So back on September 4th of last year I ran the same course that I ran tonight. Back then I was coming off a couple of months of inactivity (June and July too hot!) and starting to get back into shape. On that night I there was improvement, as I ran the third and fourth miles faster than I had run them. Now tonight while I’ve run a few times in April – January, February and March were too snowy and cold for me to run much – my old body likes the fair weather! Anyway tonight is like the fourth run in April and my first four-miler and while I thought I struggled my overall time was faster than it was back in September and both my third and fourth miles were faster!! So how come?? I think that the answer may lie in the amount of yoga that I have done over the winter this year!! Overall, my weight is lower than it was and I feel better!!
One thing is for certain is that the music on both runs was as good, mainly, because it came from the same artist, Lisa Mann and her Very Good Band. Tonight the soundtrack was the band’s latest release Move On. The Soundtrack for last year’s run was her 2012 release Satisfied! Here’s what I wrote back then…..
The soundtrack for the run was Lisa Mann and her “Really Good Band’s new blues album Satisfied and I was more than Satisfied with the album and I think that her band is really good!!! It didn’t take long for this album to hook me, on the first track “See you next Tuesday”,first there was Lisa’s vocal sounding really bluesy and then half way into the first song, what’s that I hear, oh boy, kick-ass organ and then a wailing guitar!!! The music stayed that way throughout the rest of the album, a great guitar riff here, a some organ or piano there, throw in some saxophone and harp’ and then a solid bass line and vocals that made it all hang together. And it hung together well through tracks like “Satisfied”, “Surrender to the Blues”, and two of my favorites “Till the Wheels Come Off” and “King of Black Coal”. Who am I kidding, I like them all!! Lisa Mann, who has been hidden away in the Pacific Northwest has earned a spot in my library, right along side musicians like Samantha Fish, JoAnne Shaw Taylor, and Laurie Morvan!!
Now the folks in the Pacific Northwest have known about bassist Lisa and her band mates: Jeff Knudson (Guitars, Backup Vocals, Co-Production), Michael Ballash (Drums, Backup Vocals and Bunny Wrangler??) and Brian Harris– (Keyboards, Organ and Backup Vocals) for a while now. In 2011, she and her Really Good Band represented the Cascade Blues Association (CBA) at the International Blues Challenge, where they made it to the semi-finals. From her website
.Lisa is a proud inductee into the Cascade Blues Association’s Hall of Fame after winning the Muddy Waters Award for Bass Player of the Year three times in a row. In Nov of 2012, Lisa took home the Muddy for Bass yet again, and to top that off, she took home Female Vocalist of the Year and her “Really Good Band” won Contemporary Blues Act of the Year. Her latest CD, Satisfied, is currently the CBA’s choice for the Best Self-Produced CD competition through the Blues Foundation. Lisa also won the Portland Music Award for Outstanding Achievement in Blues in 2012. Read More
and if all that is not enough!
Lisa’s vocals appear on Canadian blues master Bill Johnson’s Juno Award nominated CD, Still Blue. (www.billjohnsonblues.com). She is also the voice of internationally acclaimed symphonic rock band Cry for Eden. (www.cryforeden.com)
Don’t some people just make you green with envy!! I listened to Cry for Eden’s album last night, a different genre and musical style and she nails the vocals on that album. too!! So check out Lisa Mann and her really good band!!! From the Blues Music Magazine Review of Satisfied!!
For the moment, Mann is mostly a Northwest regional secret, but I suspect that brighter days are within range for Mann, as she’s a talent to be reckoned with. With music that deserves to appear on North American radio charts, she should begin to receive an abundance of strong press reviews, and thus be in position to garner fans from coast to coast.
Lisa’s latest album is just as good if not better!! I still heard the same great vocals. the screaming guitar and the ever-present keyboards that always make me happy!! The album is currently #9 on the Roots Music Report’s Blues Chart. While all the tracks are great here are a few that caught my attention: the opening and title track “Move On”, “The Blues is My Medicine”, “I’ve Been Used” , “The Blues is Alright” and the closing track “This Bitch”. So check out Lisa and the Really Good Band!!
Links
Website
Sonicbids
Facebook
YouTube
Amazon
Oh, the other great thing that Lisa is doing is trying to send some love to Walter Trout to reciprocate for his love for Lisa and her band. Walter is in need of a liver transplant and Lisa will be donating $5.00 from the sale of each CD to Walter’s transplant fund!! Check it out here!!
Back to the music here’s Lisa and the Really Good Band performing “This Bitch”…..
