We're excited to announce our next community gathering! On November 17, we invite you to join us for a storytelling showcase featuring lyrics, poetry, and prose from several members of the Lady Brain Collective, including Lizzie Wann, Lillian Lefranc, Becca Jay, Lisa Brackmann, Abby Dorsey, Mary Hamer, Bonnie Nicholls, Lindsay White, and Susan Lipson. Our exhibiting artist will be new Lady Brain member Amanda Lea - her work is unreal! In addition to the showcase, we will be offering an (optional) creative writing activity for all attendees, facilitated by our host Susan Lipson. The event will take place at a private residence in Poway, and seating is limited, so make sure to RSVP as soon as possible to reserve your space!

Thanks to all who came out to Lestat's last night to enjoy original music from Rebekkah Darling, Karyn Ann, and Julia Sage. It was lovely seeing Lady Brain Members in the audience supporting their sisters - that's the whole goal of this group! Listening rooms are a wonderful way to experience original music from local and touring acts - it was such a treat to hear these artists in such an intimate setting. 

Wanna get in on this Lady Brain love fest? Here's how you can support!

Thanks to Robonzo for doing this special episode of The Unstarving Musician podcast to help promote our October Community Gathering. Check out his interview with Portland-based touring artist Karyn Ann, who will be performing at the upcoming showcase alongside Lady Brain Collective members Rebekkah Darling and Julia Sage.

Saturday, October 19 - Rock The March Benefit Concert in El Cajon
Women's March San Diego presents an evening of music with several Lady Brain Members on the lineup, including premier activist band The Resizters who are releasing their new CD Upload Democracy (filled with all the resistance music you love), and special guests Veronica May, Lisa Sanders and Lindsay White, Best Singer Songwriter 2018 San Diego Music Awards! More info

We had a feeling last night's community gathering would be pretty special, and we were right! Special thanks to Marlo Smith and Barbara Rutherford for doing all the heavy lifting (as well as our host Buck). And a shout-out to Mr. Moto Pizza for donating pizza so food proceeds could go toward the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. We're so grateful to all of our artists, musicians, and community members for coming together in this space to share art and be vulnerable around the topics of death and dying. Grief is such a universal experience, but it's all too often experienced in solitude. We hope events like this can help make it easier to connect with each other and foster more compassion in our community. 

Thank you to members who attended yesterday's workshop on DIY publicity! Shout out to Amy Day for hosting us at her house. It was great to see some first-timers in the mix and also to welcome several types of creators. This month, we talked about DIY Publicity. Lindsay White shared some tips and tricks for securing media placements when you don't have a budget to hire a publicist. Afterward, we opened the discussion up to the group about best practices for promotion. It was helpful to hear so many different ideas and perspectives. Lots of great info!

This edition of Boss Ladies is brought to you by member Carissa Schroeder, who reviews “Amulet," the latest single from Lizabeth Yandel.

If Lizabeth Yandel ever decides to throw in the proverbial music towel, it’s safe to say she has a solid future letting her subconscious mind design interiors for the trendy, San Diego restaurant group, Consortium Holdings (Born & Raised, False Idol, Craft & Commerce). Her latest single, “Amulet,” was born from a dream in which she sat, having a drink alone, “in a narrow little tavern lit by small star-shaped lights. It was decorated with vining plants and pieces of stained glass strung from the ceiling, which was almost completely comprised of windows.” The moon was out. She sat in her booth and sang the first verse of “Amulet” – a song that was fully completed and already in existence in dreamland – when an oddly specific 2000’s version of Erykah Badu appeared with her squad and started singing along in lush harmony.

You’ve gotta love dreams.

What I wouldn’t give to step inside this woman’s head for a day! It seems so magical. Truthfully, she did an incredible job of capturing that sense of whimsy and magic in the song. Her ability to bring her inner world out through music is uncanny. I could place my own two feet in that tavern if music could physically transport my body.​

By experiencing the audio playground that is “Amulet,” it’s clear that Yandel embodies the reason that people need to start paying better attention to the local music that is happening right beneath their noses. This song has everything it needs to become a favorite in your rotation – it’s (literally) dreamy, well-written and recorded, and it has a lyrical, soul-forward, message that we so desperately need right now.

