Lisa Bouchelle’s Vandals, Thieves & Lovers (Trash Can Dreams) is the product of persistence, its message of renewal delivered in the varied musical vocabulary the New Jersey-based singer/songwriter has been absorbing since she was a kid. As the creator and host of the syndicated TV show Rock Star Kitchen, Bouchelle has cooked and jammed with the likes of Chubby Checker, the late Eddie Money and Blues Traveler’s John Popper. On Vandals, Thieves & Lovers, special guests include Amanda Shires, Larry Campbell, Waddy Watchel and other familiar names in rock, folk and Americana.
“My first band took me in when I was just 14 and getting started on guitar, and it was a bluegrass band,” says Bouchelle. “I’ve carried that with me ever since. It was so nice to have the opportunity to write and record an entire album based around an organic, rootsy Americana sound.”
Here’s more on the album from Bouchelle.
1) “A Light To Come Home To” (Featuring Amanda Shires And Larry Campbell)
“No matter their job or walk of life, everyone needs a light to come home to after a hard day’s work: a significant other, a dog, a book and a cup of tea, a cold beer. For me, it’s often the guitar that waits in my living room.”
2) “Make This World Stand Still” (Featuring Amanda Shires)
“I’ve always loved singing this type of Americana ballad—and I’ve worked with and been influenced by Southside Johnny and Bobby Bandiera, the two artists who wrote it. To me, it evokes the passion of classic songs by Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley and Patsy Cline.”
3) “Vandal” (Featuring Waddy Wachtel)
“One of the darker tracks I wrote for the album. I wasn’t trying to achieve a pristine, polished vocal so much as capture the raw emotion and grit of the song. Waddy Wachtel played guitar on this and an alternate acoustic version. I’ve been a Waddy fan since I was a child, when I first became familiar with his work listening to Stevie Nicks albums with my mother.”
4) “Game To Play”
“This song was written early on a rainy morning following a late gig and after-party. It’s about getting out there and keeping at it. I’m a very driven person by nature, and I chase down and live my dreams with a lot of tenacity and vigor. But some days aren’t as easy as others. Sometimes it’s just about showing up.”
5) “Lighten Up Mozart”
“A gentle, stripped-down song about finding love that works and not overthinking what feels right.”
6) “Wild Again” (Featuring Jake Clemons)
“My bass player (Hal B. Selzer) and I were sitting around a fire pit and jamming. I asked him if he was working on any new material, and he said he had a riff he’d been playing for a while that didn’t really belong to a song. He played it for me, and I had an idea. I’d been working on some lyrics about cutting loose, getting wild and having fun—dancing barefoot in the grass with friends and just having a carefree time. Sly Stone had just passed away, and we felt inspired by the spirit of his music and wanted to write something with that kind of vibe.”
7) “1 Thang”
“A plea for someone to cut you some slack. New Jersey legend Ernie White played an amazing acoustic-guitar riff in one take. These acoustic songs that groove are some of my favorites to play and write.”
8) “Retro Sister”
“I really feel like I’m a ‘Retro Sister’ of sorts—and so are some of my closest friends.”
9) “Skeleton Krewe”
“My musician friends and I know the ropes when it comes to alchemizing silence into art by vibrating the air in just the right way. We know how to spin rusted dreams into gold before everyone’s eyes.”
10) “Sharing Secrets With A Bird”
“Late one night after a performance, I was climbing into bed in the wee hours, feeling like the only person awake in my neighborhood. It had been loud at the show earlier, but now it was so quiet—except for the soft, clear song of a nightingale through my open bedroom window. After recording the initial vocal, I did several more takes. In the end, we all agreed that the first take was the best because it was the most genuine and honest.”
11) “Buzzkill”
“A fun, jazzy song with a message about staying positive and steering clear of whatever is bringing you down as you roll through your day. When I first wrote it, it had a different feel—more like a folk song. Then it suddenly hit me that it might be interesting to set it to a jazzier groove. The band really dug that.”
See Lisa Bouchelle live.
