Rejection Season Day 11: This rejection season has been mad crazy. Last night, en route rehearsal for the @theboweryelectric map room gig Aug 15th I figured I’d get an oil change before heading to open for @susanoneillmusic at @clubpassim tomorrow Aug 11th. I pulled into the @jiffylubeintl in Valley Stream fully laden with PA gear @henryryeder & @ginjaskwrl and CRUNCH, the raised pit guard rips off my muffler….. With some tools improvised from mic stands and the assistance of the most excellent folks at Merrick Auto Repair I was able to get it (mostly) reattached. Rehearsal was great, this show with @milkybones.bk @henryryeder & @wellbefineband is gonna be awesome. Midway through though I received this in my inbox "It comes to us with all the introspection in the world. an acoustic swirl and a singer unafraid to open up his heart to all and sundry and not even care for the reaction because it sounds like his default mood. Makes for something that is close to spiritual because this is personal growth in full sight and we could all learn something from it. Might be a bit too classically folk in its execution but there is a sense of class which made me feel as if we were in safe hands with E.W. Harris. " I thought I would understand this better in the harsh light of day…but I don’t really. If classically folk introspection with a twist keeps my old car running I’ll take it as a compliment and you can put that in your pipe and smoke it lol. Anyway, it’s just a few more sleeps till Hammerhands is out in the wild. You can help pay the welder if you’d like by doing an early preorder on Bandcamp (and get to listen early) OR presave on your favorite streaming service and I’ll tell him the check is in the mail 😉. For either (or tickets to shows and more) click the link in my bio OR navigate your digital instrument to https://linktr.ee/Ewharrismusic #newsinglr #singlerelease #hammerhands #folkadjacent #tmi #toolongdidntread #autorepair #musiclife #singersongwriter #musicpress (at Brooklyn, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/ChFWk0MurAq/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Miss Tess 11/7/19

Miss Tess Trio; Club Passim; 11/7/19 #ClubPassim #Concerts #Jazz #Photos

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Miss Tess Trio; 9 photos; Club Passim; Cambridge, MA; November 7, 2019

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@malloryeagle @geoffsaundersbass @iaeicher #livemusic #clubpassim @clubpassim #musicians #singersongwriter (at Club Passim) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzuCP5Zh-9C/?igshid=mnxhm8ps9qk9

Next weekend I’m performing at @clubpassim for their #campfirefestival I’ll be in the round w @naomi_b_sommers @kateklimmusic and @lindsay.foote on Sun May 26th. You can see a tonne of music if you’re in the area - tickets are extremely reasonable!!! 🤘 https://www.passim.org/live-music/club-passim/campfire-festival/ #folk #singersongwriter #campfirefestival #clubpassim #festival #cambridge #irish #tour #livemusic #concert #dublin #massachusetts #intheround #folkmusic (at Club Passim) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxj5Y7CFEBY/?igshid=1xxr1nrt3h6ul

From the cold...

OH. MY. GOSH! 😳 3 DAYS LEFT!!! 😃 PLEASE take a look, listen, contribute & SHARE it EVERYWHERE - by word of mouth & on your social media - EVERY little bit counts! ♥️🎶 ***********Goto @kcharrismusic and click on the link in the bio!!*********** 🎵 https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/k-c-harris-debut-studio-album-music/#/ 🎵 #KCHarrisMusic #IndieGoGo #Americana #FolkMusic #RootsMusic #SaranacLikes💗#FolkFamily #StartEachDayLikeItsYourBirthday🎉 #NewPortFolkFest #WoodyGuthrieCenter #LuckReunion #ClubPassim #ThirdManRecords #NewportMusic #BostonMusic #SanDiegoMusic #NashvilleMusic #DimensionSound #AmericanaFest

#Repost @alicehowemusic ・・・ Meet me tonight on the interweb for Ellis Paul's 3rd Annual Tiny Concert Window Folk Festival to benefit Club Passim's Iguana Fund! The link is in my bio, tickets are $10 for the online show and go directly to the charity, which bestows grants to needy musicians for recording, instruments, and touring. Cameras start at 6:30pm EDT. This year's stellar lineup includes Ellis Paul, Adam Ezra, Antje Duvekot, Sparrow Blue, Chris O'Brien, Seamus Galligan, and yours truly 🌞 . . . #alicehowe #alicehowemusic #clubpassim @clubpassim @ellispaulsongs #livemusic #singersongwriter #houseconcert #concertwindow

Women in Folk - McKain Lakey

Hey there!

Katie here with the next installment of the ‘Women in Folk’ blog. Today’s interviewee is McKain Lakey!

