Lisa Mednick-Powell is a musician and songwriter who played for decades in NYC, D.C., New Orleans, Austin, and beyond. She is now living in New Mexico. She writes and sings compelling and seductive songs. As a keyboard player, accordionist and saxophonist, she has worked with a stunning range of musical artists: New Orleans R&B great Earl King, New Zealand pop-accented rockers The Chills, eclectic musical master Alejandro Escovedo, alterna-pop goddess Juliana Hatfield and Texas songwriting legend Ray Wylie Hubbard,James McMurty, and Radney Foster--to name some but hardly all.
Artifacts of Love, Mednick’s 1994 debut album, earned praise as a dark, swirling gumbo (Utne Reader) that was richly evocative (Austin-American Statesman) and marked by artful songcraft (Rolling Stone). The disc was produced by Lisa with help from Greg Leisz, known for his work with k.d. lang, Dave Alvin, Joni Mitchell and Bill Frissell, among many others.
Her second album and Texas Music Group debut, Semaphore, is a collection of 12 unique musical and lyrical messages from the soul of a genuine artist. On this totally self-produced album, she fashions her own distinctive code from melodies and harmonies, rhythms and grooves, and language and emotions, crafting an album of seductive musical beauty and poetic lyricism that transforms modern pop music into high art. But now both labels are defunct (Lisa claims no credit for this turn of events...) and the warehouse storing Semaphore has "lost" all the rest of her CDs. So she has made all of her songs (other than co-writes) available as free downloads on her web site.
In 2004, Lisa and husband Kip moved away from Austin and into the frozen north, Rochester NY, where Lisa finished college and grad school. They started playing music again lately, after a long hiatus. After doing an "open mic tour" of Rochester, they finally landed some gigs and giglets in the area. Then they moved to New Mexico so Kip could study Adobe Construction with some of the gurus out there. He has now landed his first Adobe gig--building a garden wall and an horno.
Update from K & L: We have finally started playing out again, here in Española and nearby.
We have started a classic country band with some cool kids and it is called "40 miles of Bad Road." Also, we've done a couple of duo gigs playing Lisa's stuff.
Most recently, Lisa went on a pilgrimage to New Orleans, where she reunited with Alison Young for a couple of Two-headed Dog giglets. Also reunited with many old friends and soul-brothers and sisters. Going back to the city of dreams was sanctifying.