Stephenville -
After living in Asia for a total of four years, Lisa Gillam is now back in Newfoundland and promoting her debut self-titled solo album.
She's starting off in early September touring Atlantic Canada to promote the "Lisa Gillam" CD and says she will be back in the province in October or November with performances in Corner Brook and Stephenville.
Born and raised in Stephenville, Gillam graduated from St. Stephen's High in 1988.
She always had a love of music and for many years took piano lessons from local music teacher Mary Dawson and participated in Rotary Music Festivals for many years.
Gillam went on to study music at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John's and upon graduation immediately started teaching, private and public, in the province's capital. One big accomplishment for Gillam was the development of a rock/pop guitar program in her school, which ran for three years but unfortunately it was axed due to cutbacks in education.
It was decision time and she turned down the offer of a position at another school in St. John's and instead decided to start travelling. Her first destination in 2004 ended up being in Taiwan teaching English as a second language for a year, then moving on to Bangkok, where she taught music for a year.
The opportunity arose for her to go back to the same job she had left in St. John's and she returned but realized within a few weeks it's difficult to go back and experienced some one-time reverse culture shock. She stuck it out that year.
She returned in 2007 to the same school in Taiwan she had taught, bought a guitar and started playing and singing immediately. Within a few months she started writing music.
The entire album was recorded at Aquamarine Studios in Taichung, Taiwan and in mid-August Gillam held a CD release event at The Republic in St. John's, which was well received. The CD includes "Both Sides Now," a cover of the Joni Mitchell hit, and "Melancholy Road" by Pete Coulam. All the other tracks are original songs by Gillam.
"It's a little bit of blues, a little bit of country and even some comedy. The album is sort of an experimentation of different styles," she said.
While mainly a folk artist, you can hear elements of other genres, including the blues in her music. This subtle blend of styles provides a little something to satisfy any musical taste.
Gillam plans to split her time between living in New Brunswick, where her sister Karen resides, and here in Newfoundland.
Weblinks
- www.LisaGillam.com
- www.myspace.com/LisaGillam Music
- www.facebook.com/LisaGillam Music
