Lisa Germano

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Lisa Germano

| image = Lisa-Germano.jpg

| caption = Lisa Germano performing, December 2007

| landscape = yes

| background = solo_singer

| birth_name = Lisa Ruth Germano

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1958|6|27}}

| birth_place = Mishawaka, Indiana, U.S.

| genre = Alternative rock, dream pop, folk rock

| occupation = Musician, singer, songwriter, graphic artist

| instrument = Violin, guitar, accordion, piano, vocals

| label = Major Bill, Capitol, 4AD, Warner Bros., Ineffable, Young God

}}

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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.spin.com/2021/12/greatest-90s-albums/|title=The 90 Best Albums of the 1990s |website=Spin.com}} She began her career as a violinist for John Mellencamp. {{As of|2018}}, she has released thirteen albums.[https://www.southbendtribune.com/entertainment/inthebend/music/alumni-return-for-south-bend-youth-symphony-s-gala-th/article_e15d8108-4fef-5004-8f2c-deba25beb877.html " 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.{{Cite web |title=4AD Lisa Germano |url=http://4ad.com/ |access-date=2023-09-13 |website=4AD |language=en}}

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,{{cite book|author=Dave Thompson|title=Hallo Spaceboy: The Rebirth of David Bowie|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k0l_cQEHV5oC&pg=PA240|date=16 November 2010|publisher=ECW Press|isbn=978-1-55490-271-2|page=240}}{{cite book|title=Lisa Germano|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xJAJAQAAMAAJ|year=1994|publisher=String Letter Corporation|page=138}} appearing on The Lonesome Jubilee (1987),{{cite web |last1=Wilson |first1=MacKenzie |title=Lisa Germano |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/lisa-germano-mn0000299500/biography |website=AllMusic |access-date=16 August 2018}} 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.{{cite web |last1=Phares |first1=Heather |title=On the Way Down From the Moon Palace |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/on-the-way-down-from-the-moon-palace-mw0000270958 |website=AllMusic |access-date=16 August 2018}} 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.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}

=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.{{cite book|author=Alyssa Katz|title=Pop Therapy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X1aghtVf0GEC&pg=PA93|date=December 1996|publisher=SPIN Media LLC|pages=93–|issn=0886-3032}}

Excerpts From a Love Circus (1996) was praised by Spin and Rolling Stone.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}} 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.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}

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,{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20000202154452/http://chartattack.com/road/reviews/1999/19990423-playboys.html "Live Reviews: Latin Playboys/Lisa Germano April 21, 1999 Lee's Palace, Toronto"]}}. 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){{cite web|title=Lisa Germano {{!}} Album Discography {{!}} AllMusic|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/lisa-germano-mn0000299500/discography|website=AllMusic|access-date=28 July 2017}}