Tearing Down the Fence Between Lisa Germano and ‘Happiness’
With 1993’s Happiness, Capitol Records tried to sit Lisa Germano on a fence between Americana and alternative. With 1994’s Happiness, 4AD Records dismantled the fence.
February 20, 2023
456 views
11 minute read
Lisa Germano’s ‘Happiness’ Broke Out of the John Mellencamp Roots Rut
If the Capitol debut of Lisa Germano – serving at that point as the violinist for John Mellencamp – found you perhaps longing for something along the lines of her old boss’s Lonesome Jubilee, sorry. Not even hardly.
November 30, 2018
406 views
2 minute read
Lisa Germano: Interview
Lisa Torem chats to cult artist Lisa Germano about her album, 'No Elephants,' and working with Calexico, Johnny Marr, Michael Gira and the Smashing Pumpkins
March 24, 2013
7 views
16 minute read
Lisa Germano: No Elephants
No Elephants is Lisa Germano's ninth record, and her fourth since declaring that she was quitting the music business forever in 1998. The somewhat restricted palette explored here might scan as "pretty", but the lyrics are classic Germano: jarring, rough-hewn, and anguished.
February 13, 2013
4 views
4 minute read
Friends in High Places
Singer collaborates with pop music elite
October 20, 2006
229 views
2 minute read
Violinist Lisa Germano Aims to Engage, Not Just Entertain
No one dances to Lisa Germano's music.
June 13, 2003
31 views
2 minute read
Only Angels Have Wings Interview: Lisa Germano
Lisa Germano is one of these persons who like to talk about their music, about their life, she never fails to be self-critical and self-mocking (see her autobiography in which she says she was kicked out of the cheerleaders because she did not smile enough, so the interview actually lasted about ten minutes more than what I expected.
May 1, 2003
394 views
15 minute read
Lisa Germano’s Better Place
Lisa Germano has come a long way from her days playing in John Cougar Mellencamp's backing band.
October 11, 1998
271 views
3 minute read
Lisa Germano: Geek Love
Lisa Germano has been a sad, sad girl. Lucky for us, she swings moods, misfortunes and malaise into songs that make us hurt so good.
August 10, 1998
301 views
7 minute read
Lisa Germano: Hometown Girl
Germano, first known for playing violin behind John Mellencamp, has gained much critical acclaim in her solo career.
October 19, 1995
215 views
5 minute read
The Geek Strikes Back
The eponymous Geek in Lisa Germano's haunted new album, Geek the Girl, is, her sleevenotes explain, "confused about how to be sexual and cool in the world but find out she isn't cool and gets constantly taken advantage of sexually, gets kind of sick and enjoys giving up..."
January 1, 1995
269 views
2 minute read
Lisa Germano: Music Therapy
Stepping Out From John Mellencamp’s Shadow, Singer and Violinist Lisa Germano Hits a Nerve On Geek The Girl
December 15, 1994
315 views
7 minute read
Revenge of the Geek
It's probably not a good idea to take literally singer-songwriter Lisa Germano's claim, "In the beginning, I was thinking I was going to do a happy record." After all, her terrific 1993 disc Happiness balanced gallows humor with material that was about as upbeat and chipper as your average funeral...
November 9, 1994
287 views
6 minute read
Lisa Germano: Happiness
During a moment of musical epiphany in "Around the World," the first song on Happiness, Lisa Germano's voice takes on a child's sense of wonder
September 30, 1993
268 views
2 minute read
Lisa Germano: Happiness
Compared to Germano's self-financed debut, On the Way Down From the Moon Palace, Happiness is a more cohesive and evenly listenable work, but with all the experimental quirks left in.
September 1, 1993
276 views
1 minute read
Lisa Germano: Happiness
On her first major-label release, John Mellencamp violinist Lisa Germano plunges into that abyss of misery, alienation and screwed-up relationships we all know and love.
September 1, 1993
262 views
2 minute read