Feminist Friday : A Weekly Round Up for July 8, 2016

St. Vincent covered The Golden Girls theme. Sure, I will take this ethereal distraction from my otherwise mostly depressing social media feed.

Is it that there are fewer women in music than men currently or do we blame the people of power in the industry for excluding us from venues, publications, festivals, offices, and label rosters? Meaning we are here, get used to it, and hire us damn it. The Guardian has some answers. Harvard Business Review also offers some related insight to confidence of women in the workplace. Apparently unless we also radiate competence and warmth, we will continue to be looked over. Damned if we do, damned if we don't.

Pittsburgh has a three day music festival that celebrates women in music called Ladyfest that kicks off today.

Music fan's interest in the long player continue to wane as singles and EPs cycle back to meet our ever diminishing attention span. I don't care about trends. As a musician who loves the creative process of creating a whole album; building a story that has a beginning, middle, and end, I will ignore this data and carry on as I please.

Did you know Jean Smith from Mecca Normal is also a stunning painter? I am obsessed with her very affordable portraits.

Indie record store owners are reminded that the major labels really don't give a crap about them. This week WEA will stop selling music to accounts who purchase less than 10k a year from them. Perhaps someone can tell me, does this mean ADA who is a part of that umbrella also cutting off these smaller record stores? For those of you who aren't familiar, ADA is a music distro that is one stop shopping tha represent some of the biggest and best indie music labels in the business and the very stores who have helped to make those record labels household names will no longer be able to purchase their catalog. Yikes. The music industry desperately needs more DIY distributors. Record stores need product to sell and it is impossible to go direct with every label or band they like. They rely on distributors to help keep their stores stocked.

The transgender community deserves a better voice says Genesis P-Orridge and Laura Jane Grace. I couldn't agree more.

Backyard Report! * Once upon a time Richmond, VA had a legendary large brick building called Garbers filled with band practice spaces spread over many floors. Our local creative community suffered a serious blow recently when it was announced the building was sold and was going to become condos. All bands renting a space there have been asked to vacate the premises. Our city lacks affordable practice spaces so more than 30 (I bet closer to 50 band) have lost their rehearsal spaces this month and now there is a small army of talent now looking for new places to call home. Local musician and filmmaker Allison Apperson (of the band Hot Lava) is working on a short documentary on this important piece of Richmond's music history. My band Positive No called this space home for the first three years of our existence and nearly all of the music we have released to date was written and worked out in a room there. * I can't get enough of GIRLS ROCK! RVA.

Nylon has selected 5 female fronted bands they think you should know about.

Enjoy visiting this LEGO record store created by the legendary artist Coop.

My favorite on the planet Sheila B is taking her act on the road. Europe, you have no idea how lucky you are.

LA Weekly has published a story on women smashing misogyny in the music industry. Behind the scenes there is a growing network of us coming banding together in person and on social media in private groups to help bring about change and support each other when sexism strikes which as you can imagine is a daily event. No more secret keeping. We are naming names and calling situations out in an effort to protect each other from those who abuse or oppress us.

Erykah Badu is donating concert funds to Detroit's rape kit process.

There is a Classical music tribute entitled Sing Her Name that commemorates women black women impacted by racial justice. #BLACKLIVESMATTER

I could look at Rock and Roll fashion portraits from the past all day long. Punks! Goths! Disco Queens!

Want to feel insecure about who you were as a 17 year old? Lindsey Jordan from Snail Mail is the kind of talented young musician that is decades ahead of her peers and she has only just begun. And I thought I was accomplished as a teen for learning how to drive stick shift.

Why can't electronic music festivals give us some love? Owning just  3% of a talent roster is not acceptable.

Flashback Thursday : Mecca Normal

There is something so impressive about a powerful two piece band, especially when it doesn't follow the traditional rules of what we think a band equals. In this case we have a remarkable guitar player named David Lester and vocalist Jean Smith. Together they make Mecca Normal, a band who have managed to prove that no other instrument is needed. The communication between fretted instrument and voice is more than enough.  This Vancouver duo has been producing music from 1984 that evokes thought and expels energy. In this stripped down form the power of each instrument, guitar and voice, are poignant. Lyrics are highlighted by the nature of this beast and are delivered through dramatic flashes. Captured in raw form, this kind of intensity isn't for everyone but being pushed to just outside my comfort zone on occasion gives music the kind of exciting dangerous element that rock and roll was invented for. Life is a balance of ugly chaos and moments of beauty, Mecca Normal manages to deliver both and if Patti Smith had a secret sister, I think Jean Smith might be her.