Tom Apathy Photography
Brian Lisik
Singer, guitarist and Akron native Brian Lisik has been recording and performing his brash, garage-rock music throughout the country since the mid-1990s. The songwriter performs both solo and with his band, Brian Lisik & Hard Legs. His latest single, “Why I’m Here,” was released Aug. 16 on Cherokee Queen Records.
Lisik has opened for artists such as Jesse Malin, Eddie Money and Roger McGuinn. No Depression Magazine describes his music as, A winning formula of catchy phrasing, jangly guitar riffs and great pop hooks.
Jim Ballard: Tell me your songwriting origin story.
Brian Lisik: When I was pretty young, we had a family guitar, which belonged mainly to my older brother. He went off and joined the Air Force, so I inherited it — along with a Roy Clark Big Note Songbook. I learned a few things and began playing at the guitar mass at our church. I wasn’t crazy about having to learn so many other writers’ songs, so [I] began writing my own. I thought it was a lot less hassle.
JB: Who are your influences?
BL: Early on, I heard Johnny Cash’s prison records. He seemed like a guy who would’ve worked with my dad at the rubber shops. So much gravitas but seemed like just a regular guy. I also really hooked into Bob Dylan, Paul Westerberg and Neil Young. They could play their songs with an acoustic guitar on their lap but could plug it in and just become this monster performance, so immediate and in the moment.
JB: You’ve done some touring outside The 330. Where?
BL: Lots of cities and other states, but some of my favorites are Pittsburgh, Detroit and Buffalo.
JB: And in our area?
BL: My very favorite is the Rialto [Theatre] — it’s like a musicians’ clubhouse. But I’d have to say we’re so lucky to have the triumvirate of the Rialto, Jilly’s Music Room and Musica. They’re all different, and they all feature and support original music.
JB: You’re always writing, so I’m guessing you have something coming up.
BL: I have a new single, just released in August, titled “Why I’m Here.” And of course, writing new material all the time.
JB: We love it, so we keep at it.
BL: Being rich and being famous would be great, but having a body of work … to me, that’s most important.
photo by Ellen Stair
Benjamin Payne
As a producer, singer-songwriter and frontman for the band Yankee Bravo, Canton native Benjamin Payne was practically destined for a life of music making. His dad was a musician, audio engineer and producer at Kopperhead studio in North Canton. Growing up, he hung around the studio nearly every day and heard an eclectic mix of musicians, bands and songwriters. His mom loved James Taylor and Cat Stevens, while his dad liked Steely Dan, Earth, Wind & Fire and the Doobie Brothers.
“When I was about 4 years old, the drummer in my dad’s band gave me a vintage drum set, and I began figuring out how to play them,” recalls Payne, who owns Studio 521 in Canton. “As I got older, I got good enough to start sitting in with the bands during recording breaks at the studio, so I was fortunate to get that experience. Thing was, I thought everybody got to do that! A bit later on, I got a guitar and began writing my own songs and I’ve not looked back.”
Jim Ballard: What got you started?
Benjamin Payne: One day when I was about 12, my dad and I were watching this PBS documentary about Woodstock. There was a performer with a jangly guitar starting off on a song. Pretty soon, a set of conga drums and a bass dropped in behind him. Then he began singing, Freedom, Freedom… Freedom. The voice got my complete attention. I turned to my dad and said, Who’s that? He smiled gently at me and said, That’s Richie Havens. I was completely hooked. I love all kinds of musicians and singers, but to this day, that voice has been a sort of North Star for me. I’d seen him a few times, but several years later, as a songwriter myself, I got to open for him at Lock 3 in downtown Akron, where I gave him a copy of my first CD. I ran into him years later and I mentioned that I’d given him the album, but that he probably wouldn’t remember. He said, Oh sure, we still have it in our van and play it when we’re on the road. I thought he was pulling my leg, but he described the album cover to me, so I was a little blown away.
JB: What other passions or interests keep you going?
BP: I love being out in nature. The sounds of nature are, of course, music — that’s where it came from. Hearing those nature sounds, plus studying the Psalms … that’s all music!
JB: Between your solo career and Yankee Bravo, you have about seven EP and album releases. What’s in the works?
BP: I’m still very active fronting Yankee Bravo, but I’m part way through tracking a new solo album. … It doesn’t have a title yet, but the theme seems to be something like emancipation.
JB: Echoes of Freedom, Freedom?
BP: Yes! I hadn’t thought of that, but there’s Richie again!
Benjamin Payne and Brian Lisik perform, in addition to Jim Ballard, at Ballard’s monthly first Thursday songwriter series at the Rialto Theatre in Akron Nov. 7. Learn more at jimballard.net.
