Lisa Goulder The Alibis
Peter Elman
Peter was born and raised in Bethesda, Maryland, and at a young age fell in love with the sounds of rock n’roll, soul, and country-western music. Equally adept on piano, organ, trombone, guitar and bass, he produced his first record at 16 and worked steadily as a professional musician. In 1973 he joined the band Lazy River and relocated to California, where he began to write music for what would be his debut solo album, DURANGO SALOON. He spent two years in Austin, Texas absorbing American roots music, along the way playing piano for Lacy J. Dalton, Flaco Jimenez and the Willie Nelson band. In 1977 Elman moved to the Bay Area, and since then has produced a dozen albums, among them six of his own. He has performed and recorded with, among others, Grammy-winning writer/producer Rick Nowels (Stevie Nicks, Madonna, Celine Dion), Tom Johnston (Doobie Brothers) and Stef Burns (Huey Lewis and the News). He has composed, arranged and produced music for national TV and radio spots (Toyota, Levis) and was the manager of Acorn Music. Pete is currently involved in many writing, performing and recording projects.
Lisa Goulder’s CD, Hurry My Heart, is the synthesis of this unique musician’s many talents. A pianist, singer and songwriter, Lisa has added to her long list of accomplishments with this release.
Growing up in a musical family in Cleveland ,Ohio, both of Lisa’s parents played the piano. Lisa’s mother studied to be an opera singer before she married, then joined her husband in running a business that designed and manufactured housewares. Both of Lisa’s grandmothers were accomplished pianists, so it followed that Lisa’s parents would make sure that music played a big part in their children’s lives.
"My siblings and I were exposed to many styles of music; classical, pop, jazz, musicals, and we all took piano lessons. We were always singing, harmonizing and making up songs in the car. We’d come up with hilarious verses about the people we knew, our dog, and even a family trip that was straight out of Mad Magazine. To this day when my brother and I get together, we sing a blues song inspired by our grandfather that we made up when we were kids."
When the Beatles arrived on the music scene, Lisa fell in love with their sound. She played their songs on the piano by ear and sang harmony along with their records. For Halloween one year, Lisa enlisted three girlfiends to dress up as the Ladybugs, a girl group version of the Beatles, performing "She Loves You" for classmates as they pretended to play guitars Lisa borrowed from her older brother. "I must have wanted to be in a band but it didn’t really occur to me--girls weren’t in bands back then. I just wanted to marry Paul."
With the explosion of rock, folk and pop music, Lisa picked up the guitar and learned songs by some of her favorites; James Taylor, Simon and Garfunkel and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. But Lisa was most inspired by two female singer-songwriters, Joni Mitchell and Laura Nyro. "Their music had a profound impact on me. Here were two ladies who were not only amazing singers but who also played instruments along with the guys and were incredible songwriters." Lisa spent a lot of time at the piano writing her own songs and made the decision to make music her profession.
She also began listening to jazz artists like Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis and Lambert, Hendricks and Ross. Interested in learning more about jazz, Lisa attended Berklee College of Music for one year studying piano, voice and composition. But California beckoned and it was in the Bay Area where she settled and began performing as a keyboardist and singer with many highly acclaimed musicians, among them Michele Hendricks, daughter of Jon Hendricks.
Driven to find an outlet for her own music, Lisa formed and fronted the band Dreamland, an innovative six-piece band which performed all over California in the early ‘90’s. She has been writing and recording her songs since, and the debut CD, Hurry My Heart is a culmination of those efforts. Produced with husband Pete Elman, a noted recording artist and producer in his own right, this album is a collection of songs that run the spectrum from pop and rock to folk and jazz.
"Writing, singing, playing and performing my music gives me great joy. I hope people who hear this album want to put it on over and over again!"
Enter THE ALIBIS, an exciting original band made up of four veterans of the rock wars -- keyboardist /producer Peter Elman, lead vocalist/guitarist Mike Costello,bassist Bob Lindfors and drummer Riley Ethridge -- old friends who have combined their writing, singing and playing talents into an inspired album that echoes the great rock bands of the past with a nod to the present. With elements of Dylan, the Band, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and Little Feat, THE ALIBIS have created an album of original songs, 40 DAYS AND 40 NIGHTS, that will stand the test of time. THE ALIBIS recently completed their second album, entitled, "Enough is Enough."
