Lisa Hentrich
TEN YEARS AND TENACITY
Stepping out in faith is an integral part of Lisa Hentrich’s character. The challenges she’s faced to get where she is today have only strengthened her faith with ten years of thick skin and tenacity.
“I drove down from Missouri on a March day in ‘97 with my suitcases and a hand full of songs, thinking I’d get my big break within a few years,” Lisa says, “Man, did I have a lot to learn about the music business and Nashville!” She laughs about her naivety now. When Lisa joined the throngs of aspiring singer-songwriters who migrate to Music City each year hoping their talent will rise above the crowd, it didn’t take long for her to realize a few years NST (“Nashville Songwriter Time”) can easily equate to a long hard decade….and to rise above the crowd, you have to rise above rejection.
“I learned pretty quick that I needed thicker skin and a lot of it,” she says now, “You have to be a pit bull to keep chasing a dream like this, and I just refused to let go of the bone, no matter how long it took.”
SLOW BLOOMER
“I’ve always been a slow bloomer,” Lisa says, “I was the shy and geeky wallflower in junior high crushing on the cute and popular guy who passed me by in the school halls every day and looked right through me.” She came into her own in high school when she worked up the courage to run for Class Treasurer and try out for the Varsity cheerleading squad. “I surprised myself by actually making both!” Hentrich recalls it was a pivotal turning point in her self-confidence. “Everything changed for me then. That was the beginning of my realization that if you don’t just grab your fear by the horns and face it head on, you will never know what you could have become.”
Her music was slow to bloom, too. “I always loved to sing and put on pretend ‘shows’ in the back yard when I was little,” she says, “But I was too shy to have an audience. Only my faithful old mutt Rascal was invited to the performances.”
Her high school accomplishments gave her the courage to audition for her brother’s rock band shortly after graduation. “Even my brother didn’t have a clue I could sing,” Lisa smiles, “The first time I asked if I could audition, he told me no. He didn’t want to hurt my feelings, and I also believe he didn’t want Little Sister around cramping his style with the chicks!” But Lisa’s tenaciousness was beginning to take root, and she persisted until Big Brother finally relented after auditioning 14 other female singers. She surprised the whole band with her talent and landed her first singing gig.
SMALL TOWN... BIG WORLD
Once Lisa began singing on stage, she just kept blooming. She left her home town near St. Louis, Missouri to spend several years touring the US with pop & rock cover bands, and she calls her time on the road the ultimate training ground.
“We played about 50 weeks out of the year, so it was really during that time the shell came off and I really learned how to entertain and develop my voice.”
Hentrich says of her time singing in the band now known as EPIC Records’ FUEL, “It was one of the most fun times in my life. I was seeing the big world outside of my small town bubble for the first time, and they were great people to experience it with. I’m glad they went on to become a successful group.”
IN HER OWN WORDS
“I had to get tired of singing other people’s songs before it suddenly occurred to me that maybe I could write my own,” Lisa remembers. I enjoyed writing poetry, and it dawned on me one day that I already had half of a song there. I just needed to put music to it.”
She turned to the place where she’d gotten her musical start: family. Collaborating with her brother, she began learning the ropes of putting words and music together, and finding songwriting, she says, was finding home.
“It was the missing ingredient,” she says of writing, “I was craving something but I didn’t know what. When I tapped into songwriting, I struck my gold. As much as I loved singing, it was the process of creating something on my own that I needed to give me a sense of purpose.”
A PLACE TO FLY
...You just need a place to fly….God will give you wings... Like the lyric from one of Lisa’s songs written about her mother’s encouragement to follow her dream, she knew her place to fly was Nashville. Once again taking fear by the horns, she packed her bags and headed south to the land of songwriters’ opportunity.
Little did she know she’d have a lot of walking through hills and valleys to do before she’d grow those wings. “I worked full time at an entertainment law firm for a while, just learning about the business,” Lisa says, “I wanted to be smart about it and go about things the right way. But I found out how hard it is to work a day job and pursue the music. You don’t make money doing music in a town with so much talent…so you work whatever jobs you have to work to pay the bills, and you summon up the energy to invest the rest of your time in the music. How long you can endure it is the real test of how bad you want it.”
