Music Break: ELLA

Ella is a brilliant young musician from Manhattan, NY, who has been playing music pretty much her entire life. In between classes, she's been busy recording her own creations. "Drive Me Down" is the first release from her this year. If this song feels like the soundtrack to a daydream it's because it was inspired by one. As Ella explains in this TomTom interview:

I was imagining this visual of me in the driver seat of a car, with my foot up on the wheel like a sneaker or high heel up on the wheel, and I was talking through the window. The camera was facing the window and I’m singing the song because the melody was in my head. As I’m singing the song, the car is moving but I’m not driving the car. I should mention I do not have a driver’s license yet. I’m a New Yorker. It was also at night so it was super-sleek. Kind of like it has just rained so the streets are super-slick, and that’s the kind of energy I was imagining.

After listening to "Drive Me Down" on repeat for the last couple of days, as well as the others singles she has up on SoundCloud, I'm looking forward to hearing more from Ella! She's currently working an EP, collaborating with other amazing young women. She's hoping to release it later this year, and I can't wait.

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Music Break - Irma Thomas

I'm back from spending a week in Louisiana visiting my family, eating tons of delicious food, and doing a lot of sight seeing. One of the many highlights of my trip was getting to see the legendary "Queen of New Orleans" Irma Thomas perform. What an amazing woman!

I knew a couple of her songs from here and there, but seeing her live was a real treat. It felt as though the audience was a gathering of her closest friends, and instead of having a standing set list she just took requests yelled out by the audience.

The only disappointment: I would have loved to see more. But, at nearly 75 years old, it's still pretty awesome that she put on a 75 minute show full of emotion and dancing.

The best part of the show? When she started in singing her Second Line Medley, and a room full of people jumped up and started parading around the room waiving their handkerchiefs and napkins around. One women even brought a small umbrella just for that song.



Her most well-known song was also her first recorded song, "(You Can Have My Husband But Please) Don't Mess With My Man" written by Dorothy LaBostrie. In the over-50 years she has been performing and recording, she's had a slew of hits, and built an almost fanatical following. You can certainly add me to that list as well.

(photo source: nola.com)

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Music Break - PHOX

It's been a couple of rainy, gray days here in Northern California, and I have been enjoying every last minute of them. I love each season in turn, and winter is no exception. On sunny days, I enjoy a trip outside for a brisk bike ride or hike. But the rainy days of winter are best spent nestled down with a comfy blanket and a good book, a cup of tea and some relaxing music. This week's soundtrack has included a whole lot of tunes from PHOX.

Monica Martin's voice is just so smooth and rich, it's like silk velvet - it just flows over you, enveloping you in its richness and warmth. I picked "Slow Motion" as the song to share here mainly because it's the one that was in my head when I woke up this morning, but the entire album is just plain beautiful. You can listen to the entire thing on Spotify, and find a couple of songs on SoundCloud.



What are you listening to these days? Anything fun or exciting? Please feel free to leave links in the comments.

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Music Break - Erica Glyn

In my on-going effort to listen to more new-ish music, I've been following links I find on various music blogs and falling down rabbit holes on Spotify and SoundCloud.

One song that keeps popping up in the more remote places is "All Just for You" by Erica Glyn. And with good reason. It's a great song. Its lyrics are all sultry insistence while the music reminds me of that kind of kaleidoscopic feeling you have when you're really drunk and things are swirling around inside your head. There are many comparisons between Erica Glyn and 90s trip-hop artists like Portishead, and I can see why. The floaty feeling is still there, but there's also the grinding guitar to ground you.



According to Erica herself, "'All Just For You' is a bit of a rebellious song. There’s a lot going on lyrically. There are many levels of interpretation and meaning but ultimately it’s meant to grab you by the collar, shake you up a bit and ask you 'What are you doing to make things better?'"

I was interested in learning more about her music, so I looked around. I found her earlier albums on Spotify. Each has its own unique sound while also carrying the thread of her talent.

Her latest EP, Dollar for Thieves can be heard on Diffuser. The other songs on the EP are good. Erica describes the EP as "is an angst-y 5-song EP that wrestles with 21st century frustrations and the struggle to keep your head above water while pushing to be a better person."

Yeah, I think that's something we can all relate to.

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Music Break - Screaming Females

I recently came across this video on some other blog post long since lost out of my feed. (I think it was some kind of "Awesome Women in Music in 2015" wrap up post, but it's long gone.) It's just plain brilliant.

