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That roots rocker from Fish Camp, California, Lisa O’Kane, is back with her latest album, It Don’t Hurt. O’Kane has consistently turned in quality work, this album is no exception, yet she just falls short of deserved wider acclaim. Pity. Well regarded in Europe, the singer songwriter, with three albums now to her credit, is yet to fully capture the broader global market. This album should help change that. And so it should.O’Kane isn’t a rhinestone wannabee; she’s a talented and earnest voice that claims a captive listen with songs that reveal, challenge and probe. And she does it with a style that’s spirited and emotive. Add to the mix, a host of playing notables like guitarists Albert Lee and Kenny Edwards, keyboardist Skip Edwards, bassist Edward Tree, who serves double duty as producer, and add 11 carefully polished and chosen songs and the album is, simply, a winner.“It took me months and hundreds of songs to finally pare down on these 11 songs, three of which are mine, “reveals the Barbara Streisand influenced singer.The album opens with the O’Kane co-write (Mark Fosson) “Ain’t Done Nothin’�. The energetic toe-tapper, featuring Albert Lee weaving some fret magic, is the first cut to radio. It’s a good choice. Telling of fractured love that has O’Kane telling her wayward beau to “…pack your suitcase and give me the key to my door – get in your pickup and head toward the I-64…� if radio jumps, and they should, the song could lead to possibilities.Dig deeper into the album and O’Kane’s talent becomes obvious. Former postman, John Prine, should be smiling. The royalty check is on the way. O’Kane, sensitive and melodic, works wonders with his “Speed of the Sound of Loneliness,� making the cut a standout. Another winner, both vocally and lyrically, is another O’Kane/Fosson co-write, the fiddle-rich and harmony-driven “I’m Done�.One of this album’s joys is the ache, the misery, the suffer-in-silence female perspective O’Kane paints into her songs. To coin another review writer:�…the catch in the voice, the hint of a sob, the bending of a note, a gospel-like quality to her phrasing…� It’s an honest reflection of a lady who feels what she sings, and delivers the outcome with a pull that compels.Need proof? Listen to the title cut. The sparsity of the track (guitar, cello and harmonium) paired to revealing and sobering truths, that of domestic abuse, “It Don’t Hurt� is haunting. Further proof O’Kane has the vocal grit to stamp emotional value on the tunes she brings to this album. The writer, Ernest Troost, who provides backing guitar, would be proud of the sensitive effort given to his poignant tune.O’Kane consistently turns in quality work. The voice is tender and emotionally driven, spurred on with a mixture of crafted and charged songs. Two thumbs up and four stars.The album will be released in the U.S. October 23. - CountryStarsOnline - George Peden
IT DON’T HURT
Lisa O’Kane
CD Review by Preshias
September 2007
European fans of roots and Americana music have know something for a long time that American listeners are about to discover for themselves: Lisa O’Kane is a superstar.
Or at least she would be a superstar if radio programmers in the USA could think outside of their narrow formats. British and European radio stations are more open to airing music based on its quality and originality, rather than because it sounds like everything else they’re playing. Lisa has had several chart-topping singles in Europe where she plays to SRO crowds whenever she tours.
“I had some really great airplay (in Europe), so it was the DJs who brought me over,� Lisa has been quoted as saying. American DJs and programmers, take note!
Best bet: don’t wait for radio to catch up. Grab “It Don’t Hurt� and see what you’ve been missing. Lisa’s talent is greatly admired by her peers, as you might guess from some of musicians who join her on this CD. For example: Brit guitar virtuoso Albert Lee (known as “Mr. Telecaster� and a veteran of bands with Eric Clapton, Emmylou Harris, etc), guitarist/mandolin picker Kenny Edwards (Stone Poneys, Linda Ronstadt), pedal steel player Jay Dee Maness (Vince Gill, Bonnie Raitt, Buck Owens), and many more top musicians.
But despite the illustrious company with which she’s surrounded, it’s Lisa’s own star that burns brightest on this album. With a crystal-clear voice that’s brimming with emotion, she draws comparisons with vocal giants such as Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell and Linda Ronstadt, while solidly maintaining her own distinct style.
Tracks on this CD run the gamut from “I’m over you� songs (“Ain’t Done Nothin,’�) to “please don’t leave� songs (“Give Me This Night�) with some “what happened to us?� songs (“Paper Thin�) along the way. One can only hope that these heartbreaking slices of life don’t all reflect Lisa’s own life experiences.