McKain is a freelance folk musician who primarily plays solo. She started playing guitar at age 11, writing original material at 12, banjo at 13 and has been singing since before she can remember. While she’s been mostly a solo artist (who toured for 8 months last year), she used to be in an old-time music duo called Woolly Breeches, and has made appearances with other bands as well; her electro-folk duo with Aseem Suri, Wyman Street, will be releasing their debut single June 30th. McKain came out with a 4-track solo EP entitled West about a year ago. While the EP stands on its own, McKain mentioned that one of the tracks entitled Sadie’s Song, became the beginning to an entirely different project she’s working towards now;

“One of the songs on the EP was inspired by a murder ballad entitled ‘Little Sadie’. Most murder ballads tend to represent only one side of the story. The stories are often told by the person that survived - the person doing the killing. That’s the side of the story that gets passed down from generation to generation. In researching a lot of old ballads, I found myself pretty frustrated by the lack of women’s stories, women’s voices. so I decided to write a response to the ballad of Little Sadie, taking it and re-writing it from Sadie’s perspective as she’s dying. The song talks directly to the person that killed her. Since writing ‘Sadie’s Song’ I’ve been working to develop that concept into a bigger project, which will hopefully culminate in a full-length album eventually. I hope to make it a collaborative project with other women musicians who are doing similar work.”

McKain did a 10-day writing residency in February with Hedgebrook in support of this project where she researched many of the old stories from which these murder ballads came. Her biggest musical influences for this album are “bad*ss old-time ladies” such as Hazel Dickens, Ola Belle Reed, and Ginny Hawker.

She attended the Berklee College of Music where her primary focus was on Audio Engineering, and it was being on the “fringes” of the Roots program there that introduced her to Passim, where she has since given three shows.

The next part of the interview reflects on her experiences of being a woman engineer and artist. (*strong language is used in the following interview*)

[full interview under the cut]

Club Passim: Talk a little about your experiences as a female artist in the Folk/Americana genre.

McKain Lakey: I’ve worked for many years as an audio engineer so most of my more pointed experiences with gender in music have been on that side of things. That is a big reason I became a performer actually. I did want to pursue my own music but it became pretty clear to me that that was my career path after delving into the world of live sound and getting burnt out from dealing with misogyny all the time.

Even though there are still a lot of stigmas and challenges to being a woman performer, I find it is a lot easier to be a woman performer than be a woman audio engineer. We are definitely underrepresented in both areas but I definitely experienced a lot more blatant sexism as an audio engineer than as a performer. But I really wouldn’t have it any other way. I feel like the experience of being a woman really informs the music I make and informs my perspective in a different way. I feel like we’re coming to a time where that perspective is becoming more valued, and it feels like a really ripe moment to make an impact as an artist by being true to those experiences as a woman in the world. It’s a cool time to be a woman artist.

Being a part of this community of women folk musicians reminds me of when I wrestled in high school. I was on a women’s wrestling team which was still a pretty new concept, so most schools didn’t have a team with girls that filled every weight class. This meant we wound up wrestling for each other’s teams a lot because if your team had two people in one weight class you would loan a wrestler to a team that didn’t have someone in that weight class. It really felt like a ‘wild west’ of women’s wrestling. But what was cool was that whenever I went to a tournament, there was always this huge sense of camaraderie. Even though we were technically in competition with each other, we were also rooting for each other because we played for each other’s teams all the time. You’re all in it together as women wrestlers, and I feel that same sense of camaraderie within women in folk music. There’s always this sigh of relief when you see other women, like “oh, my people”. The bond is very strong for ladies in folk music and that feels very cool.

CP: Do you notice a difference in how you’re treated by other artists, venues, audiences, and industry professionals before vs. after you play?

ML: Yes. Most of the time before I play people don’t take me seriously, but after my set they’ll understand I know what I’m doing. I’ve had a lot of luck with different venues that are very supportive, but every once in a while you have to play that sh*tty gig where no one really cares until you play your set and have a chance to make an impact.

CP: Often, all-male bands have a heavy female fanbase that buys merch, go to shows, support, etc. Do you feel your music is supported by men in this same way? Why or why not do you think that is?

ML: I would say so. If I look at the statistics online of the people who are streaming my music (though I don’t think it is a very good indicator), it’s more women than men, but it’s actually pretty evenly split. At shows, I hear positive responses from both men and women. Actually, for the song I wrote about Little Sadie, I get more comments from men telling me, “Hey that was a really interesting perspective. I’m going to think about that more, let’s have a conversation”.

