Welcome to episode #47. Today’s show features an incredibly determined and inspiring artist. I welcome Lisa Sigurgeirson Maxx. She is a singer/songwriter, storyteller, writer, educator, public speaker, mama and amma (Icelandic for grandmother) and an all around lover of life. 
Lisa was born to a Scottish mother and a father of Icelandic decent in Steveston BC, on the lush and lovely Canadian south-west coast. Lisa grew up in a musical family and within a highly expressive, creative community.  Lisa penned her first song at age 9 and taught herself to play guitar as a young teenager.
Living then on Salt Spring Island, with all the quirks and wonders of life in a small, rural community, experiencing many changes  and "growth opportunities" along the way, combined with a deep, intrinsic love and affinity for her cultural heritage, Lisa was instilled with an unstoppable desire to share the stories of life, as seen through her own personal lens, through words and song. Lisa's debut album Still Hold True features 11 original songs and has received high praise from many inspired listeners.                       To add to the challenges of Lisa's early years, at age 33 she was diagnosed with severe and life-altering Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia, which left her bed-ridden for many years. The unstoppable tenacity of her young life continued. Lisa has used this immensely challenging, and at times almost completely debilitating disease, as a platform to inspire, encourage and bring awareness, light and laughter to others.
In the early years of learning to live within the confines of dis-Ability, Lisa began writing a book entitled, letters to sally, (out soon - with a companion CD in the works!) Lisa is a life-loving, positive demonstration of how one cannot only grow but can also shine in the face of adversity. This project has now become the platform for a one-woman show of the same name.
In August 2016 Lisa (with her then duo Lisa Maxx and the Still Creek Crows) was flown to Iceland for her first international music tour, where she performed much of the music that pertains directly to her Icelandic heritage in the homeland of her paternal forebears. Lisa is currently working on creating a second, multi-discipline, one-woman show - with photographs, story & song - about Iceland, her Icelandic heritage and a bit of little-known Canadian-Icelandic history thrown in for good measure.
Talk about an overcomer. You will be inspired. So, take listen to my chat with Lisa.