Lisa Germano is a multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter who has released seven albums featuring her distinctive violin and confessional lyrics. Her album Geek the Girl received widespread critical acclaim (and even made Spin's top 90 albums of the 90's list). She also performed as a guest on over sixty records by other artists, including Eels, John Mellencamp, Simple Minds, David Bowie, Sheryl Crow and Iggy Pop.

Born Lisa Ruth Germano (in Mishawaka, Indiana, on January 1, 1958) into an Italian-American catholic family, she was the middle of six kids. Since her parents (Betty and Rocco Germano) were musicians and teachers, she and her siblings were encouraged to learn an instrument from an early age until they turned 18. At the age of seven she wrote her first piece of music: a 15-minute opera on the piano and, in due time, Germano learned the violin, an instrument that would ultimately guide her to a professional career in music.

She made her debut as John Mellencamp's violinist and fiddle player on his 1987 hit album The Lonesome Jubilee. Germano would spend the next seven years with Mellencamp, shaping a smooth, fearless playing style. Additional tours and recording sessions with Simple Minds and the Indigo Girls motivated Germano to do something on her own. She found her voice at the age of 30, and developed a quirky sound rooted in folk-rock and poetry. The lo-fi, shadowy On the Way Down From the Moon Palace was issued on her own Major Bill label in 1991, marking Germano's proper introduction as a solo artist.

Though poor in terms of sales, the album did enough to bring Germano to Capitol's attention. However, when Happiness was released two years later, Germano was dissatisfied with her major-label deal, so she signed with Ivo Watts-Russell's 4AD in 1994 and reissued a new version of the album. Geek the Girl, which also appeared before the year's end, captured Germano's secrets of a wavering self-concept and her disgust for social ignorance. This particular album of massy sexual conflicts earned Germano her biggest praise from the press to date, thus becoming a cult record of the 90's.

Excerpts From a Love Circus was gushing in adoration when it arrived in 1996, and received a fair amount of acclaim in publications ranging from independent-oriented magazines to Spin and Rolling Stone. Unfortunately, sales were poor and after releasing Slide (1998) Germano took some time off. Within months, she lost her deal with 4AD. She questioned her place in music and basically vowed to never make another record (Germano was also hired as member of a new The Smashing Pumpkins line-up in 1998 as violinist and backing vocalist, but left for undisclosed reasons before the tour began).

A move to Hollywood for a simple kind of life gave Germano a much needed break. She took a job as a clerk at Book Soup and enjoyed her anonymity. Songwriting remained an integral part of her life, but having it be a means to making a living wasn't a concern. Joining other artists such as David Bowie, Anna Waronker, Eels, and Neil Finn on their respective projects kept Germano connected. In the meantime she released through her website two collections of songs from her back catalogue: Concentrated and Rare, Unusual or Just Bad Songs (2002).

Luckily for fans, Germano inked a deal with the ARTISTdirect imprint Ineffable in 2002. Germano's classic, twisted sense of humor was at its finest on Lullaby for Liquid Pig, which was issued in April 2003, just before the label went belly up.

Having had a taste of pop success with Mellencamp and getting her own stabs at major-label deals in the early '90s, she's quite happy now to have her music released on the low end of the food chain. In the Maybe World (July 2006) came through Young God Records, owned by former Swans leader (and long-time Germano fan) Michael Gira and in recent years home to such offbeat upstarts as Devendra Banhart and Angels of Light.

Discography

External links

• LisaGermano.com - official site
• Emotional Wench Online
• Screaming Angels: Lisa Germano Message Boards
• Guillotine Love (the Lisa Germano enthusiast's resource center)
• Lisa Germano at Young God Records
• Lisa Germano at 4AD
• Lisa Germano at ARTISTdirect
• Lisa Germano at Scaruffi.com

4AD Records | Dream pop

Lisa Germano | Lisa Germano