(photo: Mark Warye)******************************************************
******************
I decided I wanted to be a bass player long before I ever held one in my hand. I had posters of Gene Simmons all over my wall wielding his big fat Gibson Grabber. I thought he was cooler than Fonzie, and I wanted to be just like him, even dressing up like him for Halloween. But the first bass line I ever learned wasn't from a KISS song, it was- big surprise- Smoke on the Water. I plunked it out on acoustic guitar at about 9 years of age.
I got my first bass when I was 11 years old. I saved up my lunch money for a full year putting the money down on a Beatles-style Hofner copy bass. I beat the hell out of that thing, practicing until I got so frustrated I'd throw it on the floor or drag it down the stairs. I loved bassists like Steve Harris of Iron Maiden and Geddy Lee of Rush, learning to play along with their albums. I spent hours every day singing along to my rock records... most of my early influences on vocals were male singers like Paul Stanley, Bruce Dickinson and Ronnie James Dio (although I also sang to my mom's Barbara Streisand and Melissa Manchester records too). I also loved women like Ann and Nancy Wilson and Joan Jett for being fearless images of what women can do when they put themselves forward in a male dominated industry.
My first band was metal-punk crossover Dead Conspiracy. We did a few shows at the Satyricon when I was 15 years old. As a teen I played in a prog-rock outfit called Otovoid, with a decided neo-classical influence that helped hone my chops. When I was 20 I started working in Top-40 bands (who needs a REAL job), back when they made me sit in the kitchen on breaks. That's when I started singing for my supper too, so I got to hone my vocal chops on covers of Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan and Taylor Dayne. I worked in Top-40 and hard rock cover bands for years in Portland and later the Seattle area, sometimes playing over bar fights and screaming drunken club owners. I recall one night stepping over a pool of fresh blood to get to the bar to refill my soda water.
I moved from Seattle back to Portland in 1998 when I met blues guitar goddess Sonny "Smokin'" Hess and got acquainted with the blues scene in Portland, as well as playing some country gigs on the side. I had never played the blues or country, but with influences like Geezer Butler, Jack Bruce and Leon Wilkeson (RIP) I caught on fairly well. In 2001 I was even awarded the Muddy Waters Award for Best Bass by the Cascade Blues Association.In recent years I've been writing my own material, and all those myriad influences-hard rock, punk, prog, blues, country- are plain to hear. It doesn't quite fit into any category, but I guess it's all rock and roll in the end. I'm just struggling, like everyone else, to get heard and to bring these songs out into the open. There is NOTHING I enjoy more than being live on stage performing these original songs, so I will play any gig anywhere for anybody. If you'd like more booking info, check out Sonicbids.
View Lisa Mann's EPK