CP: Incredible classical artists such as classical pianist Yuja Wang use their performance attire as a way to express themselves. This provocative style of dress has been viewed as “distracting” from the music by some. What are your personal thoughts on women using fashion and sex-appeal as a means of bringing in more audience members and assisting in selling their music?

ML: I don’t think it’s my place to judge what any woman wears on stage, period. Whatever your personal style is, whatever is authentic to you is what you should be doing. Women claiming their sexuality is a very powerful thing, so if that’s a big part of your art, then f*****g go for it, that’s rad. I don’t see any problem with that.

There’s a big focus on what women wear, but that conversation distracts from what they’re actually saying with their music. Maybe they’re trying to make a statement with what they’re wearing and we’re completely missing the statement because we’re focusing on the fact that it was “provocative”.

That is definitely something I struggle with as a woman artist. ‘What is the appropriate stage attire that is going to be reflective of who I am as an artist but still comes across as professional’? It’s something I think about a lot, and it frustrates me that men don’t have to think about that. They can show up in jeans and a t-shirt and no one’s going to really think less of them. I also struggle with what feels authentic to me vs. what comes across as authentic.  That’s something I encountered a lot in my duo Woolly Breeches- we often experimented with gender-bending, wearing a lot of men’s clothing. If I were a man I would wear pearl snap shirts every day, but wearing pearl snap shirts every gig as a woman was often seen as a gimmick. That’s the line that I struggle with and feel a lot of frustration towards. It’s completely uneven between the genders with stuff like that.

CP: In your opinion, how can men be more aware or informed about their women co-workers and collaborators in the music industry?

ML: Listening is a big part of it. On the personal accountability side, I’ve been trying to be okay with having any conversation that I would have with a female artist with a male artist. I think sometimes there’s this weird secret club of ladies where we’ll talk about our experiences of being woman musicians together, but we’re not super visible to our male peers. I’ve been trying to focus on being very transparent with where I’m at and not catering the things I talk about based on the gender of who I’m talking to. That has done a lot to spur conversations with male peers who have the potential of being strong allies but don’t necessarily know how to do that.

It’s definitely a two-way street, though. Males need to be actively listening to women. That goes in any setting. From listening when women are advocating for themselves and paying them what they’re actually worth, to listening to us in musical settings. Dudes - don’t just play over women musicians, make sure you’re listening to woman bandleaders just as well as you’d listen to a male bandleader. There are a lot of really subtle ways that men are socialized to ignore women or downplay their contributions. The simple act of listening and being present for women musicians is the foundation of implementing change.

CP: What do you do in a situation when you feel disrespected by the artists/co-workers you’re surrounded by?

ML: It’s very circumstantial. I am really picky with who I spend time with. Going to Berklee, I learned really quickly that I just don’t believe in forgiving a**holes based on their musical merit. I can always find another good musician to play with or hang out with who is a good person too. There are so many amazing musicians who are working hard to make this world a more equitable place, so when I see people being disrespectful, I just leave it. I don’t need to be in this situation, there are so many other places I can go where I WILL be respected.

However, there are those moments where you do need to confront the situation right away. The introduction to a person has been the biggest point of asserting myself actually. I learned this as an audio engineer. If I didn’t assert myself as having power and knowledge within the handshake of meeting an artist, then they would walk all over me for the rest of the night. I’ve definitely carried that with me in my interactions with other people. You have to introduce yourself as someone who is friendly, but also won’t take anyone else’s s**t. It immediately puts a damper on any further disrespect that might occur. That’s usually how I confront the issue before it even happens, though it sucks that that has to happen in the first place.

CP: What message do you want to display as a performer in folk music?

ML: To have respect and compassion for people’s stories. A big part of my work has been exploring perspectives of marginalized people throughout history. I focus mostly on women and queer folks because those are identities I carry. But at the heart of it, it’s about going into your interactions with people with kindness and compassion and to be present for the people you’re around. In the end, it’s all about respect.

CP: What words of wisdom/encouragement do you have for aspiring women in folk?

ML: The women in the folk industry, both musicians and tech, are a really good group of people. Having so many amazing women mentors, colleagues and friends that I’ve gotten to know through this scene is what I cherish most. Collaborating with these women is one of the best parts about doing what I do.

My biggest words of encouragement would be ‘Welcome!’ There are people here that really love you and want to support you. Your best resources are the women around you. We have to keep working on building this community together because it’s a really important one to have. There is a lot of potential for us to express ourselves through this genre, we just have to dive in.