Yandel, who has admittedly battled with depression, feelings of hopelessness, and even mild suicidal thoughts, calls this song, “a heart-aching celebration of music for all the ways and times it has saved my life.” Her lyric, “Be alive,” swirls around repeatedly at the end of the song, like a mantra, reminding us that it’s a “constant choice to stay alive” and fight life’s battles.

I believe that this is truly what we need to hear, right now, as a collective. When so many of us these days report suffering from anxiety, depression and isolation, it’s no wonder we are maligned with what seems like endless news of suicide, mass shootings, and unspeakable violence.

If American society is teetering on a narrow ledge – dangerously see-sawing between a destructive past built on problems swept under the rug, and an unforeseen future where we publicly acknowledge our wounds and heal them – Yandel fits neatly into the pocket of the phrase, “Think globally, act locally.”

How many lives could be changed, or even saved, with music like this? How many people need to hear the words, “it’s your one true light, let it guide you through, you don’t have to hide…” or, “at the center of all our darkest secrets is one same song, beating right in time…”?

Yandel has a new fan in me, and the next time I’m feeling disconnected from others, or untethered to my purpose, I will revisit this dream. I will let this multi-dimensional, creatrix of a womxn remind me that “we are lyrics written from the stars,” and that “we can be free inside our minds.” I will find solace here in her divination, and a peaceful knowing that I am not alone in this fight to stay alive.

Stay connected: http://lizabethyandel.com

Additional Credits:
Drums & Intrument Tracking - Jules Stewart 
Bass - Melanie Medina
Backing Vocals - Siena Beacham, Jillian Wilding, and Shala Harmony (from SD Resistance Revival Chorus)
Mix/mastered by Victor Franca, Track Town Records in Eugene, OR
Single art - Johnny Hoolko

Wednesday, September 4 - Julia Sage and The Bad Hombres at The Holding Company
Local band showcase.  Come on out and party with us!  Julia Sage and The Bad Hombres starting at 9 pm sharp. More info

Thursday, September 12 - Golden Howl at Til Two with The Strawberry Moons and The Powerballs
More info

​Friday, September 13 - Chris Avetta & Golden Howl at Moose Lodge in Oceanside

Saturday, September 14 - Kinship Cafe Singer-Songwriter Showcase at Eve Encinitas
This showcase at Eve Encinitas will feature short sets from six acts, each of which includes at least one woman, and four of which feature Lady Brain members: The Banduvloons, Dixie Maxwell and Lee Coulter, Mayzie Jean, and The Spiritual Motels (plus The Shift and Dulaney and Company).  7-10:30pm, $10, all ages.  More info

Saturday, September 21 - Calamity at Artwalk Carlsbad
Don't miss the gals from Calamity playing originals during Artwalk Carlsbad from 3:15 to 4pm. No cover, all ages. More info

Sunday, September 22 - Tori Roze and the Hot Mess at Coronado Music Festival
This inaugural three day music festival kicks off on Friday September 20, with Tori Roze and the Hote Mess headlining on Sunday, September 22. The family-friendly weekend features local and regional musical talent of all genres and visual art. This marks the first event for Coronado Music and Arts Foundation(CMAF), a nonprofit, whose mission is to provide cultural music and art experiences for at risk and homeless individuals including youth and special needs adults through a variety of settings in Coronado and San Diego. More info

Thursday, September 26 - Lady Brain Presents Community Gathering In Celebration of Life
Lady Brain Presents is back with a special art/music/spoken word showcase centering around the topics of death, dying, and existence. Join us at a private Ocean Beach residence around 6:30pm for sunset, social hour, and art viewing. Performances will kick off around 7:30pm. $10 Suggested Donation, proceeds will benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. More info

Thanks to all who attended our August meet-up! Shout out to Jessica Lerner for hosting us and setting up a lovely mimosa station! This month's special guest was Kelsea Rae Little, Media Director at GoFundMe and host of True Stories of Good People podcast. Kelsea fielded our questions about crowdfunding and shared her story of how she got involved with GoFundMe, as well as severals stories of some of the everyday heroes who have used the platform to do good work in the world. There was not a dry eye in the room!