Wow wow wow. Woweee. Wowzers. <--- If you had a chance to experience last week's Lady Brain Presents Takeover of Grampa Drew's Flim Flam Revue, you likely had a reaction similar to this. Although many of the evening's featured musicians were absolutely winging it (true to Flim Flam nature), it sounded as if all the womxn on stage had been rehearsing their whole lives for this moment. The energy in the room was that magical. These womxn (particularly our jaw-droppingly talented house band) delivered stellar performance after improvised performance. Everyone in the venue was into it because they couldn't take their eyes and ears off of it. 

Special thanks to Julia Sage for curating the whole shebang, to Grampa Drew for inviting Lady Brain Presents en masse onto the Flim Flam Stage, and to all the patrons at Whistle Stop who drank and tipped their way toward a $600+ donation to RAINN.org. The entire gathering reflected our mission of supporting local womxn creators and working together with our community to make a positive impact on the world around us.

​We hope you continue to follow along with Lady Brain Presents, and help us execute this vision. If you're a San Diego-based womxn-identifying creative, please consider joining! And if you are an art and culture-loving local, please check out our upcoming events and find ways to get involved here. See you soon!

We love a good takeover! Cross-collaborating with our friends in the creative community is where it's at. On Sunday, April 19 from 1:30-4pm, Lady Brain Collective will be featured (along with book club members) at the San Diego Songwriter's Book Club series, which is organized and hosted by collective member Unison Colthurst. ​

Thank you to everyone who came out to February's sold-out community gathering entitled Love in the Round. We kicked things off with a couple tunes from our gracious host Bonnie Nicholls, followed by a Nashville-style songwriters round featuring Astra Kelly and Carissa Schroeder. The space was made all the more lovely thanks to artwork and decoration from Barbara Rutherford, not to mention the loving attention from our listening room audience! 

Special thanks to our water sponsor Topo Chico for keeping everyone hydrated! If you're interested in getting involved, there are so many ways to contribute. Please consider becoming a Lady Brain Lover or Community Gathering Sponsor - these generous folks help our young organization grow and thrive. Or, if you have venue space and/or any other items to donate toward our cause, we want to hear from you! As we always say, art is a team sport, and we really appreciate ALL of the folks on our team.

ON DECK: Don't miss out on our March community gathering, happening this Saturday, March 7 from 5-8pm at Whistle Stop, where we'll be hosting a Lady Brain Presents takeover of the long-running music series Grampa Drew's Flim Flam Revue. This 21+ event is free, and a portion of the bar sales will benefit RAINN, the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization.

photo credit: City6Studios and Barbara Rutherford

​This edition of Grampadrew's Flim Flam Revue is gonna be one for the books! Julia Sage will host the first ever Lady Brain Presents Flim Flam Takeover, and these womxn are gonna bring the house down. Grab a drink, take a seat (if you find one) and get ready for a happy hour you won't forget! And to make it even MORE awesome, this show's proceeds will go to benefit RAINN, so make sure to bring some cash for the tip bucket! (because as always, Flim Flam is a free show).

Even though there was no official Lady Brain Presents community gathering this month, some of us decided to gather together at Bad Ass Coffee in Rancho Penasquitos to support Lady Brain Collective member and open mic co-host Naiomi. It was awesome and inspiring to be in a room with so many creative people expressing themselves in so many different ways. We'll definitely be back!

Thanks to all who performed, volunteered, donated and/or attended our final community gathering of the year! We decked the halls, our musical guests were FIRE, we raffled off nearly $2k in gifts (which allowed us to almost double the venue's guarantee and pay our performers more), and we donated a car-full of winter clothing and blankets to our community's former foster youth experiencing homelessness. That is how it's done, fam!

Here's a short video recap of the fun:

And here are a few photos from Vanessa Dubois of XPOSD Photography. For the full album, visit our Facebook page!

Save the date! On Sunday, December 8, Lady Brain Presents will host its first annual holiday party at The Holding Company (5046 Newport Ave, San Diego, CA). The free, 21+ concert, titled “Home is Where the Art is,” will run from 4-8pm and features performances by Chloe Lou and The Liddells (retro rock/soul), Julia Sage and The Bad Hombres (South Americana), Miki Vale, (hip-hop) and special guests including emcee Tori Roze.
In addition to musical performances, the event will feature a raffle, a collaborative art activity for all attendees, and a winter clothing drive to benefit North County Lifeline’s LifeSpring Program, which offers transitional housing for former foster youth and youth experiencing homelessness. Guests are encouraged to bring (preferably new) beanies, gloves, scarves, socks, blankets.

“This holiday showcase doubles as an anniversary party for Lady Brain Collective,” says Lady Brain Presents organizer Lindsay White. “Just a year ago we were a small group of 12, and now we have over 100 members connecting and collaborating throughout the community. It’s a beautiful thing.”

THE BASICS
Home is Where the Art is - Holiday Party & Winter Clothing Drive
hosted by Lady Brain Presents

DATE: Sunday, December 8, 2019
LOCATION: The Holding Company -5046 Newport Ave, San Diego, CA
TIME: 4-8pm
NO COVER, 21+

PERFORMING:
Chloe Lou and The Liddells 
Julia Sage and The Bad Hombres 
Miki Vale
& special guests!
Emceed by Tori Roze.

WHAT TO BRING:
-(preferably new) beanies, gloves, scarves, socks, blankets for our winter clothing drive
-cash for raffle/merch

WHAT TO WEAR:
Something festive!

We had such a wonderful day at yesterday's community gathering! Special thanks to the Lipson family for hosting us at their beautiful home, to all our featured performers, guest artist Amanda Pulis, and to Susan Lipson for facilitating a wonderful creative writing exercise for all attendees. We work hard to build safe spaces for our members and the community to create, connect, express, and be vulnerable with each other. Mission accomplished! 

The theme of this month's gathering was A Way With Words - each performer was asked to share not only their work, but also the inspiration and stories that inspired each piece. We heard about several topics ranging from mental health to grief to aging and more. The common denominator was that each artist combined creativity and resilience to process, heal, and help others. What a beautiful way to cope and connect!

Community gatherings are special because we get to showcase our members' work to the community and because we ask guests to tap into their own creativity. It was wonderful to see so many attendees not only participate in our writing exercise, but also jump up on the mic to share their newly written pieces.

Don't miss out on the next community gathering! We hope you'll join us for next month's holiday party and clothing drive on 12/8 at The Holding Company in Ocean Beach. Want to know more about our showcases? Be sure to sign up for email updates, plus you can also always find showcase info on our homepage. Lastly, if you believe in our cause, please consider becoming a Lady Brain Lover or sponsor so we can continue bringing these awesome events to San Diego!

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!