It's June! Allow us to tune you in to some of the coolest shows and events happening around town this month featuring our Lady Brain members! 

​Every Sunday - Mary Bee's Finding Harmony
This travel docu-series follows singer and host Mary Bee on the adventure of a lifetime across Europe as she makes friends with and sings with artists in different countries. The series focuses on the love of music and friendships grown during collaboration. More info

Saturday, June 1 - Art Around Adams
Many of our members will be performing as a part of this two mile art and music walk throughout the communities of Normal Heights and Kensington. The free festival is scheduled from 12-8pm, with performances happening at various venues and stages. More info

​Saturday, June 8 - Steph Johnson and Voices of Our City Choir at Laurel House Concert Series
Join Steph Johnson, Voices of Our City Choir, and special guest Eve Selis from 7-10pm at this private concert series in Oceanside. $25 Tickets. More info

Thursday, June 20 - Lady Brain Presents at Fair Trade Decor
Our next community gathering is going to be one for the books! Karina Frost has curated an awesome lineup (Ren Daversa and The Wicked Cool, Calamity, Trish Naval, and The Banduvloons) for your listening pleasure. She has also dedicated 15% of the proceeds from the door to Madre Assunta shelter in Tijuana. The venue is a really cool boutique in Coronado that is keeping its doors open after hours to welcome us into their space. Your attendance supports local business, local artists, and most importantly, our sisters in need. More info

Find more info about these and other member happenings over at our Calendar page!

Here are some live, local happenings from Lady Brain members going on this April! We hope one of these listings will inspire you to be physically present for some soul-inspiring, heart-healing art and music!
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Saturday, April 13 - The Spiritual Motels on Fallbrook Live Lineup
The Spiritual Motels (Amy Day's duo project with songwriter Omar Musisko) will be performing a Fallbrook Live event at the Pala Mesa Resort on Saturday, April 13th. Other acts on the lineup include SDMA winner Casey Hensley, Julia Othmer, Nick Crook, and Grace & Jesse Batey. 

Saturday, April 13 and Thursday, April 18 - Tori Roze & Johnny Alexander at Bella Vista Caffe
Some more awesome duo action for your ear holes - catch Tori and Johnny not once, but twice this month at Bella Vista Caffe in La Jolla from 5:30-7:30pm.

Sunday, April 14 - Marlo Smith and Ren Diversa at Makers & Music Vintage and Handmade Faire
Hang out with Marlo Smith and Ren Diversa from 10am to 2pm on Sunday, April 14 at Heritage Ranch in Encinitas for the Makers & Music Vintage and Handmade Fair.  

Wednesday, April 17 - Lizzie Wann Poetry Book Release Party
San Diego poet Lizzie Wann will be releasing her latest published work “The Hospice Bubble & Other Devastating Affirmations" on Wednesday, April 17 at Whistle Stop in South Park. (Pre-order copies now!) The event will include readings from Wann, Judy Reeves, Julie Corrales, Sharon Elise, and Robt O'Sulliven, with musical guest Lindsay White (full band, including fellow Lady Brain member Jules Stewart on drums).

Friday, April 19 - Astra Kelly at The Rabbit Hole
This great venue in Normal Heights supports live, local artists with free nightly showcases - come out Friday, April 19 from 6-9pm to enjoy some tunes from Lady Brain member Astra Kelly.

Saturday, April 27 - Adams Avenue Unplugged in Normal Heights
You can watch several Lady Brain performers at this year's Adams Avenue Unplugged free musical walkabout. Make sure to catch:

12:00pm - Marie Haddad - Kensington Cafe
1:00pm - CalAmity (ft. Cathryn Beeks) - The Ould Sod 
1:00pm - The Banduvloons (ft. Karina Frost & Lillian Lefranc) - El Zarape
2:00pm - Rosa's Cantina (ft. Carissa Schroeder) - The Rabbit Hole
7:00pm - Dixie Maxwell (w/ Paige Miller on percussion) - Lestat's West
7:00pm - Corina Rose - AC Lounge
8:00pm - The Spiritual Motels (ft. Amy Day) - Polite Provisions

Saturday-Sunday, April 27 & 28 - Mission Federal Art Walk in Little Italy
Just like Adams Avenue Unplugged, this (also free!) April event in Little Italy features an amazing lineup of local creatives. While at Art Walk, don't forget to check out some of our Lady Brain members!

