from scratch. What an undertaking! I went to Guatemala to study in a language school in the city of Antigua for a couple of weeks.

"I thought I would bring a guitar along and see if I might be inspired to learn some new chord flavorings and rhythms while visiting a Latin American country. Moreover, I thought it might help me connect with the local folks if I had a Spanish song or two that I could play you know, sort of a good will offering! I asked a Latino friend of mine if he could recommend a couple of old favorites that I could learn. He handed me a Jose Feliciano CD and pointed out a couple of tracks. I had no idea what I was saying at the time, but I managed to learn the songs well enough to pull them off.

"I found that I loved singing in Spanish, and I loved the musical sensibilities the minor chords, the sensuous rhythms. Singing in Spanish is easier than speaking the language for me because I can take the time to learn the lines! It is not like that in conversation, where you have to come up with nouns, verbs, and adjectives on the fly!"

"At the same time, I also found myself being pulled towards some loungy, jazz sounds and I spent some time learning the chording and guitar techniques that would allow me to do some writing in that genre. Having worked more in the realms of contemporary folk and pop in the past, both the jazz and the Latin influences were very new and exciting to me, putting me in the position of learning new things, thinking outside my own box and creating in brand new ways."

I told Lisa that listening to her beautiful voice made me think... She must have listened to all the greats: Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Peggy Lee, and many more. I then asked her what she attributed her source of inspiration to. "At the risk of sounding too 'out there', I have to confess that I attribute my main source of inspiration to some unseen creative force... you can call it God, or the Muse or whatever you like. I purposely do not listen to other artists in an attempt to study or emulate their technique. Rather, I try to work in a relative vacuum, letting the inspiration move me to sing, write and perform in a way that is more purely creative, as opposed to imitative or derivative.

"However, as a creature of this culture, I am, and always have been, surrounded by influences. My Dad listened to a lot of jazz in the house when I was a kid. I did not particularly like it at the time, but clearly it seeped in and re-emerged many years later with its own story to tell. I sing these songs the way I feel them - relaxed, honest and sensual."

"Mystery Girl" is an independently released album on Lisa's own label Ruthie's Noise Productions. it is available through her website at www.LisaMcCormick.com, as well as at Amazon.com and CDBaby.com. McCormick and her team are currently working with a radio promoter who is getting the CD out to AAA stations nationwide, while Lisa is concurrently managing the efforts to get the CD out to independent radio programs that feature women artists, acoustic music and the like.

They are also in the process of approaching some selected smaller record labels with the help of an entertainment lawyer and negotiating for a couple of cuts to be included in compilation CD's. In addition to all of that activity, this busy woman is working with a writer to produce a feature article for a nationally published magazine. To top it all off, Lisa is planning an album release concert in her hometown, which will benefit two regional AIDS service providers.

McCormick ended our conversation by saying, "The music business is in such a state of flux right now, it is impossible to know exactly how it will all shake out. Meanwhile, we are taking matters into our own hands and moving forward with all we can humanly do as a very small crew on an even smaller budget, but with a project that we deeply believe in. The day is still young. 'Mystery Girl' has been in our hands only a few short weeks and it is being received with great enthusiasm. I think what is very satisfying to me is that people seem to 'get' it. The comments we get back speak to the honesty, the sensuality, the sexiness, the humanity and the spirituality of the project. As far as I am concerned, that is where success lies, not in big sales numbers, but in the opportunity to really touch some hearts in a meaningful way."

Provided by the MusicDish Network. Copyright © Tag It 2003 - Republished with Permission. All Rights Reserved. - MusicDish.com


Discography

Talisman Groove - 2007, Ruthie's Noise

Mystery Girl - 2003, Ruthie's Noise

Sacred - 1999, Ruthie's Noise

Right Now - 1996, Rising Records

All of Lisa's CD's are available from CD Baby,
iTunes, and from her web store:
http://www.lisamccormick.com/shop1.htm

Photos

Bio

Singer-songwriter Lisa McCormick's strong clear voice and sharp sense of humor light up the stage, with distinctly original contemporary acoustic songs characterized by daring sophisticated lyrics and infectious guitar rhythms. She has released four CD’s of original music, and has toured extensively as a solo acoustic artist.

McCormick’s debut CD, "Right Now", released in 1997, earned McCormick instant acclaim, including the honors "Artist of the Year" and "Album of the Year" by Maine Public Radio, the Grand Prize in the USA Songwriting Competition, Grand Prize in the MIXX Magazine Indie Band Contest, and three preliminary GRAMMY nominations. Produced by veteran folk/rocker Jonathan Edwards and released on his Rising Records label, "Right Now" gained national radio airplay.

A second CD of contemporary folk/pop songs, “Sacred” was released in 2000. “Mystery Girl” followed in 2003, introducing Jazz and Latin flavors to McCormick’s sound. Her most recent release, “Talisman Groove” (2007) expands McCormick’s horizons with World Music influences. Each project maintains a high standard of lyrical and musical craftsmanship.

The Washington Post raves, "This is one singer/songwriter who is really worth hearing!" and Boston's New England Performer Magazine calls Lisa McCormick "...an absolute genius. She is funny, sexy, smart, literate, sardonic, witty, and sings with all the power of a rock diva.”

In addition to her own performances, McCormick has been invited to open the show for numerous national artists, including Ani DiFranco, Aimee Mann, Jonathan Edwards, and Joan Armatrading.