Lisa Bastoni

The streets can be a hard teacher, but for Somerville singer-songwriter Lisa Bastoni, they have offered soft lessons in music. Performing for spare change on corners and in T stops has taught her about the healing powers of songs and the redemptive joy of sharing your art with others. The hard lessons have come from other places. (full article 833 words) - Boston Globe

Lisa Bastoni is a throwback to what singer/songwriters traditionally have been. They tour the country collecting just enough coin of the realm to make it to the next town. They get stories where they find them - subway stations, hotel rooms and fast food restaurants. In that way they hone their craft. Sometimes they continue that way their whole careers. Sometimes they get discovered.

Bastoni is one of those artists that should get discovered. This is all the evidence needed to support that statement. This Massachusetts resident has traveled all the hard roads and ended up more hopeful than bitter, which is a tremendous step. Her songs, all self-penned, feature simple backing so as not to distract from the message and her tender and talented vocals.

"If I Had My Way" should make you fall in love with her and make you wish she was signing it about you, while "I'm Not For Sale" displays her strength and independent spirit.Bastoni has learned her craft and then set out to become more than just another singer/songwriter. These 11 songs will make you want to share them with your friends and want to hear many more. - Country Standard Time

Note: A fully produced version of the song "Shimmies and Shakes" is a track on The Wishing Hour, Jan. 2017.
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While on a summer road-trip to promote his debut novel How To Keep Your Volkswagen Alive, Christopher Boucher and his wife Lisa Bastoni wrote this beautiful duet as a theme-song for the novel. It’s titled “Shimmies and Shakes.”

Shimmies and Shakes – “HOW TO KEEP YOUR VOLKSWAGEN ALIVE” Theme Song by Melville House

(For more of the music that inspired the novel and kept Boucher and Bastoni company on their journey, check out Boucher’s playlist at the always delightful lit/music blog, Large Hearted Boy.)

Which made us wonder… what other songs inspired by literature? Here’s a list from Books Worth Reading. Anything they’re missing?

“Golden Slumbers” by The Beatles, inspired by the poem “Golden Slumbers Kiss Your Eyes” by Thomas Dekker
“Clocks” by Coldplay, inspired by William Tell by Friedrich Schiller
“Rain King” by Counting Crows, inspired by Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow
“Yeat’s Grave” by The Cranberries, inspired by the poetry of William Butler Yeats
“Guinnevere” by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, inspired by La Morte d’Arthur
“Romeo and Juliet” by Dire Straits
“All Along the Watchtower” by Bob Dylan, inspired by Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
“Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts” by Bob Dylan, inspired by The Hamletby William Faulkner
“Tangled Up in Blue” by Bob Dylan, inspired by Dante’s Inferno
“Mercy Street” by Peter Gabriel, inspired by 45 Mercy Street by Anne Sexton
“White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane, inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
“Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” by Elton John, inspired by The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
“Battle of Evermore,” “Ramble On” and “Misty Mountain Hop” by Led Zeppelin, inspired by The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
“Don’t Stand So Close to Me” by The Police, inspired by Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
“A Whiter Shade of Pale” by Procul Harem, inspired by The Canterbury Tales
“Sympathy for the Devil” by The Rolling Stones, inspired by The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgako
“Kid Charlemagne” by Steely Dan, inspired by The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe
“Sister Moon” by Sting, inspired by Sonnet XXXV by William Shakespeare
“My Ride’s Here” by Warren Zevon, inspired by the poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson - Moby Lives

The Gray Sky Girls (Naomi Sommers and Lisa Bastoni) met in 2004 when a Somerville, Ma. punk rock dive decided to branch out and host a short-lived folksingers' open mic. Discovering that they had much in common (love of traditional music, vegetable juice, oat bran, Bob Dylan, and having no middle names), they decided to form an old-time country "slowgrass" duo. The singer/songwriters are proponents of a simple, basic approach that emphasizes close vocal harmonies with organic, earthy perspectives. While singing in close harmony like a couple of mountain songbirds, their rustic instrumental work (on guitar, mandolin, banjo, flute) works fine to complement their folksy song selection. Their subtlety becomes their strength. The result is very personable and soothing music that is full of charisma. Traditional sensibilities draw on repertoire like Oh Susannah, Golden Slippers, Bury Me Beneath the Willow, You Are My Sunshine, and Shady Grove. Their melodic rendition of "Sylvie" is quiet and soothing, practically classifying as a lullaby.
On a more contemporary vein, the girls with a shared affinity for organic, dried mango also present three originals apiece. Whether singing emotionally-wrought sentiments ("Hard To Love You" and "Can't Look Away", a soldier's nostalgic longing for home ("Just Like Home", or about abandonment, uncertainty and insecurity ("Texas Rain"). The Gray Sky Girls have a knack for songcrafting in a concise, straightforward, understandable style. For example, Lisa Bastoni's "Daisy" paints a vivid portrait of carefree happiness with a greasy-haired spring wildflower in overalls. Naomi Sommers' "Alaska" is a comforting tale of wanderlust that also captures the duo's pioneering spirit. I'd like to hear more songs about the characters they meet on their itinerant journeys, playing at folk festivals, coffeehouses, or busking in subways. Or perhaps even a song about the lonesome, swooping swallows that they brought home on their forearms from a Kansas tattoo parlor.
Both Lisa and Naomi have released previous albums, and their self-titled debut album is on Phil Rosenthal's American Melody label. Both have been recognized as up-and-coming folk artists. Naomi is a 2004 Kerrville, Tx. Folk Festival New Folk finalist, and Lisa was featured in the 2002 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Emerging Artist Showcase. Groups don't need a lot of hot, flashy licks to build a signature sound, become highly sought after, and build a legion of fans. In harmony with nature, the Gray Sky Girls' heartening music is very inviting for audience participation too. Their youthful exuberance and boundless enthusiasm will take them far. (Joe Ross) - Roots Music Report

