LISA NOVAK

www.lisanovak.com

Texas singer-songwriter Lisa Novak is fulfilling a musical destiny. Acoustic guitar strapped on and a mike in front of her, she’s following in the footsteps of a grandfather, Emile B. Novak, who rocked the brewery town of Shiner, Texas; a cousin, Red, who sold guitars at H & H Music Company to everyone in Houston; and an uncle, Benny Lange, who played drums all his life, including with the ’50s popular South Texas dance band, The Southernaires. Her mother even played piano with The Southernaires and yodels as if she were an alpine lass.

Novak, a perennial favorite in Houston’s people’s-choice awards and a fan favorite from her regular gigs at spots like The Harp, grew up musically. As the fifth of six children, the musical tastes of her older siblings were shared with her — Southern rock bands like Marshall Tucker, then folk like J.D. Souther and Karla Bonoff and then punk — and she’s glad. It would inform her music — described by the sexy, savvy Novak as folk-pop-rock.

She picked up a guitar during the eighth grade and started writing music in high school but until 1995, when a friend suggested she assemble a band and record some of her songs, it was only a hobby.

Big Holiday was formed in 1995 with co-writer-guitarist Vince Martin; it recorded two CDs and was named Best Unsigned Band by Musician Magazine in 1995. Novak won a certificate of achievement for “Make Believe” in the Billboard Magazine Song Contest in 1998.

Novak also became known for weekly gigs with fellow Houstonian Melinda Mones and earned Best Folk/Acoustic Act honors with her in Houston Press Best of Houston Awards 2004. She’s been Houston Press Best Female Vocalist 2005-2006.

Three solo CDs later, Novak is a name in Houston and known across Southeast Texas. Her simple but profound songwriting captures real-life stories and emotions about relationships, inspired by the life she’s lived and the people in it.

For instance, “These Days” — one song on her third album, TOO SHALLOW TO SWIM, released in late 2006 — was written after evacuating to Austin in front of Hurricane Rita, about thinking she would never see again the mother and niece and nephew who stayed behind. “After that I would ask people about God and what would happen if they died today, and most folks were not worried about themselves, which surprised me,” Novak says. “They were scared of everything else except God.”

“Salvaged,” another from the latest album, started out as a spiritual song but morphed into one that laments the loss of anything permanent in America’s throw-away society. “I am a firm believer in recycling and conservation of anything from gas, relationships or nature,” she says.

Others — like “The Chauffeur” and “The Allure,’’ also on TOO SHALLOW — were inspired by the love shared by couples in her world, short-lived or enduring, and what can happen. “The Other Side” is a remake of a tune by Big Holiday that captivated fans about greener grass across the fence. “The Chauffeur” as well as “Fade Away” are making their way through judging in the 2006 International Songwriting Competition.

Guitar in hand, Novak packs a Texas-size wallop with a songwriting style that is genuine and a sensual sound that melds folksy melodies and a country-rock beat.

Contact:
McGuckin Entertainment PR
Jill McGuckin, 512.217.9404; jill@mcguckinpr.com

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Artist information:
Bio
Fact Sheet

Press Release:
Jan. 18, 2007

Press Coverage:
Apr. 14, 2007
Feb. 3, 2007

Listen:
"Fair Warning"
"I Remembered I Forgot"

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