Friday April 26 @ 7:30 pm.People’s Music Benefit for Occidental Center for the Arts!Join Alex Bryant of People’s Music Store for ‘a night of great music with friends’ to benefit our live music venue Occidental Center for the Arts! Don’t miss this showcase of Sonoma County talent featuring: Hoytus & New Paradise, The Stoney Point Ramblers, Whispering Light, and Washington Hill. MC’d by Jim Corbett . All proceeds benefit our nonprofit arts organization. Admission is $15. at the door. Refreshments available ; wine and beer for sale. OCA Art Gallery open during events. Wheelchair Accessible. www.occidentalcenterforthearts.org 3850 Doris Murphy Ct. Occidental CA. 95465.
Friday April 5 @ 7:30 pm. Occidental Center for the Arts. First Friday Live: Crystel Collaboration. Jazzvocalist extraordinaire Julie (Crystel) Lester, who ‘daylights’ as an RN/Educator with our own West County Health Services in Occidental, joins forces with the most excellent musicians of The Collaboration Jazz Band (David Scott, Randy Quan, Tim Haggerty and Geoff Whyte ) for some high energy, danceable ‘Crystel Collaboration’ that will knock your socks off!$15 at the door. Wine, beer and refreshments available. Wheelchair Accessible. www.occidentalcenterforthearts.org. 707-874-9392. 3850 Doris Murphy Ct. Occidental, CA. 95465
Saturday March 23 @ 7 pm. Occidental Center for the Arts welcomes Heartwood Crossing, a Sonoma County-based band known for smart songwriting, moving vocals and rocking instrumentation that just won’t quit. Featuring seasoned performers Dave Monterey and Tim Sheehan, singer-songwriter Emily Lois, Daniel Magee on bass and Dan Ransford on percussion, this home grown band is sure to bring a good time to Occidental ! $15 Adv/$18 at door. Fine Refreshments. Art Gallery open. Wheelchair accessible. www.occidentalcenterforthearts.org. 707-874-9392. 3850 Doris Murphy Ct. Occidental, CA. 95465
Friday March 8 @ 7 pm. Occidental Center for the Arts proudly presents: Laurie Lewis & The Right Hands! Grammy-winning, iconic Americana and bluegrass singer/songwriter /fiddler/educator Laurie Lewis joins Tom Rozum and the masterful musicians of The Right Hands for a not-to be-missed concert at OCA’s acoustic sweet spot! $28 Advance/$32 at the door. Reservations advised. Fine Refreshments. Art Gallery open. Wheelchair Accessible. www.occidentalcenterforthearts.org 707-874-9392. 3850 Doris Murphy Ct. Occidental, CA. 95465
L-R: Haselden Ciaccio, Patrick Sauber, Laurie Lewis, Brandon Godman, Tom Rozum Photo credit: Jessica Eve Rattner
Friday March 1 @ 7:30 pm.People’s Music Benefit for Occidental Center for the Arts!Join People’s Music for ‘a night of great music with friends’ to benefit live music venue Occidental Center for the Arts! Don’t miss this showcase of Sonoma County talent, featuring: Hoytus & New Paradise, Andy Graham, The Stoney Point Ramblers, Whispering Light, Washington Hill. MC’d by Jim Corbett aka ‘Mr. Music’. All proceeds go to Occidental Center for the Arts. Admission is $15. at the door. Refreshments available ; wine and beer for sale. Wheelchair Accessible. www.occidentalcenterforthearts.org 3850 Doris Murphy Ct. Occidental CA. 95465. Hoytus and New Paradise
Saturday February 23 @7 pm. Occidental Center for the Artswelcomes back famed folk singer/songwriter duo Steve Gillette& Cindy Mangsen. Gillette (Darcy Farrow; Bed of Roses; Back on the Street Again) and his wife, singer-instrumentalist Mangsenwill delight you with traditional and contemporary folk songs, rich harmonies, accomplished guitar, banjo, and concertina accompaniment, and a good dose of humor! compassrosemusic.com $18 Advance /$22 at the door. Fine refreshments. Black History Month exhibit in our Gallery. Wheelchair Accessible. 3850 Doris Murphy Ct. Occidental, CA. 95465. www.occidentalcenterforthearts.org.
