released October 8, 2021
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Background & Artist Statements:
April 2020, I embarked on a new electric violin composition, inviting collaboration with Adrienne Wehr. Acclaimed theatre/media performer, visual artist, writer, filmmaker, designer and producer, Adrienne is a dear friend going back three decades. The early 90s were a time when I was mainly focused on the male-dominated post-punk underground music scene that indeed had brought me to life musically. But Adrienne invited me to participate in her newly-forming female creative cross-disciplinary group, The Well.
The invite was memorable. Deep in the woods of Donegal, Pennsylvania, a huge bunch of us Pgh creative artists had taken a refreshing break to play music and relax away from the usual night haunts, our dive bars. Adrienne approached me surely only knowing the slightest bit of my sound and spirit from playing in one of the many bands of that scene... Sitting on a huge fallen tree limb far aside from the whole of the group, in the damp fog and cold of the late-Autumn, this woman I barely knew began to speak of the contemplation and “processing” of creative work with no intention to produce end-product performance (unless it naturally lent itself to that). She had assembled five other female artistic souls, and she selected tomboy me to journey with her and the others.
Having grown up with three brothers, only, I was fiercely in touch with a masculine energy when it came to my performing and creating. Adrienne introduced me to something different, and that brief work in The Well altered the course of my artistic life. Beyond in the 90s, I started writing my first book and began to creatively integrate all my interests and passions, even within my teaching and counseling work. Attending to writing my own original music, as well as making select choices regarding collaborations, became priority.
Adrienne’s visionary creativity, and our connection, has been potent and enduring. It was only natural that I desired her words and voice to be an equal part of this new piece whose content I contemplated before going into the studio to lay tracks. The work is intensely informed by our life experiences, what we share in spirit that remains undefinable except perhaps by this composition. ~ Lisa
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
in mapping life
we see
how flow carries us
in the most unexpected
of ways
design
manifested
perhaps by our hand
yet undeniably guided
by forces
felt
yet veiled
the duet
of soul
and nature
combining to bring
that which existed
not yet
before
her outstretched hand
beckoning
join me on this journey
and so I did
and so WE did
and thus
discovery
arrival
upon that place
Where Grace Ever Resides ~ Adrienne
More on Adrienne's work:
www.inthecompanyofghosts.com
www.facebook.com/adrienne.wehr
www.instagram.com/adriennewehr
~ Thanks to Vladimir, Jessika & Frank ~