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Soul De Femme  

Soul De femme is a collection of songs I have written about and for women inspired by socially conscious Soul music of the 60's and 70's. 

When I was playing in my band in Los Angeles during the early 90's, it was often said by music promoters not to have more than one female act on a bill because the show would not sell. We were responded to by radio often telling us they had their "quota" of female artists already. 
Along comes Lilith Fair and outsells ALL of the other festivals and it's all female fronted musical acts! It upset a lot of people. It was dubbed in the press "Dyke Fest", "Lesbian Fest". Rolling Stone magazine used "estrogen-fest" and "femanizis" to describe the crowd! (Plenty of men were going too) This is not about me being personally insulted but is about a mentality that still persists today that perpetuates an idea that it is ok to think of others as somehow less than and therefore fair game to insult and exclude, deny equalities, or worst, toward such individuals, is acceptable. It is not. 

It was a defining moment for me. It was one of many things that gave me the inspiration to write these songs. “But I ask no favors for my sex. I surrender not our claim to equality. All I ask of our brethren is, that they will take their feet from off our necks, and permit us to stand upright …”-Sarah Grimke

"Don't Give Up" is the first song I recorded with my first band when I first moved to Austin. The band was Mary Harsh on Bass, Russ Scanlon on Guitar and Johnny Radelat on Drums. We recorded it at Parrot Tracks Studio in Buda, TX. 
We multi-tracked the song all in the same room together just watching each other for dynamics and stops. We had not been playing together very long but possessed real magic chemistry. We did not use a click track. I'm not a fan of click tracks. I like a song to naturally push and pull, like breathing. You can hear a great example of this on 'Lady Marmalade' the original recording by LABELLE. I love that song!! You can hear the tempo pick up by the end of the song.

I recorded the lead vocals after we got the band recorded. You can't really use vocals when you're the guitar player too. You can hear the guitar strings being played. 
Later the Chardonnays came in and did their delicious harmonies ;) 
I mixed it on Garageband and you're hearing the result. 

Share it in the name of Sisterhood and Feminism.

I appreciate you being here! and as always welcome your feedback, comments, and questions!