Feminist Fridays: A Weekly Round-Up

Emily Flake entered my world through music. We slung records together at the independent music distributor Caroline what feels like a lifetime ago. She had always been a gifted cartoonist and illustrator, not to mention owning the quick wit of a comedy God, but she ditched the world of music sales to make art full time. The good news is her career choice has a really happy ending. Well not ending as Emily is still very much going as a member of the prestigious member of the New Yorker Magazine staff as a cartoonist. She is also in a current documentary entitled Very Semi Serious about "the humor, art, and the genius of the New Yorker cartoon. Her art is also featured in a ton of other publications including the New York Times, Wall Street Journals, MAD Magazine, and if that isn't ridiculously impressive, she has also released a hell of a funny book called Mama Tried.

On a personal note Emily is also married to one of my oldest friends John Pastore, another once upon a time Caroline Distribution employee and has most recently a part of Outer Battery Records (Sleep figure, Dino Jr, Chelsea Wolf, and Notwist to name a few releases).

Alice Bag, the original Riot Grrrl

Ted Talk : Why risk for women is worth it by Reshma Saujani  (hint: because trying to be perfect isn't possible)

Auntie Maureen makes a mean mix

Diamanda Galas terrifies me and I respect her for that. She is fearless, has a razor tongue, believes the music industry is dishonest, and just like her extremity in performance, she has many a bold opinion about composing music with integrity.

Cat (riona Sturton) power! She may sing like an angel and play like a beast but she is also incredibly down to earth, humble, and multi-taltented musician. I was fortunate enough to share a stage last year at Hopscotch Fest with Cat last year and was not only impressed with her live performance which is tender comedy as much as it is kick ass Blues, but damn this lady has stories. She was a member of Plumtree (Scott Pilgrim the comic & film was inspired by them/includes them), has worked for Dolly Parton, and her passion for poutine runs deep. Get to know this charming Canadian and enjoy getting to know this woman who rules the mostly male dominated harmonica blues scene.

Lita Ford gets real. I can't say this enough, BELIEVE WOMEN.

My band Positive No has a new song (yet to be recorded but is being played live now) called "Reinvent the Space". Our goal is to make our creative community safe and welcoming for all. We are playing a series of shows in the months to come (w/ Beach Slang) and we will be taking our BELIEVE WOMEN message to the stage in a serious way.

Music videos often objectify women but the new Blake Shelton video gets called out in a big way.

If you come across interesting reads, podcasts, or videos about women in the arts (especially music) - leave them in the comments section for me to check out!