Lisa Lynne

Celtic harpist Lisa Lynne Franco began studying music as a child; initially attracted to folk sounds, she took up the guitar and mandolin, later playing bass in a local rock band. While enrolled at Hollywood's Musician's Institute of Technology, she concurrently enjoyed a thriving career as a session player; upon discovering the harp in 1985, Franco also formed a progressive rock outfit dubbed Bigger Than Blue. After landing a deal with the German label Innovative Concepts, however, student visa problems forced the band to dissolve, so Franco instead played all the instruments on 1991's debut LP Bigger Than Blue; three more efforts for the label -- Romantic Dreams, My Way and Silken Wings -- followed while she formed a new group, Celestial Winds, which earned a significant following playing the boardwalk along Venice Beach. A compilation of material from the group's cassette releases, Celestial Winds I, appeared in 1994, followed later that year by Christmas Morning; after 1995's Oceans of Love, however, Franco returned to her solo career, issuing Moonsongs the next year. A pair of independent 1997 LPs, Love & Peace and Fairie Tales (the latter recorded with Elfin Love Tribe), arrived simultaneously with a number of appearances on Windham Hill label compilations; Franco officially joined the record company in 1998, with her debut Daughters of the Celtic Moon credited simply to Lisa Lynne. Seasons of the Soul appeared in 1999.