Kacey Musgraves accepts Album of the Year at the 2019 Grammys. (Screenshot via YouTube)
Country singer Kacey Musgraves won the coveted Album of the Year award for her album “Golden Hour” marking the end of a Grammys award show filled with plenty of queer women representation.
Musgraves, who also won Country Album of the Year, has emerged as an LGBTQ ally in the country music world. She has spoken up for more LGBTQ inclusion in country music and her song “Follow Your Arrow” was hailed as a pro-LGBTQ anthem. Musgraves also served as judge on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Musgraves also took home Best Country Solo Performance (“Butterflies”), and Best Country Song (“Space Cowboy”) Awards for a total of four winning categories.
Lesbian singer/songwriter Brandi Carlile won three awards during the pre-telecast including Best Americana Album for “By the Way, I Forgive You” and Best American Roots Song and Best American Roots Performance for “The Joke.” She received the most nominations of any woman this year and became the first LGBTQ person to win awards in those categories.
While accepting the award for Best American Roots Performance, she shared that she came out in high school at age 15. She says she never was invited to high school parties or dances.
“I never got to attend a dance. To be embraced by this enduring and loving community has been a dance of a lifetime,” Carlile said. “Thank you for being my island.”
Carlile also received a standing ovation for her vocal powerhouse performance of “The Joke” during the televised ceremony.
Other queer artists with impactful Grammys performances were Ricky Martin who performed with Camila Cabello, J Balvin, Arturo Sandoval and Young Thug for a Broadway musical-inspired Grammys opener to Cabello’s song “Havana.”
Miley Cyrus, who identifies as pansexual, dueted with Shawn Mendes on his song “In My Blood.” She later also teamed up with Katy Perry, Maren Morris, Musgraves and Little Big Town for a tribute to Dolly Parton.
Janelle Monáe performed her bisexual anthem “Make Me Feel” off her album “Dirty Computer,” mixed in with her feminist song “Pynk.” She didn’t win for either category she was nominated for (Album of the Year and Best Music Video) but she did dedicate her nominations to her “trans brothers and sisters.” In an interview with Variety, the singer was asked about coming out as queer last year.
“People do it everyday,” she replied. “My trans brothers and sisters, they do it everyday. And they are shunned from these sorts of events. So this one is for them.”
Lady Gaga scored two wins (Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Best Song Written For Visual Media) for her “A Star is Born” duet with Bradley Cooper, “Shallow,” which she also performed.
Dua Lipa and St. Vincent, who is sexually fluid, did a steamy joint performance of her song “Masseducation” and Lipa’s “One Kiss.” St. Vincent and Jack Antonoff won Best Rock Song for “Masseducation.”
History continued to be made with Cardi B becoming the first woman to win Best Rap Album and “This is America” by Childish Gambino winning Best Song. This is the first time a rap song has won in that category.
Jennifer Lopez also gave dance-filled tribute to Motown while Diana Ross honored her own birthday, which is in March, with a performance. Michelle Obama, Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Jennifer Lopez also made appearances at the top of the show to help host Alicia Keys reflect on the importance of music.
Check out the complete list of winners below.
Album Of The Year — “Golden Hour”- Kacey Musgraves
Record Of The Year — “This Is America” – Childish Gambino
Best New Artist — Dua Lipa
Best Rap Album — “Invasion Of Privacy”- Cardi B
Best R&B Album Winner — “H.E.R.”- H.E.R.
