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Lisa started playing the guitar when she was 11 years old. She admits that the folk music of the 60's and 70's inspired her to pick up the guitar, saying "I still enjoy folk styles most of all, even in the worship songs we perform today." Lisa was born and raised in the suburban Maryland side of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. She graduated from High Point High School in Beltsville, Maryland, and then attended St. Mary's College in southern Maryland for two years, before returning to the College Park campus of the University of Maryland her final two years. She graduated with B.A. in Political Science in 1984. She married her high school sweetheart, Bob, that summer; and spent the next 8 years hidden away in the military's most exotic location: the Midwest. There, in 1986, she earned her Education certificate from the Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg, Missouri. She taught middle school and high school for several years. She has two little "Cornhuskers:" Marie and Julia. Both kids are interested in music, and both have teachers from within the band! Marie plays piano, and Julia is learning how to play the flute with Heather as her instructor. The kids who have parents in the band don't stand a chance! Nearly every one of them gets dragged to practice from time to time, so they end up eventually picking up an instrument or two along the way. Upon their departure from the military, Lisa and Bob moved to Vermont in 1992. Lisa began attending the Panton church in 1993, and finally convinced Bob to give it a try after a few months as well. Last Christmas, Bob gave her a banjo. It hasn't yet found its way into the band's repertoire, and Lisa continues to search for a "good banjo teacher" to help her learn the instrument. Lisa has been a member of the Panton worship since its inception; almost as soon as she started attending in 1993. Let this be a warning to anyone even remotely musically inclined: If you attend this church, you will be asked to make the most of your talent!!! Lisa says, "In the beginning, it was a slow start. Often, it took us weeks to learn just one new song. Slowly, we gained confidence in ourselves and each other and our music. God blessed it and we improved and grew." In 1998, a state political gathering asked the members of the worship team to provide patriotic music for a major meeting in Vermont, and the group hastily assembled into the band One Achord. It was a one-gig band, but Clean Slate was born from that band upon the invitation to prepare for ministry in Wales. "I think our mission has grown with our desire to spread the Gospel and to sing and play in many places," Lisa concludes. "I feel that I have grown musically and spiritually in my association with the musicians and evangelists of Clean Slate." Lisa's talents extend the reach of the group into the often uncharted waters of folk and guitar-centric tunes. These days, though, she can just as likely be found strumming the back-beats on an electric guitar as she searches for the perfect "Electro-Caribbean" patch on the stomp box (but don't tell that to the folks from Woods Tea Company or she'll have to be dismissed from her position as unofficial fan club member!).
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