NEWS

The Daily News – Monday, May 2, 2005 By Raymond Coniglio Assistant News Editor BATAVIA — Lisa Barrett never planned to be a recording star. Still doesn't.   She never planned to be a songwriter, either.      But things have a way of changing. And earlier this year Barrett, 37, headed to Nashville,Tenn. — country music's capital city — to record a CD of original music. “It was just simply the chance of a lifetime,” Barrett said during an interview at P.W. Minor & Son in Batavia, where she is a returned goods clerk. The CD is actually a demo. The producer, Affinity Music, will shop it to music labels and agents who can get Barrett's songs on the radio and in stores — as recorded by Barrett, or by other artists. Which is fine with Barrett. For her, music isn't a road to fame and fortune. She had other things on her mind while recording. “I felt like, that was where I needed to be,” said Barrett, who lives in Batavia with her husband, Kyle, and their son Tyler, 9. “I've gotten to where I needed to be with this whole journey. “And I found the closure I needed to that whole story,” she said. Inspired by ‘an angel'      The story starts in the summer of 2000, when Barrett's nephew Austin was diagnosed with a rare form of childhood cancer.     Austin, who was 15 months old at the time — “The sweetest child — just an angel,” Barrett says —  was the son of Barrett's sister Gail and her husband Michael Bielanin.      Austin enjoyed playing with his older brother Bryce, laughing along with Loonette and Molly on “The Big Comfy Couch” and dancing to Shania Twain. He also loved his aunt Lisa, who spent time in the family's Buffalo home to take care of Austin's older brother Bryce, who was 4 at the time. Austin succumbed to cancer in February 2001, three months short of his second birthday. Barrett believes she may have been seeking an outlet for her grief when she was inspired by a photograph of the boy.      “I remember that moment to this day,” she said. “I ... looked at his face and I said out loud, ‘I can almost feel your touch when you look at me.'” She found some paper and started writing. Somehow, the words came easily. “I don't know where they came from,” she said. “They just all flowed; in a couple days I was done with the whole song.” Barrett sang at school and in church, but she'd never written songs before. Soon, she'd written more than a dozen of them — songs about her work day, her husband, romance.      A family friend, Greg Allison of Rochester, recorded a CD in his home studio with only an electronic beat to keep her in rhythm. Barrett began to think about recording a professional demo. She consulted Better Business Bureau, and enlisted the help of an entertainment attorney who warned her against scam artists and bad deals. Barrett finally came across Affinity Music, which invited her to record her own music at Sound Control Studios in Nashville. On the CD, Barrett is accompanied by studio musicians and a backup singer. Up-tempo, upbeat Although inspired by sorrow, the music is generally upbeat and positive — a rock- inflected country sound. Barrett, who favors “catchy songs and a good beat,” said her music has been described as “new country.”      “Punchin In, Punchin Out” is an up-tempo, humorous song about racing against the clock to get ready for work, get a kid to school, and punch in at the office.      “One Shot” is another work-related song. In fact, it's about the returns department at P.W. Minor, and the one chance Barrett was given to prove herself in a new job.      “Let's Roll” is a tribute to heroes of 9/11, and sets a positive message to a rock beat. “It affects people differently sometimes,” Barrett said. “Some people love it, and some people cry because they remember that day.”      “Your're Shakin' Me Down” was inspired by an unrequited workplace crush (not her own, Barrett points out). Two songs — “I Belong to You” and “Makin' Time” — were inspired by her husband Kyle.      Also included on Barrett's 10-track CD is “When You Look At Me,” which is the first song she wrote. Those words, spoken to a photograph — I feel your touch, so tenderly, when you look at me — became part of a love song.      Affinity will continue to market the demo CD in the United States and Europe. Meanwhile, Barrett is promoting it at home; she plans to offer it to area radio stations, and is selling copies for $15. A portion of the proceeds will go to Buffalo-based Essential Care for Children, a pediatric home-care program that helped Austin during his illness. Barrett hopes the CD can raise awareness about childhood cancer.      Barrett continues to write songs, and she's a little surprised about suddenly pursuing a music career. “I keep saying it feels like I was sprinkled with angel dust,” she says, laughing. “But no, I really feel somehow that — whether anyone believes it or not — that Austin is guiding me that way, that he's with me,” Barrett said. “I want to make a difference; I want to honor his memory and I want to raise more awareness for pediatric cancer research.” [back to top]

‘Punchin' In' to success

Batavia singer and songwriter lands first gig
By Raymond Coniglio
Assistant News Editor

BATAVIA - A Batavia songwriter who recorded her first CD of original
music earlier this year, has landed her first professional gig.
Lisa Barrett , 37, will perform with Buffalo classic-rock band Time
Pirates on Saturday at the Waterfront Art Festival in Canandaigua.
Barrett was invited to perform after one of her songs, "Punchin' In
Punchin' Out," was played this spring on a Rochester radio station's
Thursday-morning segment devoted to unsigned talent. Barrett 's up-tempo
country style caught the eye or ear of festival organizer Lynne Crawford.
"I don't really like country music that well, but I liked her music,"
Crawford said. "It was upbeat ? there was a different kind of feeling to it."
"It wasn't 'My dog died, my car crashed and my wife left me,'" she
joked. "My friends were surprised when I said I signed a country artist
for Saturday."
A week after the radio show, Crawford called Barrett .
"I started hyperventilating," Barrett said. "My first reaction was
total surprise ... and I was very touched to be sought out by someone.
"But then I thought, 'Oh, my God, I don't have a band.'"
Barrett was inspired to write her first song, "When You Look at Me," by
a photograph of her nephew Austin, who died of cancer in 2000 at the
age of 15 months. More songs followed, and Barrett was eventually
invited to record a demo CD in Nashville, Tenn. For the CD, Barrett was
backed by session musicians. After being asked to sing in Canandaigua,
she gave herself a week to find a backing band.
Austin was the son of Barrett 's sister, Gail, and her husband Michael
Bielanin, who is a Buffalo transit police officer. One of his fellow
officers, Bob Hunter, is drummer for the Time Pirates.
"They were gracious enough to do it," Barrett said. "They spent some
time learning on their own and then they brought me in (to rehearse)
last month."
Other than a "dry run" at a Hamburg club a few weeks ago, Barrett
hasn't sung in front of an audience since she was a teen-ager. And that
was in church and school. On Saturday, she'll get some support from her
sister Gayle, who will sing backup.
"Her and I haven't harmonized since we were kids," Barrett said.
Barrett works for PW Minor & Son in Batavia. She and her husband, Kyle,
live on Pringle Avenue.
Now, Barrett is hoping to form a band of her own. "I'm also writing
some new songs," she said. The Waterfront Art Festival is from 10 a.m.
to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in Kershaw Park on Lakeshore Drive,
Canandaigua. Time Pirates will perform starting at 2 p.m. Saturday. Barrett
will join them on stage from 3 to 5 p.m. Concert admission is $3 for adults
and free for children age 12 and under.
Copies of Barrett 's self-titled CD will be for sale at the Waterfront
Art Festival headquarters booth. Price is $15. A portion of the
proceeds benefits Essential Care for Children, a Buffalo-area program
that helped Austin and his family.

www. Lisa Barrett CD.com

www.waterfrontartfestival.com

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