Lisa Bastoni Live In Cambridge.
Lisa Bastoni swept through Cambridge, MA recently to play a show at Club Passim. We were thrilled to be there for every note. The event took place on October 9th.
All Photos were taken by Gary Alpert from Deafboy Photography. - Indie Minded

Lisa Bastoni has been around a while, performing with acclaimed artists such as Little Big Town, Lori McKenna and Regina Spektor. After taking an extended break to have a family, she is back with this amazing record, due to be released early in 2017. With every song penned by her, and a few co-writes, this is a record with the Bastoni stamp all over it, and with much of the recordings being done at home as well as in studios in Nashville and New York, there is a very intimate feel to this record, helped by the excellent production by Felix McTeigue.

The record starts with the upbeat ‘’In This Town’’ and what an introduction it is. The song is so catchy and with Lisa’s beautiful rich vocals it paints a wonderful picture and introduces the record wonderfully. The rest of ‘’The Wishing Hour’’ is more subdued, but in terms of musical styling and the quality of the production and vocals, ‘’In This Town’’ is a fabulous introduction.

‘’It’s The Staying That Hurts’’ is a very different type of song. With heartbreak lyrics beautifully complemented by a slow, swinging rhythm, this is probably the most country that the record gets. Whilst not traditional musically, the values and themes running through the writing is timeless, and with the accordion, acoustic guitar and piano dominating the backing, there is no real musical style that the song heavily leans on, producing a great organic sound which could originate from anywhere.

A songwriting highlight of the record is ‘’Ink And Needles’’ which is melancholic love song, using the metaphor of tattooing to represent the changes that occur in a relationship and along the path of life. With the writing beginning as Lisa is ‘’bare as the day you were born from your mother’’ through ‘’sketching his designs on me all through the night’’ in a relationship and then the ‘’the body tattoos itself with old age and abuse’’ the writing is incredibly poetic and made all the more powerful by the complementary backing music remaining subdued and dominated by a simple bass and pedal steel.

‘’Shimmies And Shakes’’ is my highlight of the record. Melodically it is perfect with Lisa’s vocals soaring above the gentle percussion and banjo. Again there is a healthy dose of accordion in the backing, creating another song with amazing texture. A lovely gentle rhythm brings a climax in the chorus and the song keeps delivering the melody after waves of musical interludes. When your vocals are as expressive as Lisas it is important to match the quality of the songwriting to capitalise on the advantage, and Lisa does this throughout the record and especially in ‘’Shimmies and Shakes’’.

‘’Rabbit Hole’’ and ‘’Halfway Out Of Michigan’’ are perhaps two of the most sincere songs on ‘’The Wishing Hour’’, with ‘’Rabbit Hole’’ theming on youthful loves and wistful looking back on the good times. ‘’Halfway Out Of Michigan’’ is more complex, with references to the Flint water crisis and the struggling of the people in the previously prosperous part of the country. The emotional delivery is fantastic, and the songwriting has many layers, giving a new train of thought on every listen.

‘’The Wishing Hour’’ is a fantastic record, user-friendly enough to be accessible to the layman but with a variety of textures to pick apart on every listen. I highly recommend it. - Americana-UK

08 In This Town – Lisa Bastoni (from the album The Wishing Hour)

Lisa Bastoni took time away from her singer/songwriter career to start a family with her novelist husband. The basic tracks for her comeback album, The Wishing Hour, were laid down on a laptop in the corner of her kids’ playroom in Watertown, Massachusetts. Lisa stays close to home for the questions found on “In This Town” from the album. - The Alternate Root