The plaintive acoustic title track, “It Don’t Hurt� is a classic of its genre, penned by acclaimed storyteller/songwriter Ernest Troost, who also plays guitar on this cut. Lisa sings, “Shut all the windows / Pull down the shades / Daddy’s in a mood tonight / Daddy’s in a rage.� It’s a story of a woman who’s pretty much seen all of life’s meanness, but after a while, she shrugs, it don’t hurt. Heartbreaking…
“Ain’t Done Nothing� is the lead-off of the eleven total tracks. This could be a monster music video hit in heavy TV rotation with the right treatment. An up-tempo song with a strong backbeat and the closest thing to a Country toe-tapper on the CD. In this self-penned song Lisa wryly tells her ex, “Well I don’t like your family I know that’s unkind but it’s true / You treated me badly and even my dog don’t like you.� You can’t argue with that.
But Lisa’s poignant voice is best-suited to bittersweet ballads such as “Give Me This Night� in which she begs her lover to stay with her just one more night. “Let my last memory be a picture of you loving me,� she sings; but you know and she knows that he’s leaving anyway.
Eleven strong outings here and not a dud in the bunch. Give a listen to “It Don’t Hurt� and see what those Euro-kudos are all about.
“It Don’t Hurt� – Lisa O’Kane
Label: New Light Entertainment/Universal
Release date: Oct 23, 2007
- Cyber Country
Discography
It Don't Hurt (2008/2009) Raisin'Kane Records
Peace of Mind (2004) Raisin'Kane Records
Am I Too Blue (2002) Raisin'Kane Records
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Bio
When Joni Mitchell sang, "I've looked at life from both sides now," she could have been singing about Lisa O'Kane. A mountain girl all grown up and thriving in the city, a dedicated single mom with an exploding international recording career, a world-class vocalist and a singer/songwriter of uncommon depth and integrity, O'Kane shares Mitchell's knack for squeezing every drop of emotion out of every song she writes and anything she sings. After two critically acclaimed releases, three triumphant tours of Europe and six U.K. tours, the Los Angeles-based artist is launching her new CD IT DON'T HURT. The project, which has captivated audiences at home as well as abroad, delivers songs that illuminate the many sides of a multi-dimensional artist whose time has come.
"I'm excited about this record," O'Kane says. "I've really grown as a songwriter and as an artist. This album is very personal … it reflects the many changes in my life over the past two years.
O'Kane has come a long way from Fish Camp, California, the tiny town in Yosemite National Forest where she was raised. "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.�
With no high school in town, O'Kane left home at 13 to attend high school in nearby Fresno, continuing with her music and rising to Concert Mistress of Fresno's Junior Philharmonic. At 16, Lisa’s natural vocal skills earned her a spot with the California Girls’ Choir and her first venture overseas.
"I was very serious back then," O'Kane says. "I thought of myself as a geek because I was into music and theater. I always did Barbra Streisand songs because she was my idol. She and Emmylou Harris … don't ask, because they're so different."
With every song on IT DON’T HURT, Lisa effortlessly reconciles those disparate influences and carves out her own stylistic corner of the Americana genre in the process. Roots-driven, self-penned songs like rollicking album-opener "Ain't Done Nothin'" (featuring some hot fretwork from Telecaster deity Albert Lee) and the bluesy "Pay For My Sins" sound right at home next to the full-on, soaring balladry of songs like "Give Me This Night" and "Remember This."
Every track was carefully chosen to reflect the events going on in O'Kane's life. “It took me months and hundreds of songs to finally pare down to these 11 songs, three of which are mine.� One album highlight, "Give Me This Night," was an unsolicited pitch from an unexpected source. "The songwriters are Ken Hirsch and Rosie Casey. Ken has had cuts from Ray Charles, Barbra Streisand, Dolly Parton, people like that," O'Kane says
"I Googled him and I'm thinking, 'He's got cuts with all these famous people. Why is he pitching this song to me?' So I called him up, and he said, 'It's because I think you can do the job.’� While her “‘day-job� days are behind her, Lisa did spend years balancing work, kids and a home before returning to her music and rediscovering her artistry. Of course, her creative epiphany came in an unlikely place and completely by surprise.
"It was my birthday," O'Kane recalls. "I went out with several of my girlfriends for dinner and we ended up at a local Irish Pub called Ireland's 32. There was a great band playing that night - The Twilight Lords. My girlfriends were prodding me to sing, and I got up and sang 'Chain of Fools' and Fleetwood Mac's 'Dreams' … and I kicked butt!"
A year later, O'Kane met producer/guitarist Edward Tree, who coaxed her into the studio for the sessions that would grow into her 2002 debut, AM I TOO BLUE. "Ed is my key guy," she says. "He is the integral part of everything I know about making an album. Through his influence and guidance, Ed has helped me become the artist I am today."
AM I TOO BLUE, which featured two O'Kane-penned songs, garnered an immediate overseas response with chart-topping singles in several countries and paved the way for the singer’s first solo European tour. "My first tour was Holland, France and Spain," she says. "I had some really great airplay, so it was the DJs who brought me over. The fans have been fabulous, and that's why I keep going back."
Lisa’s sophomore release, PEACE OF MIND, was released in 2004 and showcased the singer's growth as a song
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