Lisa Pappas - Performing Songwriter

Nominated for a Jammie Award as "Best New Folk Artist" by WYCE- 88.1 in Grand Rapids in 2004, and featured on the "Over Easy" morning program on WCSX 94.7 in Detroit in 2005, Lisa Pappas is a Michigan born-and-bred Performing Songriter.

"I've lived and performed everywhere from the Leelanau Penninsula and E. Lansing to Kalamazoo and Ann Arbor," Lisa says. "I consider all of Michigan my home."

Now residing in Ann Arbor, Lisa wrote her first song when she was 12. That was the same year she received her first acoustic guitar. She's been writing and performing music ever since—inspired by such artists as Bonnie Raitt, Patty Griffin, and the Indigo Girls.

Lisa began performing at cafes while attending Michigan State University in the 1980s. (Ah, what college kids will do for free food!) She recorded her first CD of original material, Stranger in Town, in 1998. After receiving serveral music grants from the supportive arts community of Kalamazoo (where she lived and thrived from 1996 to 2003), Lisa produced her dobro, mandolin, and congo-laden CD Harvest of Life in late 2002.

She considers both times of collaborating with talented musicians and engineers in the studio as one of life's peak experiences—right next to sailing 2,000 nautical miles from the Caribbean to New York City in 1990. (She worked as professional crew for one year.)

"Music is probably my greatest joy, and its even better when I realize how it can impact others," she says. "It's an honor when folks come me after a gig to say how much they related to a particular song, as though it was written especially for them. Things like that make all this crazy songwriting and giggin stuff truly worth while."

Sing Out! Magazine reviewed Lisa's Harvest of Life CD soon after its release and called the music "sincere and enjoyable." This national publication also pointed out how the CD offers a unique and well blended mix of musical styles, including folk, pop, and country. (Please click on the "Review" button if you'd like to read the full review, along with other comments about Lisa's music.)