Confident, Engaging Germano Wrestles With Her Demons

Singer-songwriter Lisa Germano has written enough depressing songs to last a lifetime. Over the course of four albums, her brutally honest sketches have tapped into such painful experiences as alcoholism, abusive relationships and being pursued by a stalker.

The trick is to present these demons as worthwhile art, and at the Coach House on Wednesday an engaging, confident Germano did just that. The Indiana native connected with a small but appreciative audience by coloring her heart-wrenching tales with a variety of musical shades and tempos.

With Germano alternating between guitar, mandolin and keyboards and bassist Glenn Hicks coaxing unusual sounds from his assortment of pedals, the atmospheric musical textures effectively shifted from slower, hauntingly stark arrangements to mid-tempo, quirkier, multilayered ones.

Germano’s fragile yet emotionally gripping vocal delivery also played a key role in bringing her material to life. Whereas many of today’s young female rockers scream out in rage, Germano instead conveys her troubled feelings in little more than a breathy whisper. Her tremulous voice was frequently transformed into a hypnotically powerful instrument.

While portions of the concert did wrestle with issues of self-doubt and loneliness, several uplifting songs broke through the gray skies, including the hopeful “Singing to the Birds” and “Cowboy.”