THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, May 30, 1995 TAG: 9505270068
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
SHE WAS A star in Canada. Now she is working her way up in the United States.
In 1994, Lisa Brokop was voted Female Vocalist of the Year, her ``Country Girl'' record was chosen Single of the Year, and she received the International Achievement Award.
The recognition came from the British Columbia Country Music Association.
Surrey, B.C., is her hometown. That's where Brokop, the toddler, began working onstage.
On Wednesday she will be onstage at The Bait Shack. Worm your way into that Waterside nightclub to hear such radio-familiar pieces as ``Give Me a Ring Sometime'' and ``Take That.''
Brokop took the trip from Canada to Nashville three months ago, found a house and a recording studio and settled in.
``I like it. I'm getting used to it,'' she said during a phone interview from her home, 20 minutes from downtown.
She has seldom been away from the country music scene.
``I started when I was 4 years old, then worked with the family band when I was 7,'' Brokop said. ``That got the ball rolling.''
Brokop, voted Gospel Performer of the Year by the British Columbia Country Music Association a year before high school graduation, likes to mix up-tempo tunes with ballads. ``But I'm partial to ballads,'' she said. ``I can put so much more feeling in a ballad.''
However, her next release, out next month, is an up-tempo number asking ``Who Needs You?''
Performers need to work harder than ever these days with the competition being so heavy.
``It's different now than 10 years ago. You can't just get up and sing,'' Brokop said. ``You have to put on a show - and that makes it much better for the fans.''
Some of her fans saw her on the silver screen in a ``where-did-it-play?'' 1993 flick, ``Harmony Cats,'' about a country music band that hires a violinist from the Vancouver Symphony.
It received rather limited release. ``About six cities,'' Brokop said. ``You should be able to rent it. I had the lead female role. I was pretty much like me.''
She enjoyed the experience and would like to do more acting later.
``I have plenty to do right now - a jampacked schedule,'' Brokop said. ``A new album is coming out in the fall.'' MEMO: CONCERT FACTS
Who: Lisa Brokop
Where: The Bait Shack at Waterside Live!, Norfolk.
When: Doors open at 7 p.m. Brokop starts at 9.
Cost: $7 in advance from Ticketmaster, $9 at the door.
Call: 625-LIVE. by CNB