I freely admit I love the original Taylor Swift version. There's absolutely no shame in that. But this cover? So fantastic. Marissa Paternoster's voice is a perfect blend of heart-break and "fuck it" that takes this cover of an already pretty kick-ass song about shaking off the crap that keeps getting piled on us to even deeper levels.

And then she goes into the guitar solo for the break and just kills it.

Since I spent pretty much the entire Christmas break with this cover stuck in my head, I decided this week to seek out more by Screaming Females. OMG y'all. I am officially in love. Their whole album Rose Mountain is just amazing. Made all the more so when I read this great interview with Marissa where she talks about her health issues and the role they played in its conception. Honestly, it's been on repeat all day while I wrote this.

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Music Break - Celia Cruz

Today is the birthday of the remarkable Celia Cruz, the "Queen of Salsa."

I don't know when I first heard her sing. I suspect it was in Mambo Kings, but it's hard to remember. Maybe it was when I would listen to Tito Puente with my parents. It feels like she's been around on my playlists for ages. What an amazing voice. And now we get to learn more about her life, thanks to the fantastic telenovela Celia.

While I was reading about her for this post, I saw that she's often referred to as "La Guarachera de Cuba." My Spanish is pretty rudimentary, so I had to look up "guarachera." As it turns out, even Google Translate doesn't know what it means. Fortunately, Wikipedia did. Guaracha is the name for the traditional type of Cuban music she's known for -- fast tempo and lyrics.

I've selected a couple of my favorite videos of her singing. Check 'em out:



Over her career, she traveled the world, appeared in several movies, and recorded 23 gold albums. Today I will be queuing up and listening to (and dancing along with) her music in her honor.

¡Feliz cumpleaños, Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso!

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Women's History Month - Charlotta Bass
Charlotta Amanda Spears Bass was born in Sumter, South Carolina (the year is unclear, some sources say 1874, some day 1879, or even 1880). She was the sixth child out of eleven children. Very little is known about her early life. When she was twenty, she moved to Providence, Rhode Island, to live with her brother. There, she took a position working for the Providence Watchman...

Happy Birthday - Geraldine Doyle
Today would have been the 90th birthday of Geraldine Hoff Doyle. If you don't know who she was, don't feel too bad. I only heard of her recently myself. If she looks familiar, it's because she was very likely the model for the "We Can Do It!" poster.



In case you need a reminder... you are amazing!
I just love this poem. I revisit it whenever I'm feeling a down or frustrated or a little powerless. You are amazing. As.you.are. Stronger than you know. More beautiful than you think. Worthier than you believe. More loved that you can ever imagine. Passionate about making a difference. Fiery when protecting those you love. Learning. Growing.

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Music Break - Flint Eastwood

I just heard this new song by Flint Eastwood for the first time earlier this week, and it has pretty much got me enthralled. It's beautiful and touching and gives me chills every time I listen to it.

And I've listened to it a dozen times or more.

It's haunting, but in a bittersweet way. Jax's voice is perfectly ethereal and sweet. And the acoustics are amazing. It turns out that it was recorded in a church. According to her website, the song is based on the final words her mother had for her. In fact, the whole EP is the creative product of her dealing with her mother's death.

"As the listener makes their way through the EP, they experience Jax making her way through her mother's illness and passing, railing against it, dealing with the aftermath associated with such a loss, eventually accepting it, and using it as a driving force to continue to create."

This sense of learning to carry on comes through loud and clear in "Find What You're Looking For." Her mother's words of advice for living a productive and happy life are inspirational in themselves. But to have turned them into a song that she can share with others, to share the burden of the pain of loss as well as the gift of love, that is what makes this song so beautiful. And, I'll wager the entire album Small Victories follows in the same vein.

"Small Victories comes from the idea that doing anything creative in life takes a lot of persistence, struggle, and hustle. It's easy to expect that the spoils will come easily and be immediately fruitful. But if you focus on the little things, the 'small victories,' you realize that it's those things that are the most rewarding. That's what keeps me going."

Jerilyn Jordan's review on AudioFemme is what brought it to my attention. If you love music and want to support women who make music or write about music, I highly recommend following their blog.

If you like the work I do here at Self-Rescuing Princess Society,
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Music Break - P!nk

Everyone needs an anthem once in a while. And Pink seems to be very good at supplying them.

Alecia Beth Moore (aka Pink) was born on September 8, 1979. Her musical talent was evident in her youth. When she was a teenager, she used lyric-writing as an outlet for her feelings. According to her mother, "Her initial writings were always very introspective. Some of it was very black, and very deep, almost worrisome."

