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Stamford singer/songwriter prepares for busy summer
By Christina Hennessy
Staff Writer

She may be young,  but Lisa Occhino, a Stamford singer and songwriter,  has been working years for just such a moment — a summer filled with music,  the promise of future opportunities and a chance to help others.

“I am not surprised where I am. I’m just surprised it’s so soon, ” said Occhino, 18,  during an interview at her home,  where she is living while on break from music business and management studies at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. “It’s just happening in such a concentrated amount of time.”

For as long as she can remember,  Occhino, a 2010 graduate of Stamford’s Westhill High School,  has wanted a career in music. “I have always loved music, ” she said. “I couldn’t do anything else.”

Early on,  there were signs,  from the way she gravitated toward instruments,  to the fact that her family tree yielded several musicians. Her older sister Christine,  a singer,  graduated from Berklee in May.

As a young girl,  Lisa Occhino began teaching herself piano,  amid lessons from several different teachers. Such diversity led Occhino to incorporate many genres into her work,  such as Latin,  pop,  rock,  jazz and blues.

It is the latter two that will be on display when Occhino performs Tuesday,  July 12,  at the Stamford Town Center’s “Bluesday Tuesday” free summer concert series,  which continues through Aug. 9. As she did when she performed in 2009,  Occhino will bring her quartet to present original works and other standards.

“We are excited to bring her back, ” said Jim Zielinski,  the center’s director of marketing. “The last time she was here,  everybody loved her.”

The performance comes at a time when Occhino’s hard work of the past six years is paying off. Two of her songs have found their way onto major compilations and she has attracted attention from industry peers for her first album,  ”Discovery, ” which was released last year.

In late May,  she returned for a performance at New York City’s Bitter End nightclub,  a venue that has featured Billy Joel,  Tori Amos and other well-known singers and songwriters.

Occhino also will be at the Ridgefield Music and Arts Center’s Friday After Five series on Friday,  Aug. 19.

All that,  and she is preparing for her sophomore year at Berklee,  while interning for the New York City booking agency John Ragusa Music.

The balancing act is a difficult one,  but she said she learned early that setting goals and working toward them breeds success. She credited her parents,  Ronald and Barbara Occhino, who run Stamford-based Vertex Marketing Communications (a business they started years ago),  with giving her an entrepreneurial spirit.

She said she hopes one day to run a business that is focused on music,  even as she continues her singing and songwriting career.

“I have been soaking in as much as I can, ” she said,  adding that fellow students have provided an invaluable education,  too. “There are so many talented musicians at the school.”

This summer,  Occhino has been promoting a project that brought her together with many of those musicians. She was one of more than 40 artists who contributed to “Love Conquers All: Music For Japan.” Proceeds from the album’s sales will support Westport-based Save the Children’s tsunami and earthquake relief efforts in Japan.

“It was exciting to have Lisa involved,  since she too was from Connecticut, ” Julian Weisser,  21,  wrote in an e-mail.

The Guilford resident and fellow Berklee student thought of the idea in March,  after watching the devastation on television.

“It was a light bulb moment when I realized we at Berklee have so much music and we can use it to help people,  as well as entertain, ” Weisser added. “I immediately came up with the name ‘Music For Japan’ and started contacting Berklee bands and songwriters.”

“I thought her song had a theme that really fit what this compilation was about, ” he said of Occhino’s “The Pain Behind Your Eyes, ” adding that the project has raised more than $1,000. “I had no expectations,  but I knew every dollar was important.”

At summer’s end,  Occhino’s song “I Do It Better, ” will be released in the United Kingdom as part of “Great Tracks from Independent Acts,  Pop-Rock Vol. 1, ” produced by Flicknife Records and distributed by EMI Music.

“I submitted (that song) not expecting anything, ” she said. When she discovered she had made the cut,  she couldn’t believe it. “It was amazing.”

By the time “Great Tracks” is released overseas,  Occhino will be back at school,  finding time for her songwriting and schoolwork. As to next steps,  she has some ideas,  but she isn’t yet ready to launch anything.

Still,  an entrepreneurial spirit is hard to shake.

“I don’t know the direction I am headed, ” she said,  ”but as soon as I see an opportunity,  I’ll take it.”

The Stamford Town Center is located at 100 Greyrock Place,  Stamford. The free “Bluesday Tuesday” concert series runs every Tuesday through Aug. 9,  from 6 to 9 p.m.,  at the outdoor plaza next to Barnes and Noble. Lisa Occhino Quartet will perform July 12. A full schedule of performers can be found at www.shopstamfordtowncenter.com/bluesday. Call 203-324-0935

Staff writer Christina Hennessy can be reached at christina.hennessy@scni.com or 203-964-2241.