Overview
Lisa Kimmey-Winans
Lisa Kimmey-Winans is one of the most popular personalities in Christian music. The beautiful singer, songwriter, producer and actress is best known as one third of the Christian pop trio Out of Eden. She now steps into the role of Grammy winner Donald Lawrence’s co-host for the Verizon Wireless How Sweet The Sound™, The Search for the Best Church Choir in America. “I hope to bring a different energy to the show,” she says of the eleven-city tour. “I want to add some youthfulness and put my personality in the mix. Some of my favorite artists will be on the tour and I love choirs, so it won’t really be like a job for me!”
Born in Oberlin, Ohio, Lisa grew up in Richmond, VA before a 1990 relocation to Nashville. “We were home-schooled,” she says of herself and her two sisters Andrea and Danielle. “We were bored so we started singing together for fun. Then, we started doing singing competitions and winning.” Aside from opening for their mother, who is a concert pianist, the girls also danced on programs for Christian acts such as Angelo & Veronica and rapper Michael Peace.
It was a gig opening for Peace where Toby Mac from the platinum-selling group D.C. Talk noticed the Kimmey sisters’ talent and eventually signed them to his Gotee recording label in 1993. The girls picked the name Out of Eden out of a hat full of suggestions and felt like it would be a good name for themselves. A funky, rock-edged version of Bill Withers’ “Lovely Day” was Out of Eden’s first hit and reached #18 on the Christian Hit Radio chart, and became Gospel Music’s first independently sold single.
Lisa was writing songs since the group’s first CD and eventually became an arranger and producer for the group that has sold almost 2 million units over the course of seven albums. “I listened to mainly Gospel music. The Winans, Commissioned, Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant, but I also loved listening to Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston,” she recalls. Out of Eden’s sound was rhythmic with elements of R&B and soft rock that won them a huge mainstream Christian audience. They turned out a string of Top10 hits such as “Window” and “Meditate.” They appeared as themselves on the Brandy sitcom “Moesha” and their hit “Greater Love” was featured in the film Dr. Doolittle. They’ve also won Dove Awards and were nominated for both Stellar and Grammy Awards.
However, Lisa says the highlights were ministry opportunities. “We got to minister at Billy Graham crusades and to meet him,” she says. “We traveled in South Africa with Franklin Graham and Ralph Bell. That’s where my grandmother and her side of the family are from so that was extremely special. Every time we got to perform it was a gift.” The trio also recorded with Michael W. Smith, Bishop T.D. Jakes, the Katinas, Point of Grace, DJ Maj, and Wayman Tisdale. The group called it quits in 2006.
