Music News and Muse: September 9th, 2016

The best thing I saw all week are these vintage suitcases turned into functional boomboxes.

I had the opportunity to interview Alice Bag for Le Sigh and if you don't know anything about her, this is a great place to start if I don't say so myself. If you want to know more about the birth of NY punk, this interview with three east coast legends is worth your time.

Holy crud - did you see the U+NFest 5 fest happening in Baltimore? ESG is the headliner and the line up of awesomeness explodes outward from there.

Paper wants you to know about 15 rising DJs and producers which also happens to = a whole lot of talented ladies.

What is better that one iconic punk singer? Two powerhouse vocalists! New band Sex Stains on Don Giovanni Records features Allison Wolfe of Bratmobile and Mecca Vazie Andrews.

Laura Marling is so curious about how equal women in music are, she has launched a new Podcast series dedicated to it.

Backyard Report! The Richmond Folk Festival is RVA's flagship annual music event and our friend/neighbor Katie McBride has designed the perfect poster for it this year.

Doe breaks down their new record track by track and I want to crawl inside of it and live there forever. Rawkus power Pop from the U.K. is what anyone with ears needs to hear on a Friday.

The feel good story of the month is this Mary Boyer, a 93 year old Prince fan from Cleveland. Thanks Drew Cary for making me instantly sing Cleveland Rocks.

Miranda Lambert has created a scholarship for female songwriters because she knows women in the industry could use the support. And while we are talking about scholarships. Bitch Media is currently accepting applications for their 2017 writing fellowships.

Learn more about the woman who helped shape the music of Britain's legendary series Doctor Who and has gone on to influence music decade after decade. Stranger Things included.

Wow busts some of the most common myths of being a woman in music.

Do you live in DC and dream of working for NPR? Look at this - they are currently hiring!

Pearl Jam's sound engineer for over two decades is Karrie Keyes and she has a group that supports and mentors women in in professional audio called SoundGirls. I now have a favorite new charity!

In my ears this week is Lithics from Portland, OR - brilliant post-punk. While we are on the subject of Portland, musician Joel Magid posted on Facebook a confession to sexually assaulting a woman in 2010.

Brix Smith-Start of The Fall was a guest on WFMU this week and you can listen to the full show here.

Prom Queen from Seattle nailed a mash up between the Stranger Things theme and Twin Peaks soundtrack song "Laura's Theme".

You might have been wondering what the singer/songwriter Jewel was up to and slaying Ann Coulter at the roast of Rob Lowe leads me to believe that comedy may be in her future.

The Black Girls Talking Bandcamp picks for August are worth your time.

Toxic masculinity is everywhere and I definitely have been literally punched out by it at shows, made the mistake of dating a few people who were fueled by it years ago, and watch the horror unfolding in the news each day and think to myself that there are a lot of angry men out there. There is now a zine about this and they are looking for submissions. And the dumbass of the week award goes to Cute is What We Aim for Singer for denying rape culture is a real thing. Idiot.

Living room tours are all the buzz and I am not just saying that because we recently sponsored one in our home. They are an offering a real way for touring artists to make money and reach fans in a sincerely intimate setting. Small and curated is the new making it. Shannon Curtis will fill you in.

T-Rextasy will make it all better.

And Bomba Estero too.

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!