“We are not physical beings having a spiritual experience;
we are spiritual beings having a physical experience.” ~ Edgar Cayce

Singer-songwriter, Lisa Jane Lipkin, doesn’t just think this a nice idea; she keeps it as a daily mantra, helping her stay attuned to a sense of something sacred. It is therefore no surprise that Lipkin’s music would express something of the sacred itself. With her new CD, A PRAYER FOR PEACE, Lipkin shares original songs, prayers & chants inspired by the mystical teachings of Judaism and which are palpable in their sense of devotion to a Sacred Source.

Lipkin believes that each of us carries a seed of the divine, but it is we who must water it to awaken to our life’s greater purpose. In Lipkin’s words, “It is the heart that senses holiness and music is a key to opening the heart.” She adds, “It can’t be a coincidence that every religion uses music to spark and elevate the soul.”

Noting that much has been written about music and the soul, Lipkin quotes author Kurt Leland who speaks of music creating “mystical peak experiences that can result in ecstatic insights into one’s own life, the universe, and God.”  It is this ecstatic state of awakened consciousness that Lipkin hopes to help along with A PRAYER FOR PEACE.  She feels it is part of her work toward Tikun Olam (hebrew for “repair of the world”). “Afterall”, she says, “people in enlightened states of consciousness don’t start wars, abroad or at home.”

Jewish by birth and culture but shy of religious training, Lipkin traversed many of the world’s spiritual teachings in an effort to satisfy her deep spiritual longings.  Like any good quest, her journey was full of soul-searching and personal growth, leading her to study meditation and later become skilled at hands-on healing.

It was only by joining a spiritually oriented synagogue to provide her children with a formal Jewish education, that she discovered the mystical teachings of Judaism and discovered “it is all here!”  Lipkin found Jewish language to go with many of the mystical experiences she had on her own and encountered parallels to all the other great teachings about the awakened consciousness. The Jewish mystics even have a name for the spiritual longing that sent her journeying in the first place, “hitlahavut”, meaning burning in fervor for God.

Always moved to write from personal experience, Lipkin began composing melodies, chants and songs inspired by services or study. The welcoming attitude of her synagogue community and the groundwork laid by contemporary Jewish composers such as Debbie Friedman and Shefa Gold encouraged her to record and release “A PRAYER FOR PEACE.”

Back in the secular, Lipkin has been honing her singing and songwriting skills since age 17 and has travelled such musical terrain as classical, jazz, top 40, folk, girl-groups & reggae. While earning a BA in music at Rutgers University, she studied with jazz great, Kenny Baron.  Jazz-inspired, she began studying voice and learned "tons” of standards, singing them at open mics in New York’s Greenwich Village. Later, she performed in and was musical director of 60’s girl-group revue, The Heartbeats.  In addition, she worked in the record business, covering a 10-year path through production, artist management, and ultimately, jazz radio promotion at BMG. All throughout, Lipkin wrote songs and recorded them as demos.  Finally, in 2004 she started recording her songs “for real” culminating in the release of her debut CD RAISE THE HONEY.

Since then, Lipkin has been a featured performer at such prestigious venues as the NYC Mamapalooza, the Towne Crier, and the Tupelo Music Hall.  She has opened for Dar Williams, Shemekia Copeland, Garnet Rogers, and Brad Delp’s Beatlejuice.  Her compositions have earned spots on a Basina Records’ CD for Gilda’s Club, one from Indie Music for Life, and the latest release by Aksara. She has recorded, arranged, and produced for other artists including Sandi Kimmel, Christine Pepe, Neal Gomberg, Women Spirit Song and With Spirit Sing! (a female accapella quartet in which she is the founding member and musical director). In collaboration with her local elementary school Lipkin co-wrote and produced a winning song for NY State contest for Environmental Awareness.

Bringing together her desire to “do good in the world” and her love of music, Lipkin feels she has come full circle with A PRAYER FOR PEACE.  As for the healing of our planet…Lipkin’s heart-opening, soul-stirring music on A PRAYER FOR PEACE is sure to lend a helping hand.