FROM winning the Star Guyana Show many moons ago, to becoming a celebrated Guyanese artiste under the DP Records label, Lisa Mary Johanna Punch is no stranger to the Guyanese music scene.

Lisa Punch has a new song set for release soon, and eventually she will release an entire album featuring 12 songs to be released incrementally under the DP Records Label. That album will be available at over 40 Online music stores, including amazon.com, Itunes, CD Baby and Rhapsody, to name a few.

But if she has her way, Lisa Mary Johanna Punch will soon prove that dreams do come true at any level. In fact, Lisa, who obtained her grounding as Host of the Caribbean Music Box Talk Show and Hard Vibes under the wings of Mondale Smith on BTVCh2, then branched into radio on NCN and Hits and Jams.

She migrated to the USA in December 2013, with her eyes set on the prize of being the first Guyanese to win The Voice.

After years at the local level, she wooed the audience at the Barbados Music Awards and obtained rave reviews in that nation’s main publications; and now she is spreading her wings all the way to the Apollo Theatre. She graduated from the American Bartenders’ School two weeks ago, and is now a qualified and certified bartender.

That apart, Lisa is presently taking GED classes to further her qualifications. But that’s just a side-track to what her goals are. “I’m aiming to complete my GED to get into the Manhattan College to major in Communications and minor in Music.”

Recently, she auditioned for amateur night at the Apollo, singing the late Etta James’s “Rather go blind”, and made it to the next round. The judges only listened to 300 persons on the day Lisa auditioned, and she was number 83 listed to audition.

“When I started, they started cheering like they loved me right away,” Lisa confided to this publication.

There is another project that is even bigger than Amateur Night at the Apollo, and Lisa is working towards packing that vocal Guyanese punch in there as well, but she is not permitted to speak about it just yet, as she says: “I have to be absolutely discreet about this, but I’ll let you know before the end of the month.”

Getting back to her Apollo first experience, she admitted that despite all the experience she has had, she was nervous because she was not on home soil, and had no idea how an American audience would feel about her singing, but she got herself together because she channelled the Guyanese Love in that whole new environment, and she proved herself a worthy contender.

Though Lisa is an experienced singer/songwriter and one-time television/radio personality who is committed to the arts, she admitted thus: “After singing, I was still nervous; and they told me I got through, and I felt a sense of relief.”
Punch, popular for hits such as ‘One last Cry’, ‘Secret admirer,’ and ‘Momma’, has several recordings and videos to her name, and aspires to one day be an international artiste as well as a media mogul.

Mostly easygoing with an outgoing side, Lisa also likes her quiet time. However, she says, “This should not be misconstrued to mean that I’m a walkover; yet I have great interest in listening to people and helping others; so I guess some may say I can be self-centred at times, which is not a bad quality when you think of ‘loving your neighbour as you would yourself’.”

Most at ease when singing, Lisa becomes playful whenever she is in the company of her little brother.
Coming from a Third World country to the USA, Lisa says, “It’s but a dream for many, but for me I see myself as being able to rise above the opportunity given to truly live and achieve the American Dream yet remain a proud Guyanese.”