You can take the girl out of Surrey, as they say…
Canadian country singer Lisa Brokop may call Nashville home – that's, after all, where she lives with her husband, singer/producer Paul Jefferson and their daughter Ivy, now seven.
But her parents and a "big extended family" still live in Surrey – where she was born and raised and where she made her first breakthroughs in the entertainment business in the early `90s, culminating in a co-starring role in the film Harmony Cats at age 19 shortly after signing a U.S. record deal.
And she visits back two or three times a year – and always tries to include nearby shows in her itinerary whenever she tours Canada.
Longtime local fans – and new listeners – can catch the Princess Margaret grad in at White Rock's Blue Frog Studios, Friday, July 22 at 7 p.m.
It's the first time for Brokop at the venue, but she says she's looking forward to playing the up-close and intimate room and working with sisters Carly and Britt McKillip (One More Girl) as her backup band.
"Carly plays piano and there'll be all kinds of three-part harmony going on," she said on the line from Nashville.
"It'll be a combination of everything I've done; some of the early stuff – I can't play anywhere without someone yelling out 'Take That' – and some of my newer songs. It's a full-circle thing for me now, singing songs from each chapter of my life. "
There'll also be some numbers from her current touring show The Patsy Cline Project, in which she revisits the traditional country songs that first inspired her – and the genuineness of a legendary pioneer.
"When you're in my business, you're always looking for ways to reinvent yourself," Brokop said. "(The material) is so me – it fits my style of singing and I just love it."
It's not a tribute act, per se, she noted.
"I do let people know that I'm not trying to be her – I always tell them I'm doing my interpretation, but you almost can't help but do some of the little things she did with her voice."
The project has also enabled her to write some Cline-style original songs – over the years songwriting has emerged as one of the pillars of her career.
"I would never have thought my songs would be performed by people like Terri Clark and Reba McIntyre," she said.
Performing life has it's ebbs and flows, she said.
"it's not always about the fame – it's about doing what you love. But I've been doing this for 25 years and I'm still doing it – and I never had to go get a job at Starbucks."
For tickets and information visit www.bluefrogstudios.ca