Lisa Anne Loeb
(born March 11, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She launched her career in 1994 with the song, "Stay (I Missed You)". She was the first artist to have a number one single while not signed to a recording contract. [1] Loeb's efforts now include music, film, television, voice-over work and children’s recordings. Her five studio CDs include her major label debut, the gold-selling Tails
and its follow-up, the Grammy-nominated, gold-selling Firecracker
. In conjunction with Camp Lisa, she launched her own non-profit, The Camp Lisa Foundation, designed to help underprivileged kids attend summer camp through its partnership with Summer Camp Opportunities Provide an Edge, Inc. (S.C.O.P.E.). Loeb has appeared in two television series, “Dweezil and Lisa,” a weekly culinary adventure for the Food Network and No. 1 Single, a dating show on the E! Network in 2006.
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Early years
Loeb was born in
Bethesda, Maryland, and raised in
Dallas, Texas where she attended
The Hockaday School, an all-girls
private school. Her parents still live in Dallas, where her mother is a homemaker and her father, Peter Loeb, is a
gastroenterologist. She has three siblings, all involved with music: conductor Benjamin Loeb, musician
Debbie, and mixing-engineer Philip Loeb. After graduating from high school in 1986, she went to
Brown University, where she graduated in 1990 with a degree in
comparative literature. At Brown, she and
Elizabeth Mitchell formed a band named
Liz and Lisa, including future singer/songwriter and Brown classmate
Duncan Sheik as a guitarist. The duo released the albums
Liz and Lisa
(1989) and
Liz and Lisa: Days Were Different
(1990) independently. After college, the jazz/rock bassist Rick Lassiter and TV and film composer/drummer Chad Fisher joined the band.
After developing a following together, Loeb and Mitchell parted ways a few years after college. Loeb began working with
Juan Patiño to make the
Purple Tape
, the violet cassette that Loeb used as a sonic calling card to industry gatekeepers and that fans could buy at her gigs. Produced by Patiño and recorded at his apartment on 52nd Street in 1992, the cassette includes the earliest recordings of several Loeb favorites including “Do You Sleep,” “Snow Day,” “Train Songs,” and “It’s Over.” Loeb also took this time to record her band playing some other songs, one of which was "
Stay (I Missed You)." During the same time, she was recording a band demo with Kevin Salem for a record company demo deal.
Loeb had also developed a following from her solo
acoustic performances on the
New York City coffeehouse circuit and the rock club circuit. She travelled to cities such as
Philadelphia,
Los Angeles,
Dallas, but focused mainly on New York City. She played acoustically and with her band in
folk and
rock clubs, including The Bitter End, CBGB’s, CB's Gallery, The Wetlands, Lonestar Roadhouse and more. Loeb also performed at several music festivals, such as the
New Music Seminar and
South by Southwest.
Loeb's big break came when she was discovered by actor and friend
Ethan Hawke, who lived in an apartment across the street from her in New York City.
They met through mutual friends in the NYC theater community. Loeb gave Hawke the tape of Juan Patiño’s version of "
Stay (I Missed You)" to director
Ben Stiller during the making of the 1994 film
Reality Bites
. Stiller subsequently decided to use the song in the film’s ending credits, and Ron Fair decided to put it on the soundtrack on
RCA records. "Stay" ultimately went on to become a number one hit on the
American charts. When her song hit number one, Loeb earned the distinction of being the only artist to top the Hot 100 before being signed to any record label.
Hawke also directed a rare one-take video of “Stay” with no edits.
Recording career
In September 1995, Loeb's debut album,
Tails
, was released. The album was co-produced by Juan Patiño, her then longtime boyfriend. Although none of the singles from
Tails
matched the breakthrough appeal of "Stay" (which was also included on this album), Loeb still managed a top 20 hit with "Do You Sleep?" and two moderately successful radio hits with "Taffy" and "Waiting for Wednesday".
Tails
went on to achieve Gold status.
