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NEWS MONDAY, APRIL 5, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN KANSAN.COM
ARTS
Alumna uses music to express life
Jerry Wang /KANSAN
Lisa Donnelly, a 2002 KU graduate, sits at South Park Saturday afternoon. Donnelly has said she pursued music not for fame but for producing intelligent work.
BY ALISON CUMBOW
alisonc@kansan.com
As she sits in the grass with her guitar in her lap, Lisa Donnellly, a 2002 graduate, sings the chorus of one of her most popular songs, called "Laugh," which is featured in a Tang commercial in Brazil. The song encompasses Donnellly's outlook on life: the belief that laughter can get her through anything.
After graduating from the University with a degree in psychology, Donnellly moved to Los Angeles to follow her dreams of becoming a singer — not for the fame, she said, but for the passion that she had to make intelligent music. After a few gigs in bands, she put out a solo album last year. She's also in a band called Foxxglove with former KU student Bevin Hamilton, who is an actress and singer in Los Angeles.
Both Hamilton and Donnelly are big fans of Lawrence, as they both started their musical careers while at the University. Hamilton got her start in music playing in a local band at the Bottleneck and other bars around town.
Hamilton and Donnelly collaborate musically in Los Angeles and just returned from performing in Austin, Texas, at the South by Southwest music festival.
"I think Lisa's voice is absolutely amazing." Hamilton said.
Donnelly got her start in music when she began singing for a blues band that frequented the bar Brownbear, which no longer exists, where she worked in Lawrence during college. Donnelly sang with them for a year.
A few months later, she went to Spain to study abroad for the spring and summer semesters.
"I had so many musical experiences in Spain," she said. "I really decided when I was there that I would try to start writing songs."
When she returned to Lawrence, Donnelly formed a band with other students. She wrote her first song, called "Peace of Mind," and performed it in her psychology lecture, a class taught by Stephen Illardi, associate professor of psychology.
Donnelly said Ilardi was very supportive of her music. He told her if music was her dream, to do
that first, before doing anything she was "supposed to do" after college
Taking his advice, she packed up her car and made the move to the west coast where she would have a better opportunity to network and take her singing career.
In 2009, she released her debut solo album, called "We had a Thing," with the help of investors.
Donnelly said the songs on the album are mainly about life, and her own experiences falling down and getting back up in her 20s.
"You have to have a natural strength to follow your dreams," she said.
Donnelly said she often had little moments of feeling successful. She once received an e-mail from a fan who was battling cancer and told her that her music helped her get through it.
Donnelly came home last week,
topping her visit off with a performance at the Jazzhaus Thursday.
"What I like most about her is that she has stayed true to roots. She is very much her own artist," Hamilton said. "Her record is totally a reflection of her heart, travels and soul."
- Edited by Drew Anderson
To view a video of Lisa Donnelly, visit kansan.com/videos.
ODD NEWS
A fishy situation in a McDonald's eatery
SOUTH BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Police said an impatient customer slapped a drive-thru worker at a New Jersey McDonald's because
and walked out of the restaurant with the sandwich.
he was tired of waiting for his Filet-O-Fish sandwich. Surveillance video shows the man climbing out the back window of a vehicle and into the pickup window. Police said the man told an employee he would be waiting for him, slapped him in the face
PHILADELPHIA — The lottery paid out a total of $7.77 million
Seven is the lucky number in lottery
after the number 7-7-7-7 came up in the Big 4 drawing Wednesday. More than 3,100 tickets had the winning numbers. They won either $2,500 or $5,000, depending on whether the buyer wagered 50 cents or $1.
Associated Press
Lady wants hair done after crash
ODD NEWS
PLAINEFIELD TOWNSHIP Mich
PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP Mich.
— An 82-year-old woman who accidentally crashed her car through the front window of a southwest Michigan salon stuck around afterward for an appointment to get her hair done.
Authorities said Marion Zock
was parking her Ford Fusion on Thursday outside Classic Hair Design in Kent County's Plainfield Township, near Grand Rapids, when she stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake.
Two people were injured, including an employee who returned to work after treatment and a girl with a bruised arm.
Associated Press
NATIONAL
Earthquake rocks west coast cities
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — A strong earthquake south of the U.S.- Mexico border Sunday shook high-rises in downtown Los Angeles and San Diego and was felt across Southern California and Arizona, but there were no immediate reports of major damage.
The 6.9 magnitude quake struck at 3:40 p.m. in Baja California, Mexico, about 19 miles southeast of Mexicali, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The area was hit by magnitude 3.0 quakes all week.
reported in Los Angeles or San Diego.
"I thought to myself, that can't be an earthquake, I'm in Arizona," the Northern California native said. "And I thought, oh my God
In the Phoenix area, lacqueling Land said her king-sized bed irf her second-floor apartment felt like a boat gently swaying on the ocean.
The quake was
"I thought to myself, that can't be an earthquake, I'm in Arizona."
The quake was felt as far north as Santa Barbara, USGS seismologist Susan Potter said.
JACQUELINE LAND Phoenix resident
In Los Angeles, the city fire department went on earthquake status and some stalled elevators were reported. No damage was
Strong shaking was reported in the Coachella Valley and Riverside, Calif. The earthquake rattled buildings on the west side of Los Angeles and in the San Fernando Valley, interrupting Easter dinners. Chandeliers swayed and wine jiggled in glasses.
I feel like I'm 9 years old."
years old."
A police dispatcher in Yuma, Ariz. said the quake was very strong there, but no damage was reported. The Yuma County Sheriff's Office had gotten a few calls, mostly from alarm company
because of alarms going off.
Mike Wong, who works at a journalism school in downtown Phoenix, said he was in his second-floor office getting some work done Sunday afternoon when he heard sounds and felt the building start to sway.
"I heard some cracking sounds, like Rice Krispies," he said. "I didn't think much of it, but I kept hearing it, and then I started feeling a shake. I thought, 'You know what? I think that might be an earthquake.'"
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