Lisa Hake

I go looking for solo Irish female americana artists and then two come along at once. A bit different from my usual left-field or right-field stuff, some might describe Lisa Hake as M.O.R americana. Sometimes that word can be interpreted in disparaging light however I infer it to mean she makes consistent, rooted americana.

Lisa can claim to know what native americana sounds like as she hails from the home of it: West Virginia. After spending a while in California, she ended up in Louth of all places. (I imagine a small bit of a change from California). She has released two albums since arriving in Ireland. The first "Tree Over Sea" was released in 2007 with the second album "Wind Under Wood" being released in August 2009. The most recent album was actually made with a Louth County Council Arts Grant (those were still the good times!). I never thought I would be commending Louth County Council on this for supporting americana music but fair play to them for supporting her music. The music of Lisa Hake sounds like classic early americana with blend of folk and pop melodies. I'm thinking here of Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams and later Aimee Mann. "Logging Saw" is off the first album. A tale of a tree, Lisa explains the inspiration of the song herself below which also demonstrates her wonderful guitar playing.

Lisa herself has seems to have had a very colourful life so far. Living all over the United States and then Ireland; she is apart from a musician, an author, an eye surgeon, an I ching practitioner and reader. Impressive stuff. Where does she get the time? The second album continues where the first left off. Warm songs with imaginative and superbly structured lyrics. In a very nice touch she added the inspiration for each song on the album to the linear notes of the record. You can view the online version here. The track "Which Wind" was inspired by walking the strand on Achill Island in Co. Mayo. It's a bit different from other tracks; it has that of beat reggae style strum. Lovely. Unfortunately I can't stream it here. You will have to go to her website to stream the album and see if you agree with me or not.

You can buy the two albums on Itunes or on CDBaby. The CDBaby page is actually worth visiting for her notes on the "Wind Under Wood" alone. She has described the instruments used and the tuning for each song. Amazingly there is no Facebook page I can link you to. Good on you Lisa so just head to her own site for all things Lisa Hake related.