LOOKING LESS...FOCUSING MORE
Despite all of the obstacles she’s encountered during her 10+ years in Nashville, Hentrich has not faltered in pressing onward. “I’ve learned to look not so much at what kind of obstacles and rejections I'm encountering, but focus more on what I’m learning from them,” she says, “I can’t imagine not writing and singing. It’s who I am, regardless of the roadblocks. So I might as well focus on what I can do to keep learning and growing from them, ‘cause I’m not going to let them stop me or dampen my passion for creating music.”
And Hentrich has created a lot of music. Her songs range from power Country ballads to spiritual message songs to music that crosses other varied genre borders. She has prolific versatility in her ability to span generations and honestly address life situations her fans cannot only identify with, but sing along to. Her songs often reflect her mission to help others through her music. Pink Ribbon, a ballad depicting a woman’s battle and triumph over breast cancer, has been a source of inspiration to women from all walks of life and their family members who have been touched by this disease. Her songs Bridges and You Win, both powerful stories of women walking away from unhealthy relationships, were co-written and recorded on an album by Lisa to benefit The Bridges of Williamson County, a shelter for abused women and children.
WIND AND WINGS
Ironically, refining her focus brought a brand new vantage point of success for Lisa. The release of her first cut came in the summer of 2007 with Richie McDonald after his departure from the multi-Platinum selling group LONESTAR. She co-wrote God’s Still in America released on Word/Curb Records' patriotic compilation CD "God Bless the USA" now in stores. The same song is also on McDonald's 2009 "Slow Down" Country album.
Also containing a Hentrich track is Chris Cagle’s 2008 "My Life's Been a Country Song" album, which debuted at #1 on the country charts. And there's more yet in the pipelines from this talented songstress, including a Clay Walker cut, a song written with legendary singer/songwriter Lee Greenwood, and 2 cuts co-written by Hentrich on the upcoming album of Waymore's Outlaws.
At the same time Hentrich's songwriting has found its wings, so has her artistry. In response to frequent requests at live shows from fans wanting to purchase her music, Lisa decided it was time to record her own full length album. The self-titled compilation of 10 songs were all co-written by Hentrich, expressing themes of triumph over trials, moments of surrender, and reflections of her faith. In contrast to the thread of sassy grit that runs through many of the rock-flavored up-tempo tunes, she reveals stark vulnerability in her intimate ballads and leaves you feeling that anything is possible in her songs with silver linings.
DIVINE TIMING
While recording her album, Willie Nelson became a supporter of her music and invited her to sing at Farm Aid 2007. Lisa says, “I grew up listening to Johnny Cash and Willie and Waylon, and their songs really influenced me. To have the support of a legend like Willie is an amazing thing.”
Willie’s support came at a time Lisa considers divine in nature. “The first seeds of my passion for music were planted by my Dad,” she says, “He played bass and sang in a Country band while I was growing up, and his band used to play some of Willie’s songs.”
The invitation from Willie came shortly after Lisa’s father died while battling lung cancer. “I couldn’t help but feel there was something divine in the timing, because my Dad was a fan of Willie’s music. My Mom was so moved when I told her; she got choked up on the phone with tears. She said ‘there’s nothing that would have made your Dad happier than to hear you’re going to be singing at Farm Aid with Willie Nelson.' ”
NO COMPROMISE
In a business where compromise is common in order to rise to the top, Lisa reflects on how long it has taken to reach the doors that have finally opened. “I wouldn’t change a thing,” she says now, “because I’ve taken the road of Integrity. It’s the long way around, but I won’t compromise myself or my music for the sake of a shortcut.”
Most of all, she’s grateful that the long way around has brought her richness in the journey. “I’m looking forward to what the next 10 years brings,” she says, “The adventure has just begun!”