Best Rap Song — “God’s Plan”- Drake
Best Country Album — “Golden Hour”- Kacey Musgraves
Song Of The Year — “This Is America”- Childish Gambino
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance — “Shallow” Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical — Pharrell Williams
Best Rap/Sung Performance — “This Is America”-Childish Gambino
Best Rap Performance — “King’s Dead”- Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, Future & James Blake / Bubblin, Anderson .Paak
Best Rock Album — “From The Fires”-Greta Van Fleet
Best Rock Song — “Masseduction” – St. Vincent
Best Metal Performance — “Electric Messiah”- High On Fire
Best Rock Performance — “When Bad Does Good”- Chris Cornell
Best Urban Contemporary Album — “Everything Is Love”- The Carters
Best R&B Song — “Boo’d Up”- Ella Mai
Best Traditional R&B Performance — “Bet Ain’t Worth The Hand”- Leon Bridges / “How Deep Is Your Love”-Pj Morton Featuring Yebba
Best R&B Performance — “Best Part”- H.E.R. Featuring Daniel Caesar
Best Latin Jazz Album — “Back To The Sunset”- Dafnis Prieto Big Band
Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album — “American Dreamers: Voices Of Hope, Music Of Freedom”- John Daversa Big Band Featuring Daca Artists
Best Jazz Instrumental Album — “Emanon”- The Wayne Shorter Quartet
Best Jazz Vocal Album — “The Window”- Cécile Mclorin Salvant
Best Improvised Jazz Solo — “Don’t Fence Me In”- John Daversa
Best Reggae Album — “44/876”- Sting & Shaggy
Best Dance/Electronic Album — “Woman Worldwide”- Justice
Best Dance Recording — “Electricity”- Silk City & Dua Lipa Featuring Diplo & Mark Ronson
Best Contemporary Classical Composition — “Kernis: Violin Concerto”- James Ehnes, Ludovic Morlot & Seattle Symphony
Best Classical Compendium — “Fuchs: Piano Concerto ‘Spiritualist’”; Poems Of Life; Glacier; Rush”- Joann Falletta
Best Classical Solo Vocal Album —” Songs Of Orpheus”-Monteverdi, Caccini, D’india & Landi, Karim Sulayman
Best Classical Instrumental Solo — “Kernis: Violin Concerto”- James Ehnes
Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance — “Anderson”- Laurie: Landfall, Laurie Anderson & Kronos Quartet
Best Choral Performance — “Mcloskey: Zealot Canticles”- Donald Nally
Best Opera Recording — “Bates: The (R)Evolution Of Steve Jobs”-Michael Christie, Garrett Sorenson, Wei Wu, Sasha Cooke, Edward Parks & Jessica E. Jones
Best Orchestral Performance — “Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 11”- Andris Nelsons
Producer Of The Year, Classical — Blanton Alspaugh
Best Engineered Album, Classical — “Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 11”- Andris Nelsons & Boston Symphony Orchestra
Best Pop Vocal Album — “Sweetener”- Ariana Grande
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album — “My Way” -Willie Nelson
Best Pop Solo Performance — “Joanne (Where Do You Think You’re Goin’?)”- Lady Gaga
Best Country Song — “Space Cowboy” – Kacey Musgraves
Best Country Duo/Group Performance — “Tequila”- Dan + Shay
Best Country Solo Performance — “Butterflies”- Kacey Musgraves
Best Music Film — “Quincy”- Quincy Jones
Best Music Video — “This Is America”-Childish Gambino
Best Regional Roots Music Album — “No ‘Ane’I”- Kalani Pe’a
Best Tropical Latin Album — “Anniversary”- Spanish Harlem Orchestra
Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano) — “¡México Por Siempre!”- Luis Miguel
Best Latin Rock, Urban Or Alternative Album — “Aztlán”- Zoé
Best Latin Pop Album — “Sincera”- Claudia Brant
Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Storytelling) — “Faith – A Journey For All”- Jimmy Carter
Best Children’s Album — “All The Sounds”- Lucy Kalantari & The Jazz Cats
Best Folk Album — “All Ashore”- Punch Brothers
Best Contemporary Blues Album —” Please Don’t Be Dead”- Fantastic Negrito
Best Traditional Blues Album — “The Blues Is Alive And Well”- Buddy Guy
