In the early Spring
of 1974, about the time that the Olivia music collective organized in Washington,
DC, native Washingtonian Indra "Indy' Allen began publishing a newsletter,
Musica,
chronicling the performers, venues, and issues of women's music.
Though the publication began in Washington, DC and gave news of women's
music developments in that area, its scope was truly national. Musica
appears to have begun shortly before the Women's Soul Collective's publication
Paid
My Dues. A decade after Musica's start, Toni Armstrong
Jr. created the next indispensable guide to women's music, Hot Wire.
Musica is
an important resource for students, researchers, and members of the general
public interested in the early days of US women's music. Musica
is also important to LGBTQ research for its coverage of lesbian artists
nationwide.
Indra Allen performed
as a songwriter, guitarist and singer in her own right. In 1973 she
released one of the earliest feminist record albums, Loner, produced
by Cell 16.
The
six issues following are reprinted with the kind permission of the author/editor.
Unsigned
drawings in the issues are the work of Indra Allen.
contents. Women's
record companies; recordings available; events, concerts and performances;
who is performing where; contacts for performers and groups; Women's Music
Group (DC); music herstory
contents.
Festivals: 1st National Women's Music Festival & Lesbian Music Festival;
Olivia Records; Women's Music Network, Berkeley Lesbian AIr Collective;
women's songbook; The Gangband (Santa Rosa, CA); Casse Culver; Mimiram
Dvorin-Heoner and the Moonshine Women's Jug Band; performer and group contacts;
who's performing where; Jackie Jones; Louise Talma.
contents. Feminist
songbook; 2nd issue of Paid My Dues; Sophie's Parlor radio (DC);
Sweet Alliance Studio (DC); Lima Bean Records (DC); sources of women's
recordings; report on the First National Women's Music Festival; Nashville
benefit; DC benefit for Olivia Records; Ruth Crawford; who's performing
where; Tours: Casse Culver, Willie Tyson, Meg Christian; women's music
coverage in other media; Kate & Anna McGarrigle; performer and group
contacts.
contents.
News of women's bands and other groups (Isis, Bebe K'Roche, Berkeley Women's
Music Collective, Earth, New Haven Woment's Liberation Rock Band, Raw Honey,
Baby Grand, Deadly Nightshade, B S Sugar, Arlington Street Women's Caucus,
Victoria Woodhull Marching Band, IND Strong Quartet); artist news; coverage
of the first National Women's Music Festival; Amazon Music Project; women's
music in the coffeehouses; Feminist Radio Network; Lima Bean Records; Olivia
Records news; Musicians Network; Songbooks; Womantalent Productions; Wildwest
Production Company; performer and group contacts.
contents.
Tapes of 1st National Women's Music Festival, Casse Culver, Womenfolk song
project; new records; sources for buying women's music; news of women's
music groups: Be Be K'Roche; Lilith; Raw Honey, Berkeley Women's Music
Collective, and
others; news of 2nd National Women's Music Festival and plans for the 3rd;
Womens' Music Network; Women's Music Communications Network; Women in Distribution;
performer and group contacts; guide to producing concerts; new publications;
Creative Women in the Arts.
contents.
News from the 3rd National Women's Music Festival, Michigan Women's Festival,
3rd annual Colorado Women's Festival, Music West; Next National Women's
Music Festival; publications with news of women's music; Songwriters Resources
and Services; San Francisco festival; interview with Jerene Jackson;
Joan Lowe; new women's music recordings; women's music group news; Ladyslipper
Music; report on discrimination in the music world; women in orchestras;
performer and group contacts; about Musica.
An
essential reference for anyone interested in the LGBTQ musical heritage
is J D Doyle's Queer Music Heritage site at www.queermusicheritage.com.
Doyle's collection of music and interviews is encyclopedic.