I think that's why her lyrics seem to resonate so strongly with me. Her emotions come through because she's not just writing something she hopes will sell, she's using her songs to tell her story. And her story is something I think many of us can relate to. Like "So What" which is probably one of my favorite post-break-up songs.

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Music Break - Elle King

If, like me, you have a hole in your life where the Dixie Chicks used to be, mourn no longer. Elle King is here to save the day. Her album Love Stuff is chock full of alt-country feminist hotness.

Not too long ago John Scalzi posted this video on his blog and it's pretty much been on repeat here since. Such a great song flipping the usual story about the guy who "loves 'em and leaves 'em." Her voice is so sexy and scratchy, and the lyrics are exceptionally liberated. And, you know, a little eye-candy in the video doesn't hurt.



Ex's & Oh's

Well, I had me a boy, turned him into a man
I showed him all the things that he didn't understand
Whoa, and then I let him go
Now, there's one in California who's been cursing my name
Cause I found me a better lover in the UK
Hey, hey, until I made my getaway

One, two, three, they gonna run back to me
Cause I'm the best baby that they never gotta keep
One, two, three, they gonna run back to me
They always wanna come, but they never wanna leave

Ex's and the oh, oh, oh's they haunt me
Like ghosts they want me to make 'em all
They won't let go
Ex's and oh's

I had a summer lover down in New Orleans
Kept him warm in the winter, left him frozen in the spring
My, my, how the seasons go by
I get high, and I love to get low
So the hearts keep breaking, and the heads just roll
You know that's how the story goes

One, two, three, they gonna run back to me
Cause I'm the best baby that they never gotta keep
One, two, three, they gonna run back to me
They always wanna come, but they never wanna leave

Ex's and the oh, oh, oh's they haunt me
Like ghosts they want me to make 'em all
They won't let go
My ex's and the oh, oh, oh's they haunt me
Like ghosts they want me to make 'em all
They won't let go
Ex's and oh's

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Music Break - Ana Tijoux

You know that feeling when you find a song that could easily become your new anthem? Yeah. That's how I feel about "Antipatriarca" by Ana Tijoux.

With only three college semesters of study, my Spanish is pretty limited, but I can still tell this is a song about kick ass women demanding respect. And the fantastic video drives that point home.

The lyrics I keep catching my heart on:

No sumisa ni obediente (Not submissive nor obedient)
mujer fuerte insurgente (Strong rebel woman)
independiente y valiente (Independent and brave)
romper las cadenas de lo indiferente (Breaking the chains of indifference)
no pasiva ni oprimida (Not passive nor oppressed)
mujer linda que das vida (Beautiful woman, you give life)
emancipada en autonomía (Emancipated in autonomy)
antipatriarca y alegría (Antipatriarch and happiness)
(lyrics source and English translation: lyricstranslate.com)

Antipatriarca

Yo puedo ser tu hermana tu hija, Tamara Pamela o Valentina
Yo puedo ser tu gran amiga incluso tu compañera de vida
Yo puedo ser tu aliada la que aconseja y la que apaña
Yo puedo ser cualquiera de todas depende de como tu me apodas
Pero no voy a ser la que obedece porque mi cuerpo me pertenece
yo decido de mi tiempo como quiero y donde quiero
Independiente yo nací, independiente decidí
Yo no camino detrás de ti, yo camino de la par aquí
Tu no me vas a humillar, tu no me vas a gritar
Tu no me vas someter tu no me vas a golpear
Tu no me vas denigrar, tu no me vas obligar
Tu no me vas a silenciar tu no me vas a callar
CORO
No sumisa ni obediente
mujer fuerte insurgente
independiente y valiente
romper las cadenas de lo indiferente
no pasiva ni oprimida
mujer linda que das vida
emancipada en autonomía
antipatriarca y alegría
A liberar....
Yo puedo ser jefa de hogar, empleada o intelectual
Yo puedo ser protagonista de nuestra historia y la que agita
La gente la comunidad, la que despierta la vecindad
La que organiza la economía de su casa de su familia
Mujer linda se pone de pie
Y a romper las cadenas de la piel
CORO
No sumisa ni obediente
mujer fuerte insurgente
independiente y valiente
romper las cadenas de lo indiferente
no pasiva ni oprimida
mujer linda que das vida
emancipada en autonomía
antipatriarca y alegría
A liberar....

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Music Break - Grace Potter

This came up on Spotify and I instantly fell in love with the grinding guitar and the kickass lyrics. Seriously, these three lines right here sold me on this song:

They told me to keep it quiet
Said my day would never come
So I screamed my lungs out and I ran straight for the sun."

