Lisa Germano

Lisa Ruth Germano (born June 27, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Indiana. Her album '' Geek the Girl'' (1994) was named one of the best albums of the 1990s by ''Spin'' magazine. She began her career as a violinist for John Mellencamp. , she has released thirteen albums." Alumni return for South Bend Youth Symphony's gala 50th anniversary concert at Notre Dame"
By Andrew S. Hughes ''South Bend Tribune'' May 20, 2018

Early life

Germano was born in Mishawaka, Indiana, one of six children of violinist Rocco and Betty Germano. She studied music, including piano and violin, as a child. When she was seven, she composed a 15-minute opera for the piano.

Career

On the road with Mellencamp

Germano was working as a violinist when rock singer John Mellencamp invited her to play in his band for the '' Scarecrow'' Tour. For the next eight years, she toured and recorded as a member of Mellencamp's band, appearing on '' The Lonesome Jubilee'' (1987), '' Big Daddy'' (1989), '' Falling from Grace'' (1991), '' Human Wheels'' (1993), and '' Dance Naked'' (1994). Germano played with Mellencamp from 1985 to 1993 before leaving in 1994 to pursue a solo career. During the 1980s she also appeared on albums by Simple Minds and the Indigo Girls.

Germano rejoined Mellencamp's band for the 2023 Live and In Person tour, and also played violin on his studio album that year, '' Orpheus Descending'' – the first Mellencamp studio album she played on since 1993.

Solo career

After recording with Henry Lee Summer, Bob Seger, and Carrie Newcomer, Germano began a solo career with the album '' On the Way Down from the Moon Palace'' (1991), recorded in Indianapolis and released by her label, Major Bill Records. Although sales were low, the album got the attention of Capitol Records, which signed her to a contract and released her next album, ''Happiness'' (1993). Personnel changes at Capitol resulted in the departure of most of her supporters at the label, but Germano retained the rights to her album.

With British label 4AD

Germano signed a contract with the British label 4AD, which had a manufacturing and distribution deal with Warner Bros. in the U.S. Ivo Watts-Russell, founder and president of 4AD, was a fan of Germano's work. He remixed some of the ''Happiness'' tracks with producer and engineer John Fryer, who had been involved in Watts-Russell's This Mortal Coil project. In early 1994, 4AD issued ''Inconsiderate Bitch'', a limited-edition EP with five of the remixed tracks. In April of that year, ''Happiness'' was reissued with different artwork, mixing, and sequencing. Two tracks from the original release were replaced, including a cover version of "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'".

Germano's third album, '' Geek the Girl'', was released in October 1994 and received positive reviews from the press.

'' Excerpts From a Love Circus'' (1996) was praised by ''Spin'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Earlier that year, Watts-Russell approached 4AD's musicians with the idea that each act would find another person or band to collaborate with on three songs. The recordings would then be released by the label as a monthly series of EPs. Germano worked with rock band Giant Sand, but after their tracks had been recorded, the label 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 the labels' lack of interest in their recordings, recorded a full album in less than a week. Managers for Germano and Giant Sand made a deal with Thirsty Ear Recordings to release the album as a one-off project under the name OP8, and the album '' Slush'' was released in February 1997.

In April 1997, 4AD began promoting the single "I Love a Snot" (remixed by Tchad Blake) to radio and retail stores in America, but sales of the ''Excerpts from a Love Circus'' album remained static at best. "Lovesick", another track from the album, was remixed by Trevor Jackson (as The Underdog) and released by his label, Output Recordings.

Sales began to sag noticeably after the July 1998 release of the album ''Slide'', produced by Tchad Blake. The distribution deal with Warner Bros. ended, returning 4AD to independent status; and without Warner's involvement ''Slide'' received less of a promotional effort. Before the album's release, Germano was invited to sing backup vocals on tour with The Smashing Pumpkins. Although she rejected the offer at first, singer Billy Corgan persuaded her that she would have a more collaborative role, and she agreed to join the tour. She rehearsed with the band for four weeks in Chicago. The night before the tour was supposed to begin, Corgan dismissed her (via the tour manager) with no explanation.

Intent on resuming the promotion of ''Slide'', she went on tour, opening for the Eels and then headlining smaller clubs. While on tour she was notified by 4AD that they were dropping her from the label. By the end of 1998, she announced that she was done with the music business. She fired her management. Nonetheless, in 1999 she performed in Toronto at Lee's Palace,. ''Chart Attack'', April 21, 1999 and continued to release new albums with various labels.

