From:

Lisa Housman and Dave Falk

Begin Singer/Songwriter Series

by Susie Davidson

Advocate Correspondent

CAMBRIDGE - Subway musicians Lisa Housman and Dave Falk have ascended to an above-ground venue to launch a singer/songwriter series at Cambridge's All Asia restaurant, which will run on Thursdays from 7-10 p.m. in February, and continue on the first and third Thursdays in March and April (3/6, 3/20, 4/3), from 7-9 p.m. at the 332 Mass. Ave., Central Square venue. (There will be no April 17 show, as it's [already!] the first night of Passover; the series is likely to subsequently continue.)

"I've has been writing songs since the age of four, when my favorite green

elephant got left behind at a movie theater," said Housman, who called the

resultant tune a kind of protest song. She went on to study biology and

environmental science at Oberlin College. "I was soon writing long odes to

petri dishes, and technical songs about bacterial jealousy," she noted.

Shortly after moving to Boston in 1999, she won first place in the Great American Song Contest for her song The Bakery, third place for McDonald's, and an honorable mention for Conceptions of Beauty, and was a finalist in the Sierra Songwriting Competition, the Wildflower Arts Festival, and the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest. Produced by Seth Connolly, her debut album, Hungry For Company, is imminent.

Raised as a reform Jew, Housman was greatly influenced by services, led by

Rabbis Iris and Bernie Jacobs, at Temple Hayom in Sharon. "They incorporated

not only prayers and biblical exerpts, but also contemporary poetry and music

by the the likes of Debbie Friedman, Cat Stevens and Pete Seeger," she

recalled. At Grossman Camp in Dover, where Jewish and social action songs were

big, she developed an interest in folk music.

Summa cum laude Cornell grad Falk, whose family are longtime members of Temple Shalom in Newton, received his first instrument, an Alvarez guitar, at his bar mitzvah. At Kutz Camp in upstate New York, which was an entertainment training ground for former counselor Adam Sandler, Falk said he "learned to play everything from Jewish folk songs to Pink Floyd."

Noted local musicians David Goodrich, Peter Mulvey and Rose Polenzani

contributed to Falk's debut album Love Breaks All the Rules, which features

their ambient guitar and electric mandolin. Bassist Wesley Wirth, saxophonist

and flutist Jon Natchez and drummer Jason Gardner also collaborate on the disc,

which, according to Falk, "explores the uncharted regions of a broken heart."

While playing in San Francisco, he met Chelsea Clinton, for whom he penned Million Dollar Smile. Last year, he co-hosted an open mike, with Housman and Janet Connerney, at the Out of the Blue Gallery in Cambridge. He recently showcased in the South Regional Conference at the University of North Carolina, and has made appearances on WMFO, WBRS and RADIOBOSTON.com. His song Peace O' Mind appears in Dave Gordon's film Director Bugs, which was selected to screen at the Woods Hole Film Festival.

The two met at an open mike at the Natick Center for the Arts when he commented on Housman's song about a friend, Shira, who ironically turned out to be the daughter of Kutz Camp rabbi Larry Hoffman and an old friend of Falk's as well.

On Feb. 20, Irish-American singer Laurel Brauns, whose song Lifejacket was just nominated for an award in the Celtic category of the Just Plain Folks Music Awards (www.jpfolks.org), will join Emerson College station WERS' favorite Katie Barbato and her band.

The Feb. 27 show will feature Lisa Bastoni, (www.lisabastoni.com) who also began in the Boston subways and was a hit at this year's Falcon Ridge and Northeast Folk Alliance festivals, and Ryan Montbleau (www.ryanmontbleau.com), who along with Bastoni is on WERS' regular rotation. Susan Levine (www.susanjlevine.com), on UMass's WUMB station's playlist, will also join Housman and Falk in an "in the round" song swap.

Housman and Falk will also appear at Café Espresso in Bellingham on Feb. 21 at 8 p.m., and Brewed Awakenings in Hingham on Feb. 28 at 7 p.m.

To hear samples of Housman's and Falk's music, please visit and tune in at