I don't know much about Grace Potter, but you can be sure I'll be checking her out over the next couple of days.

Look What We've Become

They told you to keep your head down
They told you not to run
They told you "we're sorry, you're not the fortunate one"
They told me to keep it quiet
Said my day would never come
So I screamed my lungs out and I ran straight for the sun

And they always told us we would be nothing
Look what we've done (look what we've done)
And they always told us we would be nothing
But look what we've become (look what we've become)

And they told you you don't understand
They told you, "let it go"
And then they took you by the hand
And led you out the door
Your words don't make a sound
My dreams are on the floor
But you're rising up from underground
And I'm nothing like I was before

And they always told us we would be nothing
But look what we've done (look what we've done)
And they always told us we would be nothing
Now look what we've become (look what we've become)

They say it's over now
The world is over you
They told me "no regrets"
There's nothing you can do
But I won't fade to black
On the walk that will be damned
I'll wear my heart like a flag and run
Straight for the sun

Always told us we would be nothing
And they always told us we would be nothing

Told us "keep your heads down"
They told us not to run
They told us "we're sorry, you're not the chosen ones"
They told us to keep it quiet
And said our day would never come
So we screamed our bloody lungs out and ran straight for the sun

And they always told us we would be nothing
And look what we've done (look what we've done)
And they always told us we would be nothing
But look what we've become (look what we've become)

Look what we've become

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Music Break - Miley Cyrus, Joan Jett and Laura Jane Grace

I really like this version of "Androgynous!" I was a Replacements fan way back in the day (a long, long time ago, in the dark ages before the Internet), and have always liked this song. It's such a sweet, upbeat song about love and joyful self-expression.

Joan Jett did a cover several years ago, with a great video, which you can watch here.

And more recently she joined up with Against Me! (founded and led by Laura Jane Grace), making an already great cover that much more awesome. Watch it here.

So, it seems only natural that when Miley Cyrus launched her Happy Hippie Foundation benefiting homeless LGBTQ youth, she'd pick these two amazing ladies to help her, and that they'd record a performance of this great song. So appropriate! So rockin'! This makes me so very happy!

They look like they're having such a great time!



Why is this so important? Joan Jett has long been an inspiration to young women who don't fit into the girly-girl mode. That she's joined up with singer and trans activist Laura Jane Grace is wonderful in itself, bringing more attention to the issues around gender and gender identity. That Miley Cyrus is using her platform to assist homeless youth, and especially the most vulnerable, is truly commendable.

Just a few statistics from the Happy Hippie Foundation:

• 1.6 million youth are homeless each year
• 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBT, and family rejection is the most common reason LGBT youth experience homelessness
• 25% of homeless youth were previously physically or sexually abused
• Nearly one in three transgender people have been turned away from shelters

So brava ladies! Brava!

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Music Break - Iyeoka

I saw this video shared on my personal Google+ page, and have completely fallen head over heels for this song, this video, and this woman. I don't know anything about her, or what other songs she's done. But I want to know more. A lot more!

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Music Break - Lisa Hannigan

This song is a couple of years old, but it seems to perfectly fit my mood today. Calm, quiet, upbeat... and that giddy hopefulness of meeting someone new and wanted to get to know them better.

Perfect background music for the book review I'm working on right now.

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Music Break - Maria Callas

Today's the birthday of one of the finest operatic sopranos of the 1950s and '60s, Marie Callas.

Here she performs one of my favorite pieces from one of my favorite operas, "Habanera," from Bizet's Carmen.

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Music Break - Karen O.

I'm traveling this week, visiting a friend's parents in Arizona, which is quite nice. It's like a mini vacation, with lots of relaxing afternoons of just sitting and chatting. On the trip driving through the desert, we had to rely on my very limited supply of music on my phone. Which is not much. But, one of my favorites is on there: The Where the Wild Things Are Soundtrack.

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Music Break - Mapei

Did you know that you can follow SRPS on Bloglovin?

I just discovered this song on Spotify and have already listened to it something like a bajillion times. Like this is my new anthem. I hadn't heard of Mapei before, but you can be sure I'll be listening to her other work more now too!

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Music Break - La Santa Cecilia

I love La Santa Cecilia, and have been listening to them a lot lately. This song, in particular, has been rolling around in my head. I love their take on the Beatles' classic. It's exactly as you'd expect it to be. Only more beautiful and poignant.

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Music Break - Megan Washington

I can't tell if this is a break-up song, or a morning-after song, or what. Regardless, I like it. It feels honest and a little vulnerable.