In 1997 Loeb released a second major-label album,
Firecracker
, and began experimenting even more with orchestrations done with
Dan Coleman. At this point, Loeb started going under her own name for the albums instead of using the band name, Nine Stories (named after the
J. D. Salinger collection), although she still continued to tour world-wide with the band and acoustically as she had done from the start. Critically praised,
Firecracker
included hit singles such as "
I Do," which received radio success, peaking at #17 on the Billboard Hot 100 and music television. In 2000, Loeb participated in the
Ozzy Osbourne tribute album
Bat Head Soup
performing
Goodbye to Romance with
Dweezil Zappa on guitar. She also contributed to An All Star Tribute To
Cher with “Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves,” and to An All Star Tribute To
Shania Twain with “Don’t Be Stupid,” both of which were released in 2005.
Her greatest hits compilation,
The Very Best of Lisa Loeb
, was released through
Universal in January 2006 as well as a
Japanese version of the album. Other international work includes Loeb’s guest performance on the song “Anti-Hero” for an all-female Japanese musical group
Rin's album Inland Sea. In 2006, Loeb contributed to the album “A World of Happiness,” designed to disseminate messages of kindness, compassion, tolerance, and self-reliance to children of all ages, performing as Lady Leonali the Ladybug singing “In the Details.” Loeb contributed vocals to
New Found Glory's cover of "Stay," from on their 2007 LP
From the Screen to Your Stereo Part II, as well as performing the song live with the band. Though
Reality Bites was the first, Loeb’s music has been featured in additional soundtracks. The popular single "How" was included on the soundtracks for films
Twister and
Jack Frost, and was heard in the
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
episode "Homecoming." “We Could Still Belong Together” earned a spot on the
Legally Blonde soundtrack (2001), while “I Wish” can be heard on the soundtrack for
Anywhere But Here (1999).
Cake and Pie
, Loeb’s third album and debut for A&M/
Interscope, was released in 2002. She co-produced the album and collaborated with an impressive cast, which included
Glen Ballard, then boyfriend
Dweezil Zappa,
Randy Scruggs (
Vince Gill,
Sawyer Brown,
Waylon Jennings), and
Peter Collins (
Bon Jovi, the
Indigo Girls). In mid-2002, Loeb inked a deal with
Artemis, a new boutique label run by record company veteran-experts Danny Goldberg and Daniel Glass, after Interscope allowed her to buy the rights to her masters. Artemis had come to Loeb and Ron Stone, offering to re-release the record with more promotion. With new artwork, some songs added and some removed, Cake and Pie was re-launched as
Hello Lisa
, a play on Sanrio’s signature "Hello Kitty," who appears on the album cover wearing Lisa Loeb's trademark glasses. Lisa released an EP with just the new songs on it, as well as an alternate version of the song "Underdog" for fans who'd already purchased the Cake and Pie CD. Lisa made a video for "Underdog" co-starring
Hello Kitty playing guitar directed by Lisa and Dweezil. Loeb toured the world again, making special stops in
Sanrio stores for in-store autographs while appearing with Hello Kitty at the Japanese
MTV Music Awards.
In 2003 Loeb reunited with her college music partner, Elizabeth Mitchell on children’s CD and companion book
Catch the Moon
through Aretmis Records. Videos from this album as well as the single “Jenny Jenkins” have been featured on the
Noggin TV network for children, alongside those of
Laurie Berkner and
Dan Zanes, rockers who have also crossed over into the children's music field.
In 2004, Loeb signed to the more experienced and established independent label Zoe/Rounder Records, home of
Grammy Award winners
Robert Plant and
Allison Krauss.
The Way It Really Is
was released August 2004 as Loeb's fifth studio-recorded album.
The year 2008 proved a productive year for Loeb, as she released the long-awaited
Purple Tape
album remixed and remastered on a double CD, with an in-depth interview by
Andy Denemark, highlighting the creative process for each song to accompany extensive liner notes and photos documenting Lisa’s early history in
NYC through Lisa’s own Furious Rose Productions, sixteen years after her self-release of the
cassette version in 1994.
