Lisa Bastoni (Northampton, MA) is a 2022 & 2023 New England Music Award nominee (Roots), 2020 & 2019 Boston Music Award Nominee (Folk) and winner of 2019 New Folk at the esteemed Kerrville Folk Festival. In addition to her work in music, Lisa Bastoni is a visual artist and teacher, and mother to two young children. Lisa Bastoni has opened for/performed with Lori McKenna, Dar Williams, Regina Spektor, The Secret Sisters, Teddy Thompson, Rose Cousins, Mark Erelli, Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams, and many more. She performs regularly around New England, and occasionally beyond.
"Bright, attactive and wonderfully poetic..." (Americana-UK)
"Expressive, well-crafted songs..." (Glide Magazine)
"A beautiful melancholia...real and human." (Red Line Roots)
"Americana of the highest order, along the lines of Patty Griffin or Gretchen Peters" (Maverick UK)
“Lisa Bastoni is a genuine artist. Her articulate songs come from the soul, and resonate in the heart. She debuted her new album and a few other gorgeous songs last night with her producer, consummate musician Sean Staples. How We Want To Live is a deep and powerful album, and an affirmation of her triumph in the 2019 Kerrville New Folk Festival contest.
When I hear Lisa perform, I can’t help but draw a parallel between her songs and those of another New England treasure, Lori McKenna. Bastoni masters the same narrative beauty and poignancy in her compositions, and similarly balances demands of motherhood and career gracefully. The song, “Beautiful Girl,“ written for her daughter, is reflective of that — and Lisa Bastoni herself.”
About On The Water:
From salt water to sink water, from a cup of tea to the whole entire ocean, Lisa Bastoni’s latest album, On The Water, is a cycle of twelve vivid songs exploring observations of daily life and memories washed ashore.
Produced by Sean Staples, On The Water was recorded live over the course of three days at Zachariah Hickman’s Greedy Beast Studios in Watertown MA. The album features Sean Staples, Rich Hinman, James Rohr, and Chris Anzalone, with special guest vocalists Mark Erelli, Kris Delmhorst, and Rose Cousins. On The Water is Bastoni's first full-length release since 2019's How We Want to Live.