{"id":255,"date":"2012-02-12T20:06:31","date_gmt":"2012-02-12T20:06:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lrhr.dreamhosters.com\/wp\/?p=255"},"modified":"2015-11-10T22:36:31","modified_gmt":"2015-11-10T22:36:31","slug":"john-lisi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lrhr.dreamhosters.com\/wp\/?p=255","title":{"rendered":"JOHN LISI"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"lisi\"<\/a>BIO<\/strong><\/p>\n

It seems Goodyear\u2019s loss was music\u2019s gain.<\/p>\n

Rather than the rote replies of \u201cactor,\u201d \u201cpoet\u201d or \u201cteacher\u201d when asked what he\u2019d have chosen if not for his actual career track \u2013 John Lisi, in keeping with the decidedly atypical approach he carries from studio to stage, thinks a few thousand feet outside the box.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew since the age of 5 or 6 that I was going to be a musician when I grew up,\u201d he said, \u201cbut to be honest if I wasn\u2019t a musician I would love to be a blimp pilot.\u201d<\/p>\n

And while he ultimately went for a more gravity-based profession than steering free-flying aircraft, neither the zigzagged path he\u2019s followed since nor the variety of work he\u2019s produced while doing so is any less eclectic than the initial reply might suggest. He played, sang and co-wrote on Rockin\u2019 Tabby Thomas\u2019 \u201cLong Live the King of the Swamp Blues\u201d in 1998, then, a year later, released his debut \u201cBlues For Chloe\u201d \u2013 featuring guest bluesmen Big Jay McNeely, Henry Gray, Larry Garner and J. Monque\u2019D.<\/p>\n

His first album with Delta Funk, \u201cPreachin\u2019 to the Choir,\u201d was released in 2000 and yielded the follow-up \u201cCan Ya\u2019 Dig It\u201d in 2004. Elsewhere, he co-wrote and played on Big Chief Monk Boudreaux\u2019s \u201cRising Sun\u201d in 2006, teamed up with Cody Dickenson and Jimbo Mathus on \u201cDead Cat Bounce\u201d in 2007 and was prominently featured on the Devil Dolls\u2019 \u201cReturn of Eve\u201d in 2008. He\u2019s also co-fronted the band Six Strings Down, and, in 2009, received the Slim Harpo Award for Blues Pioneer, alongside Dr. John and Alvin Batiste.<\/p>\n

Bottom line, Lisi not only thrives on the work\u2026he loves what he does saying \u201cI have an unshakable belief in my original songs and being able to deliver them live, as well as honestly enjoying creating and performing,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t have to do this. I get to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The creative edge was honed along the way on many stops since he first caught the musical bug as a kid in his native New Jersey. A love affair with the trumpet was soon supplemented when he saw an old film of the original Woodstock festival in 1969 and was instantly captivated by the guitar prowess of Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townsend and Alvin Lee, among others.<\/p>\n

An initial move to the Gulf Coast brought stints in several Tampa, Fla.-based bands, with which he began developing the dynamic stage presence that\u2019s ultimately become a trademark. From there he went to Los Angeles and worked in genres from blues and funk to rockabilly, swing and metal, toured with several acts and picked up studio guitar work for major network television shows including L.A. Law and Quantum Leap. Relocating his base to New Orleans provided opportunities to play with several Delta staples, including Dr. John, Cyril Neville, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Raful and Kenny Neal, Rockin\u2019 Tabby Thomas, Bryan Lee, Galactic, Tab Benoit and Jason Ricci.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Jersey, I learned to play with drive and intensity and in Florida we would play insanely long shows. It was a musical marathon training camp,\u201d he said. \u201cIn California, I learned to appreciate it is a business and to approach it that way, but in Louisiana I learned to play with soul and not think about what I learned everywhere else. I did set out to play, write and sing. I honestly didn\u2019t think there was any other choice. It\u2019s nice not having to rely or wait around on anyone to finish songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201dHis offbeat outlook, distinctive voice and instrumental versatility were all put to work on his 2010 release, \u201cSuper-Most-Fantastic!\u201d a compilation of eclectic blues that yielded Lisi a glowing review from New Orleans-based OffBeat magazine, which said he \u201csnorts and stomps like an unholy cross between the Chili Peppers\u2019 \u2018BloodSugarSexMagic\u2019 and Led Zeppelin\u2019s more wonderfully obnoxious moments on \u2018Physical Graffiti.\u2019 The future of New Orleans music.\u201d Other critiques from Living Blues magazine, the Orlando Sentinel newspaper and LiveNewOrleans.com website are similarly positive, calling Lisi \u201creminiscent of John Hammond Jr., \u201c saying he \u201cshows that some blues musicians still write songs like the old masters did\u201d and recommended fans \u201cgo see (his) band before they get too big for your britches.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fun to mix it up while maintaining some form of a musical identity. I love for the band to flex our musical muscles a bit live. When you make a record you owe it to the song to keep things brief \u2013 the old saying, \u2018Don\u2019t bore us. Get to the chorus.\u2019 If the audience can walk away shocked and amazed, then I\u2019ve done my job \u2013 that and with a handful of our music!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

PRESS<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cStunning guitar riffs with blues and funk to create music that is just downright fun.\u201d – Gia Pecoraro, Times Picayune<\/p>\n

\u201cAmidst a plethora of talent, the young man made a name for himself through his offbeat portrayals of life, the honesty ringing from his sultry voice and his ability to make his fingers fly…as the mood took him.\u201d – Times Picayune<\/p>\n

www.johnlisi.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BIO It seems Goodyear\u2019s loss was music\u2019s gain. Rather than the rote replies of \u201cactor,\u201d \u201cpoet\u201d or \u201cteacher\u201d when asked what he\u2019d have chosen if not for his actual career track \u2013 John Lisi, in keeping with the decidedly atypical approach he carries from studio to stage, thinks a few thousand feet outside the box. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"JOHN LISI","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2,7,14,10,27],"tags":[43],"class_list":["post-255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-artists","category-blues","category-emerging","category-rock","category-rockabilly","tag-john-lisi"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5O8RF-47","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lrhr.dreamhosters.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lrhr.dreamhosters.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lrhr.dreamhosters.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lrhr.dreamhosters.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lrhr.dreamhosters.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=255"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lrhr.dreamhosters.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":359,"href":"https:\/\/lrhr.dreamhosters.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255\/revisions\/359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lrhr.dreamhosters.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lrhr.dreamhosters.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lrhr.dreamhosters.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}