Photo: carisa - Facebook
carisa
carisa
However you want to pronounce the name of Milwaukee genre-fluid singer-songwriter carisa, it’s fine with her. Just use the vowels and consonants her moniker already possesses,
“Any variation is fine, as long as there’s no L,” she affirms.
And if her 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 2 performance at The Coffee House, a longstanding institution for the promotion of acoustic music, affirms carisa’s bona fides as a folk artist, she’s fine with that. But if a listener wants to hear as jazz singer, she’s good with that, too.
“I’ll let the listener decide,” she offers.
As for her album the soul is deep water and prior EP, microcosm, she explains, “I believe my music is a good fit in any location, it just depends on whether or not the people present feel it resonates with them. When it comes to the way I would describe my music, I don’t feel drawn toward a certain genre anymore. I spent a long time wanting to be considered as a folk musician, although I use jazzier chords than most and have bossa nova elements in many songs, so I think people see me more as a jazz musician. Whatever genre people hear in my music is what it is for that person.”
As harmonies, that plural comes from the single source of carisa herself, as does everything else in her recordings. “I recorded at home, using equipment I slowly gathered over time. Just a microphone, laptop, guitar, and piano. I did everything through Garageband. I add layers until I don’t want to add anymore or can’t add anymore.
“I honestly don't know what I’ll do on the next release yet,” carisa says in anticipation of her future artistry. “It depends on the music itself. I just make it as it comes to me,” One fair expectation of whatever is in the pipeline for her is that it will be rife with emotionally vulnerable autobiographical reflections, just as she has proffered thus far.
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“My lyrics are based on my life or people that I’m close to. I prefer to write what I know and leave the rest. Some of them are diary entries that I repurposed for lyrics,” carisa says. In so far as her comfort level sharing such reminiscences, she’s not shy. “I don’t have difficulty sharing my music with my friends based on the intimacy of the lyrics, but I do hesitate when I feel the idea is not really developed. I prefer to let it cook a while before I offer them a taste.”
Since she employed a culinary analogy, it’s worth noting that carisa’s aesthetic endeavors also appeal to more than one of the five senses. Her music may catch one’s ear, but the graphics she creates to accompany her songs can draw their own kind of attention. As much is fitting for a performer who caught The Coffee House staff's attention when she participated in the venue’s 2022 Musicians Who Paint event.
“Both of the pictures I used as album artwork were photographs that I drew over," she says. “I didn't have anything in mind before I had finished recording all of the songs, I simply found something that I felt best encapsulated a common thread between the songs.” And though carisa has yet to sell any of her artwork, she has another avenue in mind for her visual prowess, “I will be selling merch soon with some of my art on them as stickers and stuff. Keep an eye out!”
But keep an ear out for her first. And The Coffee House should be a fine showcase for her budding talent.
In lieu of footage of carisa singing her own work, here’s a sample of what may be the next best thing: her take on fellow Milwaukee folkie Peter Mulvey's “Who’s Gonna Love You Now”: youtube.com/shorts/tm92rL8XZEs.
