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BIOGRAPHY

"She's a romantic, all right, but not the empty-headed sort."

So writes THE WASHINGTON POST about Lis Harvey, whose romance with the road landed her in RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT at age 25. That year, the New England native played 52 concerts in all 50 US states in 60 days - and won the first GUINNESS WORLD RECORD(tm) for extreme touring. "The trip was as much a testament to her dedication as it was a publicity stunt," writes THE ONION AV CLUB. "Hard- touring folk-popper Lis Harvey is capable of inspiring smiles even when singing about heartbreak or calamity. Her warm, inviting voice... can hold a room captive." Hope, wit and open-road frankness color Harvey's award-wining songs, and make her live performances "worth [every] effort." (DIRTY LINEN) With her voice and finger-style guitar, Harvey draws "spring stream songs" (DL) from classical roots. The result is rather like a jazzy, folk cocktail - on the rocks.

Harvey began with classical piano at five, and by twelve had talked her parents into buying her a cherry red Fender Strat. Born into a household that acknowledged little contemporary music beyond Simon & Garfunkel and Tom Lehrer, this was no ordinary feat. By sneaking away to memorize anything she could get her hands on, she became well-versed in the Bangles, the Violent Femmes, Julianna Hatfield, the Cure - and by the end of junior high, had written her first few songs. She performed alongside her father, a concert bass, in choral works like Handel's Messiah, while developing her own vocal style through musical theater, jazz choir, and yodeling (a skill passed down by her father). She further convinced her parents to allow her to study with keyboardist Ron Curcio (Barbara Kessler, Greg Greenway, Deb Pasternak), who introduced her to The Story. The rest of her musical history reads like a love letter to modern folk music.

After high school, Harvey moved around a bit, attending art school in North Carolina and, upon getting kicked out, re-locating to the West to cut her teeth on the open stages and pizza delivery routes of Los Angeles. Eventually, she scraped together enough scholarship money to pursue composition at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh and, within a year, released her first CD. The EP garnered praise from critics and touring celebrities, among them guitar maven Jill Sobule - one of Harvey's musical heroes. On school vacations, Harvey toured the Northeast and managed to launch Erlendahle Records, her own small label. While continuing to record under the Erlendahle umbrella, Harvey created her first side project, the shelter benefit tour "Will Folk For Food." Sponsored by Oasis CD Manufacturers, "Will Folk For Food" has raised awareness for domestic violence by getting audiences nationwide to bring donations for their local safe house. The project enjoyed three tours from 2001 through 2003, and is currently on hiatus.

Five years after graduating college, Harvey has recorded three full albums and logged roughly 600 solo concerts in the US and Eastern Canada - all as an indie. Her fourth recording, "Porcupine," won the 2005 Madison Area Music Award for Best Acoustic Album. In 2006, Lis was a finalist in the Kerrville Folk Festival's New Folk Contest. In 2005, Harvey won first place in the PrairieFest Songwriting Contest, was a finalist in Falcon Ridge Folk Festival's Emerging Artist Showcase, and garnered honorable mention from the Telluride Bluegrass Festival's Troubadour Contest (a feat she managed in 2006 as well). A winner of the 2004 Ottawa Folk Festival Audition Finals (she performed at the festival along with Arlo Guthrie, Judy Collins, Michael Franti, and many others), Harvey was a finalis in the Minnesota Folk Festival "New Folk" Songwriting Contest that same year. She was also the 2004/2005 grant recipient of Madison CitiARTS' "Signature Grant," an artist fellowship awarded once a year to a Wisconsin artist in the visual or performing arts. Funded in part by the Wisconsin Arts Board and the National Endowment for the Arts, Harvey's grant helped finance a winter's worth of songwriting.

In her travels, Harvey has been featured on the syndicated radio program Acoustic Cafe, on several NPR shows, including CarTalk and Whatd'Ya Know, and on CNN, Headline News, and in the Associated Press. Harvey has shared the stage with Tracy Grammer, Louise Taylor, Alana Davis, Melissa Ferrick, Girlyman, Ember Swift, Stuart Davis, Dayna Kurtz, Dar Williams (that's a crazy tale) and many others. When not on the road, she enjoys making up recipes in Davis, California, and writing theme songs for the Food Network... in her head.

DISCOGRAPHY

Lis Harvey has released four recordings with national/ international distribution:

The distribution of Lis's music is graciously executed by Goldenrod, CDBaby, and The Orchard. Her recordings are available worldwide through iTunes, Amazon, Borders, Folkweb, and elsewhere (including at this website).

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

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FESTIVALS LIS HAS PLAYED

SELECT VENUES LIS HAS PLAYED

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SELECT COLLEGES LIS HAS PLAYED

AWARDS/HONORS

Erlendahle
Records