Best Bluegrass Album —”The Travelin’ Mccourys”- The Travelin’ Mccourys
Best Americana Album — “By The Way, I Forgive You”- Brandi Carlile
Best American Roots Song — “The Joke”- Brandi Carlile
Best American Roots Performance — “The Joke”- Brandi Carlile
Best New Age Album — “Opium Moon”- Opium Moon
Best Song Written For Visual Media — “Shallow”- Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media — “Black Panther”- Ludwig Göransson
Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media — “The Greatest Showman”- Hugh Jackman (& Various Artists)
Best World Music Album — “Freedom”- Soweto Gospel Choir
Best Roots Gospel Album — “Unexpected”- Jason Crabb
Best Contemporary Christian Music Album — “Look Up Child”- Lauren Daigle
Best Gospel Album — “Hiding Place”-Tori Kelly
Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song — “You Say” -Lauren Daigle
Best Gospel Performance/Song — “Never Alone”- Tori Kelly Featuring Kirk Franklin
Best Contemporary Instrumental Album — “Steve Gadd Band”- Steve Gadd Band
Best Immersive Audio Album —” Eye In The Sky – 35th Anniversary Edition”- The Alan Parsons Project
Best Remixed Recording — “Walking Away (Mura Masa Remix)”- Haim
Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical — “Colors”- Beck
Best Historical Album — “Voices Of Mississippi: Artists And Musicians Documented By William Ferris”
Best Album Notes —” Voices Of Mississippi: Artists And Musicians Documented By William Ferris”
Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package — “Squeeze Box: The Complete Works Of ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic” Weird Al Yankovic
Best Recording Package — “Masseduction”- St. Vincent
Best Arrangement, Instruments And Vocals — “Spiderman Theme”- Randy Waldman Featuring Take 6 & Chris Potter
Best Arrangement, Instrumental Or A Cappella — “Stars And Stripes Forever”- John Daversa Big Band Featuring Daca Artists
Best Instrumental Composition — “Blut Und Boden (Blood And Soil)”- Terence Blanchard
Best Alternative Music Album — “Colors”- Beck
Best Musical Theater Album — “The Band’s Visit”- Original Broadway Cast
Best Comedy Album — “Equanimity & The Bird Revelation”- Dave Chappelle
Brandi Carlile says she “can’t wrap her head around” being the most-nominated female artist at this year’s Grammy Awards, but she’s keenly aware of the overall significance of those accolades.
The folk-rock singer-songwriter’s latest album, “By the Way, I Forgive You,” saw her talking a stance on a number of contemporary issues, like addiction, immigration and bullying. Released in February 2018, the album received massive critical praise and helped Carlile score six Grammy nominations, including Record of the Year (for lead single “The Joke”) and Album of the Year.
“I feel like I’ve always been on the fringes of mainstream acceptance like that, but it means the most that I’ve received this honor at this point in my life,” she said in a new interview with Variety. “Being a 38-year-old mom, with two kids, who’s gay and lives on a farm, and is nominated alongside Janelle Monae and Cardi B, it’s kind of unbelievable.”
Carlile isn’t taking that newly expanded platform for granted, either. She went on to explain why she feels it’s more important than ever for LGBTQ artists to be open about their sexuality in spite of the professional risks that may arise.
“Representation can be kind of life or death for a kid in a small town,” she said. “At the very least it can give someone hope.”
The Washington state native, who cites Elton John and Freddie Mercury as influences and recently teamed up with Sam Smith for a duet version of her hit, “Party of One,” is about to kick off an action-packed Grammys week. In addition to Sunday’s awards ceremony, she’s due to perform at a MusiCares tribute to Dolly Parton on Friday and appear at Clive Davis’ annual pre-Grammy gala the next day.
