Singer/songwriter Lisa Blue, integrating life and song

DURANGO, Colo. – The road traveled by a songwriter is not necessarily an easy one, but that’s never stopped Lisa Blue from following her passion – though she’s taken a few detours along the way.

Recognized by many as the honey-voiced singer who performs around town with Nina Sasaki, Brant Leeper, the Bar D Wranglers and more, Blue has in recent years spent more time in the wings than in the spotlight. That may be about to change, however, as Gary Penington, producer of the major “Concerts for Scholarships” series of shows in Durango, has brought Blue onto his production team. Blue has also returned to recording, releasing original songs on Rhythms of Durango Volumes II and III, and will serve as a judge for the up-coming “Spotlight to Stardom” at the Community Concert Hall. Music is in her soul, and she needs to get back in the groove.

“If I’m gong to be working, I want it to be something that’s inspiring as well,” said Blue, quick to acknowledge her work with the successful medical tech company Syndicom is important, though predominantly left-brained. “All work is honorable, but I’m to that point in my life where it’s not just the money and working for the sake of working. It’s got to have that little tidbit everyday of something that feels really good and right.”

And for Blue, that’s music – songwriting and performing. Though not from a “musical” family, she began writing songs during her childhood in Hawaii – a musical melting pot of sorts. She recently discovered an old songbook penned when she was nine or ten, and though she’d had no formal training, the songs indeed had correct structure. Blue is a natural.

“I always knew I wanted to do music,” she said, admitting that in the midst of the island music, she listened regularly to the Grand Ole Opry. “But I just didn’t know exactly what that meant.”

Though she had a band in high school, she didn’t pursue music education, reminded by her grandmother that a degree in music didn’t guarantee stardom. All she has learned about “the biz,” and music in general, has, thus, been through experience.

“I sang for years and years, and I moved from Hawaii to Durango for several years, then I moved to Hollywood,” said Blue. “So many people who go out there and make it, sacrifice so much for so long, and there was a fine line for me. People are out there for many, many years and they don’t have a relationship and they don’t have a family or any savings, and they’re still living day-to-day… I was willing to do that for a certain amount of time, but I’m not willing to sacrifice the whole rest of my life for it. I was striving for some kind of balance.”

But while in Hollywood, she learned.

Her home in Laurel Canyon, in the Hollywood Hills (known as an enclave for actors, directors, rock stars) was also her studio, and she found a niche writing, recording and producing songs for television and movies. Aspiring singer/songwriter types would also record their demo albums to shop at the major record labels.

“What was mind-boggling to me was how great the talent in Hollywood was,” she said. “These people were phenomenally talented and they couldn’t get a deal. It was brutal, and pretty amazing.”

Key to her income (also providing invaluable experience) was the television and movie work, including commercials and film stock. Producers and directors look for “dummy” songs, similar to ones by “big name artists” they hope to purchase, to fill space during production of a movie. Blue would be paid for her “dummy” song, and sometimes that work would end up in the movie.

Blue devoted most of her time to songwriting while in Hollywood, honing her craft. She worked at the National Academy of Songwriter’s and performed live throughout the southland.

 In spite of watching the “aspiring” talent coming through her studio with little ultimate success, she also recorded two albums and shopped her work to what she called “the big leagues.”

“I didn’t get a bite at the time,” said Blue, who at the time was more “country” than “rock and roll” in a town that honored rockers. “But I felt OK about it because I made the best product I could make. It didn’t’ go over big, but I could still use the tracks for other things, and I was still developing as a songwriter. I had enough small successes that let me know I could do it, and that I knew what I was doing and could make a living, but ultimately I wanted the rest of my life too.”

So she returned to Durango, and discovered a musical culture more advanced than when she’d left seven years earlier. Blue applied her talents to nurturing the culture, helping Diane Bowker in 1985 launch and run the Durango Songwriter’s Rendezvous, which has since become the Durango Songwriter’s Expo.

“We brought out big talent,” said Blue of the showcase that was held at the Strater Hotel. “Diane was a mom and couldn’t go to Nashville or Hollywood to shop her songs, so we brought those people here. It was a blast. Something like that again in this town would be great.”

Blue also organized a local chapter of the Nashville Songwriters Association, bringing together aspiring songwriters to work on their songs together, critiquing, learning and networking. Eventually they launched a live songwriter’s showcase, which was filmed for DCAT (Durango Community Access Television).

“We didn’t have much on DCAT then, so they played the songwriter’s showcase several times a day,” said Blue. “It was funny because I’d go to City Market and the checker would recognize me and sing my song back to me.”

Leading the charge for such activities is generally exhausting, as well as marginally lucrative, so when Blue was offered a job at Canyon Music, she accepted. Though it was only to be part time, within six months, she was managing the store. She stepped out of the spotlight, but was well known by the bluegrass musicians who frequented the store, including then owner, Mark Epstein of The Badly Bent. When Epstein sold the store, she trained the new owners and went on to Syndicom, where Epstein is also a consultant.

To keep the music alive, Blue continues to write, as well as perform. Until a few years ago, she maintained the country bent, but to meet the needs of the jazz club, the Sidecar Lounge, in the basement of the then Scoot’n Blues, she and pianist Brant Leeper developed a repertoire of standards, which she enjoyed. With that her songwriting evolved into a style all its own.

“Right now I’m just creating for the sake of creating because it makes me feel good to do it,” said Blue. “I love being in the studio, especially Scooter’s Place. I love working with him… Any time anybody says to me, ‘My kid’s a pretty good guitar player, but he really needs work on his singing, what do you recommend?’ I always recommend recording. You really have to hear yourself. That improved my ear and my singing ability by leaps and bounds. You’re basically training your ear to what sounds correct, and once you know what that feels like, then you can do it live. It makes you aware.”

While asleep, Blue dreams fully orchestrated songs, which can be hard to translate once awake as she doesn’t play piano or guitar. As she notes, she decided many years ago to surround herself with quality musicians and writing partners.

“I’m like a musical savant,” said Blue of how she communicates a song she hears in her head. “It needs to go to this note. I don’t know what that note is called, but I know where it’s supposed to go and what it sounds like – and when it’s off.”

Recently, Blue has been working with Sterling Proctor, a member of the Fort Worth Symphony who visits Durango to perform with Music in the Mountains. Together they wrote (and recorded) “Irishman’s Woman,” Blue’s contribution to the current Rhythms of Durango. And a variety of others are in the wings.

“When I get my new batch of songs that I feel confident about, I’ll put them out there again, whenever that is. They aren’t going anywhere,” said Blue. “The songs I’m writing now seem to be more timeless than what I’ve written in the past.”

Though she intends to stay in the industry, she no longer longs for the record contract that would require a grueling tour schedule.

“I think ideally what I’d love to do in the future is to find a young protégé who wants that record deal and does want to tour,” said Blue. “And then I could say, ‘Hey, I’ve got all these great songs. Let’s put your voice on this and shop it. That would be fun.”

Blue will be performing with an as yet unnamed trio this summer, as well as continuing her gigs with singer/songwriter Nina Sasaki, music and comedy shows she describes as “The Smothers Brothers on estrogen.”  Contact her directly at [email protected]

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