New To You – Lisa Redford

Every so often a CD by an totally new, unknown artist comes along and just knocks you sideways. That happened for me last year when SLIPSTREAM, the debut album by Norwich-based singer-songwriter Lisa Redford, landed in my CD player. The album had a refreshing sound, inventive, well-written songs and a female singer who knew her way around a lyric, enticing the listener with her simple, but highly effective turns of phrase.

With a first album that good, it was plainly obvious that Lisa was no wet-behind-the-ears teen babe. In her mid-twenties, the talkative singer-songwriter has been around for several years, learning the ropes, building a following and maturing nicely. “Well first it started as an acoustic duo…we started off, really just playing songs we love, acoustic songs, classic songs from songwriters that we liked. Playing locally in Norwich, Norfolk and Cambridge, and when we played it got a great response instantly and people started booking us.”

But the seeds for a musical career had been planted much earlier in Lisa’s life. From a young age she was obsessed with listening to all kinds of music. “It was the classic singer-songwriters of the seventies that initially really inspired me; artists like Neil Young, Carole King, James Taylor and Joni Mitchell. I really got into country and Americana a few years ago. It was the emotion and the melodies that I was really drawn to. Neal Casal is one of my favourite singer-songwriters.”

The songwriting also began at an early age, in fact when she was barely into her teens. “I had a knack for coming up with melodies and I still find melody easier. For a while I questioned my ability to write, thought I had to be really esoteric and clever, but the response I have had has been great. In particular a song like Red Eyes, I have had so many people tell me after gigs that they really love the song and it really touched them that it makes me realise I do have a talent for writing.”

Lisa knew that to play more gigs and gain a growing reputation she needed to have an album. By this time she had accumulated a large collection of self-written songs, which made it diffficult to choose which ones to record. “When I was recording the album, because I wasn’t doing it for a major label, I felt no pressure. I just wanted to make an album on my own terms, one that I was really proud of. I definitely had a particular feel in mind, very organic and acoustic. Just a collection of really great songs, something that I would like to listen to.”

She assembled a talented group of really gifted musicians to record with. Pianist Chris Ellis, who is also a songwriter, and guitarist Pete Lee, who came up with some wonderful riffs and slide work that perfectly suited the songs. Because of the constraints of time and money in self-financing, a lot of the guitar and vocal parts were recorded live with barely any overdubbing.

The title song, a would-be country-rock classic comes very much from Lisa’s heart and soul. “That song is about me reaching for my dreams, I have to make sure I ‘don’t get caught in the slipstream,’ and have to reach out on my own. In a way it’s a statement for the whole album, making the record by myself and doing it all on my own terms.”

SLIPSTREAM is an album any artist can justifiably be proud of. It’s not only gained widespread glowing print reviews, but also picked up national and regional radio plays. “On your own you can just literally be dedicated and get out there yourself and do a lot of things for yourself especially in the gigs and financing the album. I mean, I have the drive, I’m writing more and I’m eager to make a new solo album as soon as the money allows. I have a collection of brand new songs so I can’t wait to get started.” Alan Cackett