By Marc D. Allan
The Indianapolis Star | May 1, 1991
VIolinist Lisa German finds herself trying to escape the moon palace, that fairy-tale place where women live for their men. In doing so, this loving daughter, loyal member of Hoosier rocker John Mellencamp’s band and once-dutiful wife has made a solo album, On the Way Down from the Moon Palace, that’s thoroughly stunning.
I’ve been listening to an advance copy (It’s scheduled to be avallable Mondav in select record stores), and after every listen, I rewind and play it again. I’ve played almost nothing else for the past three weeks.
The music is extraordinarily stirring and beautiful. It sounds like nothing else I’ve ever heard. Her compositions evoke moods and emotions more often associated with classical music than pop songs. The music reflects Germano’s personality, which is free-spirited in one sense and businesslike in another.
“Simply Tony” and the title track are like tunes from some magical, otherworldly music box. The innocence and fear are palpable on “Riding My Bike,” a song about a little girl’s chance meeting with an exhibitionist. “The Other One” is a dreamy work about the need for love and devotion.
But the absolute knockout is “Dig My Own Grave,” which may be best described as country music turned inside out. In an almost drunken, sing-song style, she rails at the man who did her wrong.
And I don’t know what to do
I try and try and try and try and try and try and
I know if you could,
you’re supposed to make feel better
I don’t feel better, I feel worse
And I don’t know where you are
Or why am I filled with these foolish, foolish thoughts
“That song was a very self-defeating, giving-up-on-yourself song.” Germano says. “I wanted it to be very heavy. But you can be so self-indulgent and cut yourself down and feel bad about yourself only to the point where you have to have a sense of humor about it or you might as well give up. The subject of it is really serious, but the music makes it really funny.”
Album took about a year
Germano, 32, has spent portions of the past five years either working with Mellencamp’s band, touring with Simple Minds, performing with Billy Joel, or recordings songs for Bob Seger’s forthcoming album.
When she wasn’t working, she’d sit in her Northside apartment and wonder what she should be doing. That’s what led her to write and record her own songs.
The album took a year to produce. She recorded at September Recordings in Indianapolis, where she sang and played all the instruments—violin, guitar, piano, mandolin, accordion, autoharp—except for a bass line on one track and drums on three tracks.
“This whole record is about all my decisions,” she says, sitting at her kitchen table and trying to control a nasty cough. “I played everything, and I wrote everything, and it’s all my vision.”
“It’s really not easy, because I’m used to everybody else doing everything, being a part of these big bands. It was a year to find out: What are you good at? What do you do?”
On the Way Down From the Moon Palace will be available at Karma Records stores and World Record Shoppe, 5218 Keystone Court, or can be ordered by mail by sending $15 for compact disc or $10 for cassette to: Major Bill Records, PO Box 30087, Indianapolis, Ind. 46230.
She’s having 1,000 compact discs and 500 cassettes prepared for distribution in Indianapolis and Bloomington, the final step in this self-financed venture.
The record company Private Music approached Germano about a contract, which would have removed the financial burden. But the label wanted more songs like “Guessing Games,” the record’s most likely single.
“When I first sent this out to record companies, they said it had no focus. It all sounds too different. Well, I get bored listening to records where every song sounds the same. So if there’s no room for creativity here, I’ll just do it myself and I’ll be broke and happier inside and wondering if I made the right decision.”
Germano grew up in Mishawaka in a family where everyone played musical instruments. She played violin and wrote songs on the piano as a child.
Regaining a lost love
She was performing at the Little Nashville Opry in 1986 (“I was very miserable; I had to wear Hee-Haw outfits.”) when she met drummer Kenny Aronoff, who also performed there before joining Mellencamp’s group.
“He was so inspiring that I started to practice again and get a love back for music, which I had lost,” she says. “A year later, he called and said John wants to put violin on a song.”
That was the acoustic version of “Small Town.” Since then, she’s toured with Mellencamp twice and expects to join the band when it goes on the road this fall. She’s not playing on the forthcoming Mellencamp record, which reportedly takes a basic guitar-bass-drums-vocals approach.
While she waits for the record to be finished and the tour to begin, Germano has about six months to decide what to do about her solo career and how free of the moon palace she wants to be.
Featured Image: Lisa Germano: “If there’s no room for creativity here, I’ll just do it myself and I’ll be broke.” (Photo: Jeff Atteberry)
