Lisa Matassa Working to Put ‘Long Island Country’ on the Map

Lisa Matassa says it's alright to call her a country newcomer, even though she's been entertaining for over 20 years. The singer began her career with two dance hits before turning to the music she grew up loving. Her new EP, 'Somebody's Baby,' is a mix of all her influences -- a style she's coined as "Long Island country."

Matassa tells Taste of Country that her style is a special blend of rock and modern country music. She spent the first part of her childhood on Long Island and returned as a teenager after a decade in Florida. "There was all open fields and farmland and horse farms and there weren't big shopping malls and stuff like that that you have now," she says of those in-between years, a time that she truly fell in love with southern rock, country music and the country lifestyle.

After some significant vocal training, Matassa was offered a recording contract, and she charted two international hits in the late '80s, 'I've Got the Hots for You' and 'Rock Me Baby.' She went by Lysa Lynn and shared the stage with stars like Brenda K. Starr and Taylor Dane. But, she says, "It wasn't the music I wanted to sing. It wasn't in my heart and I knew that the timing for country music in New York wasn't right."

Flash-forward 20 years and Matassa now has two teenage kids and a supportive husband. She's continued to play in and around Long Island as she raised her family. Within the last two years, her music has begun to catch on nationally again. The video for 'Somebody's Baby' has just passed four million views on YouTube.

"Every song as a songwriter that you write has a meaning to you, and as an artist I wanna make sure that the songs that I sing are believable because I've either experienced them or witnessed them firsthand," she says in the same interview. "Like you'll never hear me sing a song about hunting or something like that, because I'm not a hunter. But I can tell you what it's like to have heartbreak. I can tell you what it's like to raise kids in this world right now."

Her touring schedule is quickly filling up, including a June 15 date at the inaugural Taste of Country Music Festival in New York. One won't find her playing her dance hits, however -- Matassa says she hasn't sung either since 1992. She laughs, adding, "I'd have to get to the two (shirtless) guys who used to dance next me."