Lisa Itts - Singer/Songwriter

Bios

Lisa Itts ~ (composer / lead vocals / guitar) a musician from early on, started playing guitar at the age of nine. She was first discovered by Peter Yarrow of "Peter, Paul and Mary". She attended Nassau Community College and minored in music. There, she added piano to her repertoire of instruments. After graduating, Lisa started her own children's entertainment company. She performed at parties as well as her own gigs, and now teaches guitar, piano, songwriting and voice. She also currently performs at restaurants and does corporate events. She has worked in several projects, including an R&B vocal quartet, co-produced by "Quick" from Epic Records. She has also done work for Dennis King, producer for such world renowned bands as "Motley Crue" and "Chic". Lisa has toured extensively in the New York Tri-state area at such venues as the ever-popular C.B.G.B.'s and The Bitter End, N.Y.C. She has performed and recorded with guitarist extraordinaire, Larry Mitchell of "Tracy Chapman" and "Rick Okasek's" bands, and bassmaster, Schuyler Deale of "Michael Bolton" and "Billy Joel". Lisa has opened for Randy Jackson of "Zebra" fame. She and her band *Solstar* have also opened for such musical staples as the "The Band"

Her debut CD was selected by the students of Nassau Community College which enabled her to land a spot as a guest artist at the 29th annual N.C.C. folk festival. She performed with the likes of signed artists Laura Love, Odetta and Long Island's own, The Skaflaws

2004 AND 2005 ~ Lisa's song "Butterfly" chosen as a top 5 finalist in the VH1 International Song Of The Year Contest! Also in 2004 ~ "I Have Now" honorable mention in the pop category and runner up in the country category ~ "One Heart" honorable mention in the country category!
www.songoftheyear.com

Lisa's songs are now being played by 2 top internet radio stations... www.acousticfuel.com and www.mvyradio.com/local_musicafe/

More recently (10/07), Lisa performed on stage with spiritual speaker and author Dr. Wayne Dyer, singing her VH1 International Song of The Year Contest's award-winning song "Butterfly"

Following her performance with Dr. Wayne Dyer, Lisa's song "Don't Crawl" was selected to play in its entirety in the roll credits section of an idie film called "Indian Hill". (11/08). This film was originally entered in the Georgia film festival and from there, won a gold pass to the East Coast Film Festival. It is currently being enrolled in 5 other major film festivals across the country. Indian Hill is officially listed on IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1347346/

Latest News! This month (9/09) will begin the launch of "The Murph's Famous" a national product Lisa has written the jingle for. Check it out at "Themurphsfamous.com" Just following this (11/09), Lisa landed a recording that will appear on itunes very soon for some covers of songs from Disney's ever-popular Phineas and Ferb cartoon! We'll keep you posted on its release!

Lisa is a prolific writer with over 100 songs in her repertoire. It is not uncommon for her to create several pieces of music or poetry in a relatively short period of time. Her music offers memorable melodies and moving lyrics vague enough to self-interpret, yet empowering enough to relate to and inspire. All of this creates her unique groove-rock style. Lisa is the heart and soul of *Solstar*

In my own words: "If I could touch as many people as possible with my songs; This would be the most fulfilling thing I could do with my music"

Chris Benvegna (lead guitar) - Born and raised in Queens, N.Y., Chris has been playing guitar since the age of thirteen. His influences growing up include everyone from Jimmy Page to Joe Satriani to David Gilmore. Chris is also a top graduate of Queen's College's nationally recognized music program and is currently teaching music at Polytechnical Preparatory School in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Chris' experience in the music scene is vast and varied. Some of his credits include his studies and performances with top, nationally known guitarist, George Bien, opening up for The Band at their reunion concert, Zebra and playing in the pit for a number of off Broadway musicals at such places as Long Island's well known Bayway Arts Center, and the Plaza Playhouse, N.Y.C.

Chris's playing has received high acclaim from such guitar legends as Dean Brown, who has toured extensively with David Sanborn, Marcus Miller and The Brecker Brothers. He has recently begun to study the Chapman Stick with LI Stickmaster, Steve Adelson. Chris brings a fusion of his amazing technical ability and beautiful melodic phrasing; This makes the songs in *Solstar* fully sing.

Alice Kelly (Vocals / Percussion ) - Born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, Alice grew up around a family and community of singers and musicians. From the age of 15 Alice was working with numerous cover bands on the Dublin circuit as lead & backing vocalist and playing rhythm guitar, percussion and an Irish drum called a Badhran (pronounced bowrawn). She has also done a number of recordings with a Dublin based folk band. At 20 she returned to school to study music production, promotion & management as well as classes in guitar, drums, singing and songwriting.

Having lived in America for the past 11 years, Alice has worked with a couple of Long Island based bands and is currently in the process of recording her own songs. She has worked with the production crew of many big name musicians both at Jones Beach Theatre and The Nassau Coliseum.

Alice likes to try her hand at anything and has now returned to playing the drums, her favorite instrument. She is influenced by many styles of music including Sting, Santana, KT Tunstall, Sarah McLachlan, U2 and many others. The list is endless.Alice brings a beautiful texture to the harmonic vocals and percussion of *Solstar*

Mike Forgit (bass guitar) - Mike has performed and recorded with numerous Long Island based top-40, blues, doo-wop and original bands and has opened for such well-known musical acts as The Good Rats, Gary U.S. Bonds, Zebra and The Platters. He counts John Patitucci, Marcus Miller, John Paul Jones and Motown session man James Jamerson as some of his main influences on bass. Mike is the understated, melodic pulse of *Solstar*

Patrick Carroll ~ (Bass) - Patrick has most recently played Bass on, programed drums for & engineered Lisa's eclectic/acoustic CD, *Sourcerer*.Based in New York, Patrick Carroll is quite simply one of the finest composer/producers around. His list of credits is a virtual who's who of the world's biggest names, past and present.

Among many others, Patrick has appeared on recordings with: Celine Dion, Lou Reed, John Secada, Marc Anthony, Be Be Winans, Mya, Elton John, Lionel Richie, Trisha Yearwood, Anastacia, Peter Andre and Barry Manilow.

In addition to working with such a stellar cast, Patrick's music has been heard on numerous TV stations. His themes have run on various Sports Shows including US Olympic Gold and ESPN, Chris Evert Celebrity Pro Classic, Pacific Life Open, and Wimbledon.

Several high profile commercials have featured his material. Currently airng on national television are commercials for Olive Garden, JIF, Ford, Hasbro, Mattel and Coke to name but a few.

Documentary work includes an eight-hour series for the History Channel ('To The Best Of My Ability' about all the US Presidents), Jack Nicklaus Memories and Maxim's Top 100. He is currently scoring a documentary for the BBC (with Adrian Zagoritis) about bat migration in Africa.