Lisa O'Kane

Peace Of Mind

Genres: Country

Price: $13.99

Other CDs By Lisa O'Kane

• Am I Too Blue

Songs and Samples

No Tomorrow
Foggy River
Long Gone
Settle Down
Stronger Than Your Memory
Peace Of Mind
Wrap Me Up
A Room Up For Rent
Little White Lies
Softer Place To Fall
Coercion Street
Everyone Says Goodbye
Sometimes
Highland Ground

Produced by Ed Tree
Skip Edwards, Keyboards
Jay Dee Maness, Pedal Steel
Bob Glaub, Bass
Ed Tree, Guitar

Some Nice Things People Have Said

. . . she has it all – versatility, a rich and tunefully expressive voice, and a warm songwriting style.
-CountryReview.com

. . . brings to her songs the kind of storytelling acumen, communication skills and passion demanded by Country and Americana audiences.
-Nashville City Paper

. . . reminiscent of EmmyLou Harris, though not without sass and swing of her own. She jumps easily from the rockin' up-tempo opener to the mirthful bluegrass to easy folk to string-laced elegance.
-Nashville Scene

About Lisa O'Kane

Lisa O’Kane’s life is a mix of city and country, music and motherhood. Her life is constantly evolving as she juggles the pressures of a recording career and touring artist with the responsibilities of supportive parenting of her two girls.

While Lisa and her girls make their home amid the hustle and bustle of L.A., they return to Yosemite, where Lisa was raised, every summer. “Life is different there,” she says. “It’s slower, and more relaxed. It’s a great place for us to regroup as a family, and it’s important to me that the girls experience the sort of childhood that I enjoyed.”

O'Kane has come a long way from Fish Camp, California, her tiny hometown in Yosemite National Forest. "Fish Camp, population 36!" she laughs. "With my brother and sister, there were three of us, and we were the only kids in town. There was a Chevron station, there was the Silver Tip lodge where I worked as a waitress during the summer, there was a general store, there was a post office where my mother was the postmistress … and there was a pond."

Soaking up the sounds from the "little black radio" on top of her mom's refrigerator, Lisa was soon displaying a talent unfamiliar to her family members. "There was really no one musical in my family, but I was always a musical kid," she says. "But my grandfather did play violin, so I started taking violin lessons in the fourth grade. My mother and father scraped up $150 to buy me an upright piano, which I still have.”

The last four years have been momentous ones for O’Kane, who has enjoyed global adoration since the release of her debut CD, AM I TOO BLUE, in 2002. Countless U.S. dates and several European tours later, Lisa released her second disc, PEACE OF MIND. The album received critical acclaim and spawned three #1 Country HotDisc International Chart singles.

“I’ve enjoyed a lot of success - for which I’m very thankful,” Lisa says. “But it was like a miracle when the title track of my second album was featured in the AMC-TV’s Clint Eastwood Marathon “Make My Saturday.” Shortly thereafter, “No Tomorrow,” another song from the project, was included in the CBS-TV Movie, “Amber Frey: Witness for the Prosecution.”

Lisa’s extraordinary vocals, songwriting talents and drive have come together to create some of the most moving Roots music to hit the airwaves in years, and led to a recent recording contract with New Light Entertainment/Universal.

With every song on It Don't Hurt, Lisa carves out her own stylistic corner of the Americana genre. The creative team she assembled for the new album speaks volumes about O'Kane's musical sensibilities and her growing profile as an artist. Veteran keyboardist Skip Edwards (Dwight Yoakam, Lucinda Williams, Jim Lauderdale), Yoakam/Lucinda Williams bassist Taras Prodaniuk, Emmy Award-winning composer Ernest Troost, former Linda Ronstadt sidekick/Bryndle member Kenny Edwards, and the aformentioned Lee are just a few of the characters bringing Lisa’s real-life musical tales to life. Kenny Edwards, whose "Misery and Happiness" provides another of the album's high points, will be teaming up with O'Kane on tour.

Working with a strong label behind her (and national distribution), the life of Lisa O’Kane has evolved once again. One thing that will not change, however, is Lisa’s magical appeal.

News and Reviews

I remember when I reviewed Lisa O’Kane’s debut, "Am I Too Blue." . . . In that review I said O’Kane was a persuasive mix of interpretative boundary-pushing wrapped in a determined confidence. I made the point she just wasn’t a girl with a guitar; rather, her album was a stellar debut – polished and professional on every level.

Well, make note. The good just got a whole lot better. Now back with "Peace Of Mind," these 14 tracks, five of which bear her ink, have O’Kane in Gucci condition – elite, durable, and envied.

Her voice, expressive and pliant, covers the musical journey of Bluegrass, soulful balladry and Roots-driven standouts, easily. And she does it with an identifiable confidence that’s bloomed since her 2002 debut.

In her biography, O’Kane shares that confidence. "I chose the musicians and all the songs. I was at the studio for every note that was played and every mix that was made," tells this proud mother of two daughters.

. . . her hotshot session band brings mastery to all the tracks. Included in the mix are recognizable pedigrees. There’s noted harmony singer Teresa James, Dwight’s keyboardist Skip Edwards, Jay Dee Maness former Desert Rose Band member and renowned steel player, and other notables. Together, they weave some tight notes on these tales of life and love.

"No Tomorrow" is one of 11 songs bearing band member Mark Fosson’s lyrical signature. It’s a toe-tapping, radio-friendly, mandolin, drums and guitar, harmony-driven tale of hanging tight with today’s love, as there’s nothing certain about tomorrow.

The dark shadows of "Foggy River," painted with moody imagery and the added-for-realism McCall’s Creek Frogs – a blend of crickets and croakers – has its backwoods feel colored with Dobro, character drumming and fiddle.

O’Kane’s emotion-filled lilt sings of broken hearts and memories with a voice pitched in tuneful misery.

That’s one of the major assets for this now Los Angeles-based singer – her versatility. In looking for ready descriptions, some have branded O’Kane as a roots diva. It’s a title not too far from its suggested mark.

Listen to the edge she bevels on "Long Gone". With its storyline of left and lonely, it’s something not out of place in an Emmylou showcase. So, too, the emotive "Peace Of Mind," which captures O’Kane’s keen talent with somber lyrics.

For a change of tempo, check out "Settle Down" and "Softer Place To Fall". "Settle" is a thigh-slappin’ blend of mandolin, spoons, and a hard-hit standup bass. The tune has humor, pace, and an infectious ye-haw quality. It’s not unlike the merriment that marks "Softer". The rocky track, dealing with determination and the need to always look for choices, with its "just right" instrumentation (accordion, bass, guitar and drums) is a dance floor invite that won’t hear "No".

Lisa O’Kane is one pleasing package. She has it all – versatility, a rich and tunefully expressive voice, and a warm songwriting style. On this deeply personal album, she brings it to us wrapped in her new found confidence and direction. As this is only her second album, all of this can only suggest one thing. The best is yet to come.
-George Peden