Discography

Albums

* '' On the Way Down from the Moon Palace'' (Major Bill, 1991)
* ''Happiness'' ( Capitol, 1993/4AD, 1994)
* '' Geek the Girl'' (4AD, 1994)
* '' Excerpts from a Love Circus'' (4AD, 1996)
* '' Slush'' ( Thirsty Ear, 1997) (with OP8)
* ''Slide'' (4AD, 1998)
* '' Lullaby for Liquid Pig'' (Ineffable/ARTISTdirect, 2003)
* '' In the Maybe World'' ( Young God, 2006)
* '' Magic Neighbor'' (Young God, 2009)
* '' No Elephants'' (Badman, 2013)

Compilations

* ''Concentrated'' (self-released, 2002)
* ''Rare, Unusual or Just Bad Songs'' (self-released, 2002)
* ''Songs From Tierra Sabrosa'' (self-released, 2006)
* ''Lisa Germano'' (self-released, 2006)

As guest

With David Bowie
* 2002 '' Heathen''
* 2002 " Slow Burn"

With Michael Brook
* 2006 '' RockPaperScissors ''
* 2007 ''BellCurve''

With Eels
* 1998 '' Electro-Shock Blues''
* 2000 '' Oh What a Beautiful Morning''
* 2003 '' Shootenanny!''

With Neil Finn
* 1998 '' Try Whistling This''
* 2001 '' One Nil''
* 2002 '' 7 Worlds Collide''

With Howe Gelb
* 1998 ''Hisser''
* 2013 ''Little Sand Box''

With Indigo Girls
* 1992 ''Rites of Passage''
* 1994 '' Swamp Ophelia''
* 1997 '' Shaming of the Sun''

With Billy Joel
* 1990 ''Live at Yankee Stadium'', violin on " The Downeaster 'Alexa' "

With John Mellencamp
* 1987 '' The Lonesome Jubilee''
* 1989 '' Big Daddy''
* 1993 '' Human Wheels''
* 1994 '' Dance Naked''
* 1998 ''John Mellencamp''
* 2010 '' On the Rural Route 7609''
* 2018 '' Other People's Stuff''
* 2023 '' Orpheus Descending (album)''

With Simple Minds
* 1987 '' Live in the City of Light''
* 1989 ''Street Fighting Years''
* 1991 ''Real Life''

With Yann Tiersen
* 2001 ''L' Absente''
* 2003 ''C'était Ici''
* 2008 ''C'était Ici: Live''

With others
* 1987 ''The Sound of Music'', The dB's
* 1988 '' Rebels Without a Clue'', The Bellamy Brothers
* 1989 '' I've Got Everything'', Henry Lee Summer
* 1991 '' The Fire Inside'', Bob Seger
* 1991 ''Visions and Dreams'', Carrie Newcomer
* 1991 ''World So Bright'', Adam Schmitt
* 1992 ''Candyland'', James McMurtry
* 1993 ''American Caesar'', Iggy Pop
* 1993 '' Strays'', Junkhouse
* 1995 ''Glum'', Giant Sand
* 1996 ''Caledonia'', John P. Strohm
* 1996 ''Dead Spy Report'', Craig Ross
* 1996 ''In Flight'', Linda Perry
* 1997 '' Time and Love: The Music of Laura Nyro'', various artists (Germano contributed a version of " Eli's Comin'")
* 1998 ''Dopamine'', Mitchell Froom
* 1998 '' The Globe Sessions'', Sheryl Crow
* 2001 ''Las Vegas Is Cursed'', Hector Zazou
* 2002 '' Anna'', Anna Waronker
* 2003 '' 0304'', Jewel
* 2003 '' From Every Sphere'', Ed Harcourt
* 2003 '' The Official Fiction'', Something for Kate
* 2003 '' True Reflections'', Boyd Tinsley
* 2004 '' Impossible Dream'', Patty Griffin
* 2005 '' The Roads Don't Love You'', Gemma Hayes
* 2009 ''Amor Vincit Omnia'', Draco Rosa
* 2009 '' Devil's Halo'', Meshell Ndegeocello
* 2009 '' Goodnight Unknown'', Lou Barlow
* 2009 '' The Sun Came Out'', 7 Worlds Collide
* 2010 '' Intriguer'', Crowded House

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Germano, Lisa
1958 births
Living people
People from Mishawaka, Indiana
Singers from Indiana
American folk rock musicians
American people of Italian descent
American rock violinists
American women violinists
American women rock singers
Dream pop musicians
Eels (band) members
4AD artists
Young God Records artists
21st-century American women singers
21st-century American singers
21st-century American violinists