Lisa Mann: Old Girl
Lisa Man
Old Girl
West Virginia born singer songwriter and award winning artist Lissa Mann has a range of skills that has earned her international acclaim as a band leader and sought after support player. Now based in Portland Oregon Mann is a two time Blues Music Award winner for her astounding Bass playing, the Blues Blast Sean Costello Rising Star Award, and dozens of award from the Cascade Blues Association and the Oregon Music Hall of Fame. These much deserved awards are highlights of an impressive 20 plus year career, but what sets Man apart is her intellect, compassion, and generous personality. Her new release Old Girl is a five song EP. recorded at Primal Studio in Portland by Kevin Hahn features members of her road band “The Really Good Men,” Jason Thomas on guitars with drummers Michael Ballash and Dave Melyan, along with special guests Louis Pain on Hammond B3 organ, and spirited backing vocals from Sonny Hess, Brian Foxworth, LaRhonda Steele and Arietta Ward. The four new original tracks and an inspired cover from recent Rock N Roll Hall of Fame inductee Sister Rosetta Tharpe stands as a musical postcard from the heart of the hard working Blues Woman who is wise beyond her years.
The title track opens the album with country tinged does of self-analysis from the mid-life perspective of a woman trying to reconcile how to compete in an ever changing world that holds youth in high esteem. The mid-tempo groove of “OLD Girl,” has Mann’s strong alto bolstered by sweet B3 lines and chiming guitars. In the album notes Mann gives credit to the inspiration for the rambling happy go lucky track “It’s the Monkey’s Or Me,” to a true story from her old friends. Many a romance has faced the classic ultimatum of choice, but one involving pet primates is hysterical and proves truth is stranger than fiction. Mann spells out the plight of a working women in dog eat dog world of the music business on the gut bucket funk track “Everybody’s Making Money.” She name checks the hurdles a DYI artist has to jump over, while Jason “JT” Thomas throws down sizzling lead guitar and Michael Ballash thunders away on the drum kit.
The Godmother of Rock N Roll, Sister Rosetta Tharpe was pioneer in the development of Rhythm & Blues and the Electric guitar. Lissa Mann pays loving tribute to her and makes a statement for equal rights on a revved up cover of one of her signature tunes, “That’s All” (first recorded in 1938), as a plea for love and equality. The timely selection provides poignant commentary on how conflict is often caused by commercial greed. In the times that we live in, Tharpe’s music is needed more than ever. Songs of “In Memoriam,” that pay homage to the fallen have long been the stock and trade of accomplished songwriters. Lisa Mann adds her voice to the lexicon penning the dramatic opus “Around Here.,” The Gospel fueled ballad doesn’t mention the music heroes by name but Mann’s vivid description of long gone musical icons brings forth familiar images that any fan can readily picture of local legends who left a legacy through their musical gifts. “They may not be famous, but we will remember them Around Here.”
The EP Old Girl from Lisa Mann marks a place of confident introspection from a seasoned artist who knows herself and her sense of purpose, fashioned into a concise and to the point musical novelette.