Lisa Kekaula (born July 31, 1967) is the lead singer of American "rock 'n' soul" band The Bellrays. Born in Los Angeles, California, although the family continued to grow and relocated to suburban Moreno Valley, California. While there, Kekaula began to immerse herself in singing and had her first appearance in a talent show at Edgemont Elementary School.
The Bellrays is an American rock group that combines garage rock and punk with soul music, founded in Riverside, California in 1990 by vocalist Lisa Kekaula and guitarist Bob Vennum. Kekaula and Vennum founded the BellRays on the dissolution of previous group The Rosethorns, a group formed by Vennum in 1986, which Kekaula joined in 1988; the band released an album Ralph's Mom & Dad in 1990; songs from the album were later rerecorded by the Bellrays.
The BellRays released their first album In the Light of the Sun on cassette in 1993, featuring drummer Ray Chin and keyboardist Jim Kerwin. Tony Bramel (aka Tony Fate) produced and played bass on the recording and joined the band permanently as guitarist in 1996, with Vennum switching to bass. The following albums Let It Blast and Grand Fury were recorded live in the band's rehearsal space.
Fourth album The Red, White & Black (2003) was released on the Poptones label in the UK and Alternative Tentacles in the US. Craig Waters replaced Chin as drummer for the band's next two records Have a Little Faith and Hard, Sweet and Sticky, the latter featuring Billy Mohler on production and bass guitar, Bob Vennum having switched back to lead guitar with the departure of Tony Fate. The BellRays' seventh album proper Black Lightning was released in 2010 and their most recent album Punk Funk Rock Soul Volume Two in 2018.
From 2003 to 2007, Kekaula joined a cast of vocalists guesting at live performances by the surviving members of the MC5. She has featured on two singles by British house music band Basement Jaxx, most famously "Good Luck", the tracks "Realizer" and "High and Low" from the 2004 album Legion of Boom by The Crystal Method, and "Talkin' in My Sleep" from The Bloody Beetroots' first studio album, Romborama. She has also been featured on The Legendary Tigerman album, Femina. In 2014, Kekaula contributed vocals to two tracks for the Re-Licked album of Iggy and the Stooges songs re-recorded by former Stooges guitarist James Williamson. The songs were also released as a 7" single. In 2016, Kekaula and Williamson collaborated again, releasing a single in aid of a Hawaiian homeless charity.