Her most recent release was
Camp Lisa
, also released by Loeb’s own Furious Rose Productions with distribution through Redeye, and produced by Loeb with Michelle Lewis and Dan Petty. The disc includes a mix of 21 original and classic camp songs and some very special guest performers including
Kay Hanley,
Dave Gibbs,
Nina Gordon,
Jill Sobule,
Lee Sklar,
Maia Sharp and funnyman /banjo player
Steve Martin. As Loeb spent many summers of her childhood at summer camp, Camp Lisa is largely inspired by her own cherished camp memories as well as 70s-style rock and pop. Camp Lisa has garnered a great deal of award recognition including NAPPA Honors, 2008 Parents' Choice and NPR's year-end Top 10 list of the best kids music for 2008. In conjunction with the release of Camp Lisa, Loeb launched her own non-profit organization, The Camp Lisa Foundation, which helps raise funds to send underprivileged kids to camp through its partnership with Summer Camp Opportunities Provide an Edge, Inc. (S.C.O.P.E.), a
non-profit organization whose mission is to provide children in need the edge to succeed in life through the summer camp experience. In 2009 The Camp Lisa Foundation will provide funding for several "camperships," enabling economically disadvantaged children to attend ACA accredited camps.
Loeb tours with and without her band, recently touring with Daru Oda and Adam Levy. Other band members include: Mark Spencer, Matt Beck, Ronny Crawford, Joe Quigley, Joe Travers, Mark Meadows, Michael Eisenstein, Dave Gibbs, and Leland Sklar, who plays on a number of albums.
Loeb was a judge for the 1st and 8th annual
Independent Music Awards to support independent artists.
[2]
Acting and television appearances
On January 16, 2004, Loeb's reality show Dweezil & Lisa first aired on
Food Network, in which she shared title billing with then-boyfriend,
Dweezil Zappa. The series showed the two musicians touring the country together and sampling unique and diverse dishes. In the opening for each episode Loeb announced she was a
vegetarian who enjoyed eating an occasional piece of
bacon. In the fall and winter of 2005, Loeb taped a reality show,
Number 1 single, premiering in January 2006 on the
E! Channel in
New York City. The show focused on her quest for love, success, career and family.
Loeb has made several guest appearances on television shows such as
The Nanny
in 1997, and
Cupid
, the following year. In 2007, Lisa appeared on an episode of
Jack's Big Music Show
singing the song "Jenny Jenkins." In 2008, she made a guest appearance on
Gossip Girl
, followed by a cameo on a recent episode of
The Sarah Silverman Program
--where the cast formed a mock band called the “Loeb Trotters.”.
In addition to television shows, Loeb has also appeared in the horror films
House on Haunted Hill
(1999) and
Serial Killing 101
(2004). She has done voice work including the voice of
Mary Jane Watson for the animated show
Spider-Man: The New Animated Series
, broadcast on
MTV. Loeb also voiced the character of Lutina in the video game
Grandia Xtreme
and characters for
The Rugrats Movie
and
Shorty McShorts' Shorts
.
Style
In 2008, Loeb was one of the contributors to
Carrie Borzillo-Vrenna's book
Cherry Bomb
; she gave advice on how to be the perfect hostess.
[3]
Personal life
Loeb married
Roey Hershkovitz, the music coordinator for
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
, on January 31, 2009.
[4] [5] On September 2, 2009, the couple announced that they were expecting their first child.
[6]
Discography
;Studio albums
- 1992: Purple Tape
- 1995: Tails
- 1997: Firecracker
- 2002: Cake and Pie
- 2002: Hello Lisa
- 2003: Catch the Moon
- 2004: The Way It Really Is
- 2008: Camp Lisa
References
- Lisa Loeb
- Independent Music Awards - Past Judges
- WHO SAYS COOLNESS CAN’T BE TAUGHT?
- Lisa Loeb is Married! People.com, January 31, 2009
- Weddings New York Times Official Announcement
- http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20301788,00.html