Anthology

LISA LOEB may have launched her career with a song in the movie Reality Bites, but for the songstress, reality has done anything but that. The Grammy-nominated, glasses wearing, graduate of Brown University still remains the first and only artist to have a Number 1 single (“Stay (I Missed You”) without being signed to a recording contract.

While earning her degree in Comparative Literature at Brown University, Loeb began playing music in the duo Liz and Lisa. The duo recorded and independently released 2 albums. They built a great following on campus, and in New York, where Loeb moved following graduation.

In New York, Loeb met actor Ethan Hawke, who heard her song “Stay,” and passed it onto Ben Stiller, the director of Reality Bites. Stiller decided to use the song in the film, and Lisa’s career exploded overnight.

Following the success of “Stay”, Loeb was signed to Geffen Records where she released two records, both of which were widely successful, and produced another hit single, “I Do.”

From there, Lisa parlayed her early success into a multi-dimensional career including film, music, television, voice-overs, and children’s recordings. (Loeb gave birth to her first child in November of 2009). Lisa’s film and television credits include appearances on The Chris Isaak Show, The Drew Carey Show, and Gossip Girl, as well as The House On Haunted Hill. She also gave voice to Mary Jane in MTV’s animated Spider-Man series.

In 2008, Lisa released Purple Tape, a CD version of her original tape recorded in 1992 with produced Juan Patino. This album features the earliest recordings of several favorites including, “Do You Sleep.”

Her most recent success was the release of her summer camp songs album titled, Camp Lisa, in June 2008. Camp Lisa was released on Loeb’s own Furious Rose Productions with distribution through Redeye, though Loeb had also formed a partnership with Barnes and Nobel, who pre-released the album earlier that year. In conjunction with the release of Camp Lisa, Loeb launched her own non-profit, The Camp Lisa Foundation, to help raise funds to send underprivileged kids to camp through its partnership with Summer Camp Opportunities Provide an Edge, Inc. (S.C.O.P.E.), a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide children in need the edge to succeed in life through the summer camp experience.

Jill Sobule

Denver-born singer/songwriter/guitarist JILL SOBULE doesn’t pull any punches. Her songs span the spectrum of raw human emotions. Tackling subjects such as love, adolescence, anorexia, the death penalty, shoplifting, the Christian right, and many more, Sobule has cemented her place in American songwriting. Her performances not only entertain her audiences, but provoke them to contemplate some of life’s more serious concerns.

Jill started playing guitar in junior high school, and never learned to actually read music. In 1990, she released her debut album for MCA called Things Here Are Different. It wasn’t until 1995 that Jill saw commercial success. Her hit song “Supermodel” was featured in the 1995 film Clueless, and to date, that song and “I Kissed a Girl” are her two best-known songs.

Since then, Sobule has gone on to record 7 more albums. She has shared the stage with Neil Young, Billy Bragg, Steve Earle, and Waren Zevon. She even toured the world as the lead guitarist in Llyod Cole’s band.

A veritable gypsy, Jill divides her time between a busy touring schedule and a variety of other projects. She has played the role of political troubadour for NPR stations across the country and for Air America Radio. She also served as songwriter/composer for the hit Nickelodeon network show Unfabulous during that show’s three-season run. She composed the music for the off-Broadway show Prozak and the Platypus and co-starred in the Eric Schaeffer film Mind the Gap.