Saturday:
11:00am - Allegra Duchaine
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Sunday: 
3:30pm - Marie Haddad - India & Fir St. (playing w/ band and special guests)
3:30pm - Jessica Lerner duo - Second Stage
5:00pm - Corina Rose - Cedar & India

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​​CalAmity is a San Diego-based all-female band made up of local folk/Americana all-stars Cathryn Beeks (ukulele, vocals), Nisha Catron (guitar, harmonica, vocals), Marcia Claire (bass, vocals), Kristen Cusato (cajon), and Jules Whelpton (violin). One of the hardest working women in the San Diego music scene for over at least the last fifteen years, Beeks tapped into her finely tuned DIY skills to film, direct, and star alongside bandmates in the newest music video for their song “After All.” With her incredibly diverse skill set in hand and a talented band to boot, this visual homage to a lesser-known historical location is a lovely display of not just Beeks's ideas, but CalAmity’s pure heart and soul.

According to Beeks, “This song is about The Teten Farm House, an exhibit at the San Dieguito Heritage Museum. The home was built in 1892 by Olivenhain colonist, Fred Teten.” The scene opens with a charming black and white photo and the ominous sound of crows cawing, hinting at a rustic time and place that was once the everyday norm. Fast forward to the present day and you’re immediately transported to a gracefully cohesive narrative tying the two time periods together: same place, different time.

The song begins with violin, guitar, bass, cajon and a ukulele. A three-part vocal harmony reminiscent of The Dixie Chicks (but with way more rock-and-roll grit under their fingernails) carries the tune through the choruses, creating a solid wall of sound to tell this unique tale. Catron oscillates between acoustic guitar, harmonica,
and vocals, creating a lullaby-like calmness to the music that sounds as if we have entered into a proper Oh Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack. Now the mood is perfectly set. Welcome to the Teten Farm House at Heritage Ranch in Encinitas, CA.

The lighting is absolutely lovely: warm and cool sentiments signify when one is nostalgically recalling the past versus the present, while candlelight recalls those that are no longer here. It works seamlessly. Visually there is a ritualistic witchy-ness to it all – a discernible Stevie Nicks vibe that mysteriously and immediately draws you in.

After we have met our ranch care-takers, Mary Lou and John Binkinz (who are descendants of the original settlers), CalAmity suddenly appears – five strong women sitting ephemerally with their instruments. They are dream-like pillars of herstory representing the people who once lived in the house where they filmed. The video continually moves throughout the ranch dwelling with all five members of the band floating in and out of the scene. Quiet, secretive, and reverent – the detailed connectivity to feminine energy is honored in abundance.

Astoundingly thoughtful and intentional, Beek’s cinematography is meant to give you a warm hug, emanating the sense of being let into the band’s space of self-reflection. The “nurturers and care-takers” of the world are shown in pink lighting and white vintage lace. White gloves are strewn about the wooden dresser nestled alongside classical monochromatic family photos. There is a delicate continuity sewing together the fabric of this miniature film.

As CalAmity “comes and goes” from shot to shot, it signifies the impermanence of our own being and the prospect of someday no longer being able to tell our own stories. There is a bittersweet tug at the heart strings when one considers no longer physically, but spiritually inhabiting a space. The lyrics reinforce that disposition:

The Museum lights ain’t on tonight / It’s giving me such a fright
After all, after all, after all the folks are gone

Fred built this place in 1893 /I feel him here, same as you and me
After all, after all, after all it's still his home

Everything has memories / Each one tells a tale.
If you listen you will hear / If they want to tell

Walking ‘round this place at night / Singing ‘spirits go to the light
After all, after all, there's sanctuary in these walls

This song and video stand as CalAmity’s personal museum time capsule. And now it serves as a historical time-marker for both the band and Teten Farm House. Their vision is clear: everything has a story that should be
excavated, acknowledged, and celebrated. It inspires you to want to go and take a tour of the
Teten Farm House for yourself just to soak up its roots.

Since the video’s January release, CalAmity has been on a “studio tour," trading promo videos of San Diego studios/producers in exchange for a song – a system of creative exchange helping to truly build a solid local music community. “After All" was recorded by Marti Amadao of AmadoMusic, while other tunes were recorded with Jeff Berkley, Maria Connors, Josquin Despres, and Sven Erik Seaholm. The band plans on releasing a new song/video every six to eight weeks, so be on the lookout via YouTube and Soundcloud.

Don't miss the opportunity to see them live (in the space where the video was filmed!) on July 7 for the first annual Lady Brain Fest at Heritage Ranch - details coming soon!