                                                           ~

Perhaps my favorite thing McKain said in the interview was that she doesn’t believe in forgiving people for their attitude or behavior based on their musical merit. While attending Eastman I have most definitely run across this issue a number of times. Being an incredible musician does not excuse nor warrant the poor treatment of friends, peers, and mentors. Unfortunately, this still seems to be lost on many musicians today, men and women alike, though in my experience this attitude tends to appear more frequently in men.

Thanks, McKain for bringing this up and sharing your thoughts and experiences! We can’t wait to see your projects come into fruition.

Thank you for reading, and stay tuned for the next installment of the ‘Women in Folk’ blog!

Katie

This is me playing my first campfire. (Memorial Day, 2015). I’ll be playing campfire. once again THIS FRIGGIN WEEKEND, fools! Excited. #passimcampfire #sadbastard #greaterbostonsleastfavoritesadlittleman #clubpassim #folk #veggieplanetisclosed (at Club Passim) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx0_lwVAbxw/?igshid=1f3ifbxmug1lp

@ediecarey we’ve changed everything and nothing at all:) you’re incredible. @clubpassim (at Club Passim) https://www.instagram.com/p/B4qioL-gdL6/?igshid=s10h998fx8t6

I’ve got a crazy week in the runup to the Hammerhands release. First, Thursday 8/11 at 8pm I’ll be supporting the fantabulous @susanoneillmusic at @clubpassim in Cambridge MA then driving back to NYC Friday Aug 12 to do some roadie-ing for her gig at @rockwoodmusichall stage 2 (which consequently is just before @warren.malone ‘s album launch!!!!!) Then I travel to Greenville,NY Aug 13 to perform before a screening of 1980’s smash hit BACK TO THE FUTURE at @drivein32 Then I return to NYC Sunday Aug 14 just in time for the @bigcityfolk song club at @stella_and_fly_ ft. a very special mystery guest And then Aug 15 HAMMERHANDS IS RELEASED into the wild and we will be celebrating this fact at 7pm @theboweryelectric map room with performances from @milkybones.bk @henryryeder (all electro, which I am so stoked about) @wellbefineband And of course me. I do hope to see you at some point lol. You can find ticket, preorder/presave, and show calendar information all in one convenient link in my bio or at https://linktr.ee/ewharrismusic #livemusic #livemusicnyc #singlereleaseparty #hammerhands #folkadjacent #singersongwriter #musiclife (at Brooklyn, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/ChC2LZpOi54/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Paul Nelson 10/18/19

Paul Nelson; Club Passim; 10/18/19; opening for Ellis Paul #Blues #ClubPassim #Concerts #Passim #Photos

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Paul Nelson; 6 photos; Club Passim; Cambridge, MA; October 18, 2019

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#underthecovers #clubpassim #singersongwriter #greatfun #greatmusicians (at Club Passim)

Hey, who’s that playing in-the-round at 10:30 opening night of Campfire? Why it’s little ol’ me! This is hands down one of the best deals for live music in the surrounding Boston area ($10/ day $25/ everything but the kitchen sink) and check out that lineup!!! Hope to see you there! #campfirefestival #clubpassim #cambridge #transman #lgbtq #homegrownmusic #localmusic #diymusician (at Club Passim)

In my pre-@lonelypalette days I had the pleasure and privilege of cutting my audio teeth on the podcast side of this swell book by an even sweller lady. It was a complete joy to be in the audience of her whistle stop book tour. Cambridge down, 999 towns to go! #darwilliams #whatifoundinathousandtowns #harvardsquare #brattletheatre #clubpassim #hbsauthors #cambridgema #somervillema (at Brattle Theatre)

WoW!! SO exciting! ONLY 3 weeks left and over 60% of the way there!! ANY & ALL contributions and/or SHARE(s) on social media or by word of mouth will make an impact! 💗 Thank you for being a part of K.C.'s journey. 🎵 ***********Goto @kcharrismusic and click on the link in the bio!!*********** 🎵 https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/k-c-harris-debut-studio-album-music/#/ 🎵 #KCHarrisMusic #IndieGoGo #Americana #FolkMusic #RootsMusic #SaranacLikes💗 #KickStarter #FolkFamily #StartEachDayLikeItsYourBirthday🎉 @newportfolkfest @americanafest @woodyguthriecenter @luckreunion @clubpassim @thirdmanrecords #NewPortFolkFest #WoodyGuthrieCenter #LuckReunion #ClubPassim #ThirdManRecords #NewportMusic #BostonMusic #SanDiegoMusic #NashvilleMusic #DimensionSound #AmericanaFest #SongWriter #Musician #LiveMusic #AcousticGuitar #Music #Band #Harmonica #Guitar #Concert #Singing #Show #IndieMusic #Boston #Album #Performing #Piano #Live