And though Carlile may be lauded by LGBTQ fans and advocacy groups for being so frank about her sexuality, she’s quick to credit other queer female artists, such as the Indigo Girls and k.d. lang, for having paved the way.
“They were made fun of for being frumpy or not dressing right or not walking right,” she said. “Me and Courtney Barnett [a gay Australian singer-songwriter] are a product of the fact that they took those hits for us and now, nobody thinks it’s acceptable to say those things about us.”
The Pet Shop Boys have released a new single that takes aim at President Donald Trump and Brexit, calling out “bigotry.”
The pop duo, comprised of out singer Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, are hardly newcomers to pointedly political lyrics—many of their 1980s songs were inspired bythe AIDS crisis, while the band have also released a musical tribute to Alan Turingand set a speech about gay equality to music.
However, their latest track “Give Stupidity a Chance” is more avowedly political than ever, putting leaders on blast on both sides of the Atlantic.
Pet Shop Boys: Let’s shock and awe the world with idiotic bigotry
A thoroughly sarcastic response to political populism, the song includes the lyrics: “Forget political correctness/I mean W-T-F/I don’t wanna think about the world/I wanna talk about myself.
“Instead of governing with thoughtful sensitivity/Let’s shock and awe the world with idiotic bigotry/Let’s lead this world a merry dance/And give stupidity a chance.”
Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe of Pet Shop Boys perform as part of HM Tower Of London Festival Of Music’s inaugural jazz and opera festival at HM Tower of London on June 28, 2006 in London, England. (MJ Kim/Getty)
The track from upcoming EP Agenda calls out US President Donald Trump and references his infamous “Grab them by the pussy” quote, adding: “Forget political correctness/Let’s talk man to man/Chicks are always up for it/You gotta grab whatever you can.
“We need a leader who knows that money means class/With an eye for a peach-perfect piece of ass/Not a total dumb-cluck, just one of the guys/Let’s give stupidity a prize.”
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The song also takes aim at Brexit, lampooning UK government minister Michael Gove’s infamous claim that “the people of this country have had enough of experts.”
The Pet Shop Boys sardonically agree: “We’ve heard quite enough of experts and their dealings/Why face the facts when you can just feel the feelings?”
Pet Shop Boys aren’t the first to put Trump to music
While it may be the first time anyone’s quoted Michael Gove in a pop song, there’s plenty of competition for the pair when it comes to songs about Donald Trump.
Gay internet comic Randy Rainbow has reached millions with his musical theatre send-ups to the president, with frequent releases taking inspiration from the day-to-day news agenda surrounding Trump.
Rainbow recently released a parody of Chicago‘s “Cell Block Tango,” featuring the Trump-affiliated officials who have pleaded guilty to crimes as a result of the investigation carried out by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Punk Lust: Raw Provocation 1971-1985 is an exhibit at NYC’s Museum of Sex. It explores the intersection between sexuality and the punk movement.
When people think of punk, images of skinny white boys (Joey Ramone, Sid Vicious) might come to mind. However, this exhibit will feature lesser-known punk icons, including LGBTI punks.
The Exhibit
Curated by cultural critic Carlo McCormick, writer/musician Vivien Goldman, and artist/Museum of Sex curator Lissa Rivera, the large exhibit includes over 300 objects. These items include rare photographs and personal objects, such as Johnny Thunders’ leather jacket, owned by Manic Panic founders Tish and Snooky. It will also feature visual pieces by LGBTI artists like David Wojnarowicz.
‘The exhibition explores everything from punk’s intersection with the sex industry, gay leather culture’s influence on punk fashion, the deep impact of queer culture on punk’s roots, and more,’ writes Emily Colucci for Them.us.