The song is really catchy. It reminds me a lot of those moody songs I'd listen to as a teenager in the 1980s. And the video is perfect. It captures the ache of loss and regret.



Limitless

Though you saw it coming it was not your fault
Oh, in the morning gave you what you want
No, you couldn't hold in your lowered head
Oh, you shoulda told me this was limitless
There's a certain kind of lonely
Where you sleep in your jeans
And I know that kind
You can tell me that you know me
When you know what that means
And that you don't mind
Special kind of dreaming
When you sleep with the television on
And with the lights on
And with your clothes on
And with your shoes on
Though you saw it coming it was not your fault
Oh, in the morning gave you want you want
No, you couldn't hold it in your lowered head
Oh, you shoulda told me this was limitless
Ooh
There's a certain sort of lonely
Where you sleep in your jeans
And I know that sort
You can tell me that you know me
When you know what that means
And it's what you want
Special sort of dreaming
When you sleep with the television on
And with the lights on
And with your clothes on
And with your shoes on
Will you please remember to mention me
To the ones who loved you
Do you feel the sinking, sinking feeling
When I'm thinking of you
Though you saw it coming it was not your fault
Oh, in the morning gave you what you want
Oh, it was as if I'd been a gift to you
Oh, it was as if because I wanted to
Though you saw it coming it was not your fault
Oh, in the morning gave you what you want
Oh, I didn't mean to fall into this mess
Oh, you shoulda told me this was limitless
Won't you please remember to mention me
To the ones who loved you
Do you feel the sinking, sinking feeling
When I'm thinking of you
Won't you please remember to mention me
To the ones who loved you
Do you feel a sinking, sinking feeling
When I'm thinking of you
Ooh, oooh
Ooh, oooh

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Music Break - Dorothy Maynor

Today is the birthday of the amazingly talented Dorothy Maynor, American soprano, concert singer, and the founder of the Harlem School of the Arts.



Dorothy was born in 1910. Her father, Reverend J. Mainor, was a local African-American Methodist minister in Norfolk, Virginia. She was a student at the Hampton Institute where she studied under R. Nathaniel Dett, one of the most successful black composers of the time, recognized for his blending of folk songs and spirituals with choral and piano compositions. She graduated from the Institute in 1933, and continued her education at the Westminster Choir School in Princeton, New Jersey, where she had won a four year scholarship.

During a  performance at the Berkshire Festival in 1939, she caught the attention of Sergei Koussevitzky, conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He was so impressed by her, he arranged for her to sing at The Town Hall in New York City on December 9, 1939. As a result of this performance, she was awarded the Town Hall Endowment Series Award for 1940. Now living in New York, she took lessons by renown voice instructors William Clamroth and John Alan Haughton.



Racist policies restricted performers of color from singing in opera houses. Despite this, Maynor was a highly sought-after performer and toured extensively, traveling around the United States, Europe, and Latin America, performing in concert halls and on the radio.

In 1964 she founded the Harlem School of the Arts to enable the children of Harlem to take classes in music, ballet, modern dance, drama and art for a minimal fee, and loaned or rented instruments to those who needed them.

"What I dream of is changing the image held by the children. We've made them believe everything beautiful is outside the community. We would like them to make beauty in our community."

Under her directorship the school grew exponentially, from 20 students to 1,000 by the time she retired in 1979. She raised more than $2 million to build a new facility for the school in 1977.

In 1975, after having been prevented from performing in many of the opera houses around the country, she became the first African-American on the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Opera.

If you like the work I do here on SRPS, please support me!

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You may also be interested in:

SRPS Shout-Out - Althea Gibson
"Shaking hands with the Queen of England was a long way from being forced to sit in the colored section of the bus going into downtown Wilmington, North Carolina." "I want the public to remember me as they knew me: athletic, smart, and healthy.... Remember me strong and tough and quick, fleet of foot and tenacious."

Josephine Groves Holloway - A True Girl Scout
One such devoted Girl Scout leader was Josephine Groves Holloway. In 1923, Josephine, the daughter of a Methodist minister and a recent graduate from Fisk University with a degree in sociology, was working as a social worker for the Bethlehem Center in Nashville, Tennessee, a Methodist-run family resource center serving the black community.

Eliza Ann Grier - the first black woman to receive a MD in Georgia
Very little is known about her early life. She was born during the Civil War. Her parents were slaves in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, which made her a slave as well. After emancipation, her family moved to Atlanta, where she grew up and attended school. She originally intended to become a teacher, and attended Fisk University.

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