Outmusic Award ( OMA ) -winning singer/songwriter Gwen Avery will be performing in Chicago at two events July 1. You can hear her perform as part of the Chicago Black Pride Festival in Lincoln Park ( Grove 7S ) and also at Hot House ( 312-362-9707 ) , later the same day. The San Francisco-based performer released her debut album Sugar Mama ( www.gwenavery.com ) to much critical acclaim in 2000.
GS: I'd like to begin by talking about the OMA ( Outmusic Award ) that you received a few months ago.
GA: The Outmusic award was for the best album, in any category. So, it was the best CD recorded for that year. ... It was very elating. Of course we got quick responses-;we got calls all the way from London about people wanting me to fly in and do gigs for them.
GS: And have you brought a lot of gigs since that time because of this?
GA: I actually have played some wonderful gigs because of this CD. I've been playing locally. I've also been to Long Beach, the Kuumba Jazz club here in Santa Cruz. So, there've been several California gigs. I haven't left the state of California, but when we get to Chicago, that will be nice to play the Hot House.
GS: How has being a member of the organization ( OMA ) been of value?
GA: It's a wonderful venue. People express pride-;pride about who they, what their lifestyles are and their creativity and their music. So, it's a great opportunity for people to get a chance to express themselves, so that the public can here that we're doing well and that we're glad of being who are.
GS: You are from Pennsylvania.
GA: The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area. ... I've always been out. Since I was 12, in Pennsylvania, but coming here to California of course was an awesome experience because so many people were coming out. There was a huge movement in the '70s when I got here, so gays have been very active here. We've been trendsetters. We had parades long before people in Pennsylvania would dare.
Early on, around that same period - '71, '72, '73 on up, I was in a rock band here-;that was my first exposure. I did see women's bands, and that's what got me interested. I was encouraged by gay men to perform. I hadn't really thought of it-;I was already 27-;hadn't studied music, hadn't done anything but listen to a jukebox. Since I've been in California, I've been involved in recovery, I've been helping people reestablish their selves as gay people. I've been involved in promoting women's music, gay and lesbian music, gay and lesbian poets, gay and lesbian writers. Sandy Stone, who recorded "Sugar Mama" for Olivia ( Records ) , was a transgender person. She did my first cut on the Lesbian Concentrate album. Many people remember that cut, which is the title of my CD ( Sugar Mama ) and has been completely redone.
GS: San Francisco is not a city known for its blues community in the same way that, say, Chicago is.
GA: That's right, Chicago is known to be a blues place. It's kind of a foreign language to people. I was chosen, primarily, because I knew how to sing blues, even though it wasn't my venue-;I'm trapped into being a African-American, gay and lesbian person who did blues. It wasn't something that people embraced, so I was happy to bring blues and gospel. That's what started me write that particular type of songs-;bluesy, jazzy, gospely types of songs, because singer/songwriters weren't in that mode at all. I had heard my mother and my grandmother, on my father's side, Candy, who is mentioned on my song, "On My Way," and Pretzel-;that is my ( other ) grandmother. These were people where I got the blues and gospel from, and from my mom, who taught me songs as an oral tradition. My family was known for singing songs all the way form before 1900, songs that people play in cotton fields. So, spiritual and blues, are just part of the community.
Longer versions of these interviews are available in the July BLACKlines, now available.