‘More than sheer shock value, Punk/Lust asserts that punk’s transgressive aesthetics were a radical and rebellious political critique of heteronormativity, which continues to resonate today.’
The exhibit begins with punk’s queer influences, including John Waters, Divine, Andy Warhol, and more.
In the Curator’s words
‘I wanted to be able to connect everything back to Andy Warhol and David Bowie,’ Lissa Rivera told Them.us. ‘If you read all the history, especially of British punk, they all worshipped Bowie and androgyny in general. Similarly, Warhol did exciting things with the Velvet Underground and their intersection with the queer and trans community in the 1960s, with songs like “Venus in Furs” or “Candy Says.” It would be completely revelatory to any young person that listened to them. Another person who often gets lost in this history is Jayne County, who was roommates with Holly Woodlawn and Jackie Curtis, and was also a part of the Stonewall riots.’
‘It was also interesting to see who Malcolm McLaren was looking at. He was looking at Kenneth Anger’s Scorpio Rising and leather culture. There’s more of an intersection with gay leather culture than you would normally assume.’
Punk vs. Disco
Rivera goes on to discuss the differences between the punk movement and the disco movement, both of which were influenced heavily by queer culture.
‘With disco, it was about an ecstatic release coming out of Stonewall. Pre-Stonewall, LGBTQ+ people were used to horrible abuse, having to be in mob-run bars and pay off the cops in order to exist. Disco came out of this opportunity to be public,’ Rivera explains.
‘It was feminine, queer, and embraced people of color. If you’re repressed for a long time and all of a sudden being celebrated, you become much more expressive and realize there’s so much more to discover about life. It was about creating a world to explore that didn’t just relate to heteronormative expectations. It was also a way to transcend the music charts, because Billboard was controlled by a few white men in a really corporate world. There weren’t many ways to break through, but in clubs, when they were spinning records, they could compete. There was immense power.’
‘Punk was very anti-commercial; I relate it more to the sex industry,’ Rivera continues. ‘If you think about the landscape of New York City at the time, people were working in peep shows, and as professional dommes and sex workers. It wasn’t necessarily seen as taboo, but as an exciting way to explore your identity. This was a group of people who worshipped Rimbaud, Jean Genet and William S. Burroughs. There was freedom because rent was so low. You could do phone sex a couple nights a week and have enough money to go out every night. And because it all worked to combat moral norms, there was a sense of excitement.’
Punk’s subversiveness
‘Punk looked at the hypocritical society of the 1970s, which was simultaneously a return to the restrictive morals of the 50s while Deep Throat became the highest-grossing film of 1972. Punk engaged with these conflicting ideologies and the absurdity of it all. There’s also a certain level of nihilism in punk and a desire to see how far you could push yourself. This is actually true of disco as well. There’s a desire to see how much you could experience life, whether your pleasure was risk or ecstasy.’
New York Dolls
One band in particular, The New York Dolls, started to play with gender-bending. They’d often perform in makeup, heels, and women’s clothing.
‘The New York Dolls were directly influenced by Warhol and the Theatre of the Ridiculous, for sure,’ Rivera says of the group. ‘It’s really interesting because if you listen to Johnny Thunder’s solo work, he has a song called, “I’m A Boy, I’m A Girl.” I wonder what they were tapping into. In the early 1970s, there was a certain level of ambiguity that the movement evolved away from. It seemed to evolve into something that was more specifically geared toward queer offshoots of punk. Like homocore or Derek Jarman’s films. There were more directly queer works that weren’t necessarily ambiguous.’
From the 70s to Now
‘With our current cultural climate being less dependent on gendered binaries, many people I talked to were able to speak more freely about their attractions or their desire to be between binaries,’ Rivera says of putting together the exhibit.
‘The literature in rock magazines at the time was very misogynistic. Now it’s much less so. Looking at it now, there is a kind of freedom this 1970s generation is feeling. There’s not as much shame now about the spectrum of sexuality or desire.’
