Lisa Marr

Biography

Bassist, singer and songwriter Lisa Marr has built a career around her creative diversity, having worked with cuddle-core favorites Cub and garage-flavored punk-popsters Buck before striking out on her own with the alt-country influenced quintet The Lisa Marr Experiment. Born in Canada, Marr cut her musical teeth in Vancouver, British Columbia, when she joined Cub in 1992 after meeting bandmates Robynn Iwata and Valeria Fellini while all three were working at the same college radio station. Cub's cheerful pop-punk sound won them a significant following in both Canada and the United States. The band amicably parted ways in 1997, and Marr moved to Los Angeles, California, where she quickly got back in the game with Buck, whose line-up also included percussionist Lisa G. (who played drums in a latter lineup of Cub), and guitarist Pepper Berry. During their two years together, Buck earned a loyal following in California and went through a number of drummers before calling it quits in 2000. True to form, Marr immediately moved on to her next project, The Lisa Marr Experiment, which pared back a bit of the punk-styled energy of her earlier material in favor of a sound influenced by the high and lonesome approach of country music. Working with multi-instrumentalist Mike Flanagan, drummer Sherri Solinger (who played with Buck for a spell), and steel guitarist Freddie Karl Sablan, Jr., Marr and the Experiment released their debut album, 4 AM, in 2000; one of the songs from the album was later covered by Canadian alt-country sensation Neko Case, who had briefly been a member of one of the latter lineups of Cub. In 2003, the group's second set, American Jitters, hit the racks, with the band growing to a five piece with the addition of guitarist Mart Beal. In her private life, Marr is married to a fellow bassist, Ronnie Barnett, who plays with L.A. pop-punkers The Muffs. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide