Considering the Ditty Bops

So, The Ditty Bops are, without a doubt, my favorite contemporary lesbian ragtime boogie band. The band is frontlined by Amanda Barrett and Abby Dewald, women as talented as they are feisty. And, in October of 2008, they tied the knot. That’s right—after ten years of bicycle riding, environmental and social activism, and breathtaking harmonies (not to mention being named Go magazine’s most captivating couple of the year in 2008), Amanda and Abby got married!

(And just in time, too… just a few short weeks later the evil monster of homophobia reared its ugly head in the guise of Proposition 8, reversing the In re Marriage Cases that allowed same-sex marriages in California. So here I pause for a slight aside… what are you doing to prevent the longevity and spread of similar injustices where you live?)

And their marriage isn’t even all that Amanda and Abby have to celebrate: Their new album Summer Rains has been nominated for a Grammy award for best packaging: it’s made from recycled materials and has pop-ups! What’s not to like? Also, it’s their first album on an indie label, after leaving Warner Brothers following their sophomore album Moon Over the Freeway. So, there are several reasons to dig a little in your pocket and get the CD itself; not only will you be supporting a kick-ass independent musical group, but you’ll be getting nifty creative artwork that bootlegs just don’t have.

So what’s going to come next? Another coast-to-coast tour on bicycle like back in 2006 when they rode their bikes from L. A. to New York on a 4,700-mile, 40-show tour? Not likely—although they say they want to do another bike tour at some point, they are looking into shorter tours and more bike-friendly locations for said tour (which is good news if you live in Europe or Japan, the two places they named as most likely for musical cycling extravaganza). In fact, Amanda named Europe as one of the places she is most eager to take the “Summer Rains” tour to.

Or maybe another Farm Tour like they did last summer, in which they raised thousands of dollars for small farms? There’s no word confirming this, but it is unlikely that their days of activism are over. So perhaps we can expect something in conjunction with You and I Save the World, the non-profit organization that they started (http://www.youandisavetheworld.org/), a very possible future possibility for the band: Amanda has said in an interview that “we're working on a new musical show about how our trash effects our environment.” What form would this show take? Well, it’s too soon to tell… but it is safe to say that their many fans are eagerly awaiting the Ditty Bops’ next foot-tapping, boogie-licious, world-improving move.

A Big Queer Music Blog is Born

The 16th annual Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Ally College Conference (MBLGTACC, usually just referred to as the “Big Gay Conference”) was held at Indiana University in Bloomington from February 13th-15th, 2009. This, of course, meant only one thing—it was time resurrect the Big Gay Minivan, load it up with some of my favorite queer friends, and hit the road.


Now, the decorating of the Big Gay Minivan has become an annual ritual each February; last year, I was ecstatic that a photograph of it was featured in the slideshow that prefaces the final keynote speaker (Angela Davis). So, we figured we really had to crank it up a notch this year: each person decorated his, her, or hir window with technicolor queer prowess … and then, to top it all off, we hung rainbow Christmas lights on the interior ceiling of the van (yes, the back seat was the red light district)… Not only was the BGM featured once again in the pre-final-keynote slideshow (this time before a presentation by Rose Troche), but we were also given props by the conference organizers, and the entire auditorium gave us a round of applause!



A thorough recounting of the entire weekend would be lengthy, sacrilicious, and possibly mildly incriminating (j/k, of course!), so I’m just going to get right to the point and describe the events that led to the genesis of this blog. On Saturday the 14th, I attended a workshop led by Rachel Gollay entitled “32 Flavors and Then Some: Performing Queer Identities in Popular and Independent Music.” This workshop explored several questions, such as: “What does it mean to be a queer musician in the glossy, glamorous world of popular music [and] how do current queer musicians navigate the terrains of commercial success, audience, visibility and personal politics?” (quotation from the MBLGTACC booklet).

Okay, now, before you click away from this site… this isn’t primarily an academic, political site, so I’m not going to get into a treatise on the various merits and demerits, risks and rewards of being an out queer musician. I learned a lot, but I’m not going to bombast you kind readers with such pontifications right from the get-go… I’ll leave my soapbox for another day and another forum.

Instead, I’m just going to express my gratitude that such a forum was available (Thanks, Rachel!), and share my excitement at having discovered lots of amazing music by queer musicians. Of course, I was already familiar with much of the music that was presented during the course of the workshop (I won’t say how old I am, but suffice it to say that I’ve been listening to queer musicians for decades)… however, there were several artists mentioned that I was already listening to, but didn’t know were queer, as well as several bands that were completely new to me. Yaaaay!

So, on the way home, the Riders of the Big Gay Minivan and I had a mission… on the drive back to our campus, we were going to listen to music by out lesbians (such as The Ditty Bops, Alix Olson, and Melissa Ferrick), gay men (like Rufus Wainwright), bisexuals (let’s not forget Missy Higgins and, of course, Ani), and transsexuals (ex: Antony and the Johnsons), all in one drive. Not only was the BGM colorful beyond belief, it was also rockin’!

Upon my return to campus, I realized how little the younger generation knows about queer music and out queer musicians. And so, here I am, writing up the first post of what will hopefully be a long-term blog with its pulse on the queer music scene....

In the interest of strengthening our awareness of and connection to the queerest, greatest music in out midst, I invite anyone and everyone to post comments with suggestions and ideas for future posts, as well as feedback on what is already here.


(To see Rachel Gollay performing one of her own original songs, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiYkUlt9lOk)