Biography

Lisa grew up around Baxter, TN where she sang in church quartets, community choruses, theater performances, and sat in with the occasional band. She began performing solo in Luckenbach, TX where a cadre of old-time players who likened her to Janis Joplin, probably due as much to her wild hair & tie dye clothing as her actual voice. She has also performed with bands.

Recently, Lisa has been performing with her husband Doug Budzak as the duo "UNCLE BETHEL" at Nashville venues like the Rusty Nail and the Nashville Palace where they also co-hosted a monthly Alabama Songwriter's Showcase with writer James Breedwell.

In addition, the two of them perform with a group of seven Huntsville, AL area songwriters known as "A Band Named Sue." With fellow songwriter Kenneth Cooper, the pair has also played Nashville's famous Bluebird Cafe Writer's Night.

Lisa has studied performance style with Nashville great Linda Davis (mother of Hillary Scott, Lady Antebellum) and has also studied voice with one of Nashville's best vocal coaches, Melissa Ellen, who is currenlty a finalists for "2010 Nashville Demo Singer of the Year."

She and Doug have co-written with a number of Huntsville songwriters, Nashville songwriters Marc-Allen Barnette and Stan Moore, and Canadian artist/songwriter Beth Marie Anderson.

From Lisa:
"Last year, I met fellow songwriter George Wells, who introduced my husband & producer, Doug Budzak & me to a song that he co-wrote with his lifetime friend Billy Stone, called Puppy Dogs & Country Girls. A few months later, George introduced us to Billy, who was writing this book, which would take us even further into the life of Julie Leigh. I was so taken by the imagery & warmth in Billy’s story that I really wanted to sing Julie’s song.

When I first moved to North Alabama in the early 1980’s, I was invited to stay with a family friend in the Paint Rock River valley. It was such an incredible place to come home to at night & reminded me of home. The people were God-fearing, hard-working & down to earth, and the natural beauty of the countryside was so unspoiled. Billy’s story takes me back to my own days in The Ben’. My husband & I still take long weekend drives there, and whenever we go, we can almost hear Julie Leigh’s voice, reminding us that there really is no place like home, and that "Puppy Dogs & Country Girls don’t belong on city streets…""