Pictured Carrie Lydon. Toshi Reagon. Erin McKeown.
On May 20, the Alt Q Festival will take place at the Old Town School of Folk Music, 4544 N. Lincoln, at 7 p.m. Formerly known as the Queer is Folk Festival, this annual event returns with a new line-up that includes Toshi Reagon, Erin McKeown, The Prince Myshkins, Carrie Lydon, Brady Earnhart and MeKole Wells. Organized once again by Chicago's Scott Free, the Alt Q Festival will showcase LGBT artists performing their own material.
Viewed by many as the pioneer in the crusade to support the Windy City's gay and lesbian music scene, Free is not only assembling talent for this showcase, but he will be performing as well. Whether new to Chicago or to the gay music scene, Free serves as Chicago's godfather to queer music by hosting events like this and the weekly Homolatte to help the often overlooked community of LGBT artists.
Having moved just earlier this year to Chicago, Wells is honored to be performing at the Alt Q Festival. Currently starring in Menopause: The Musical at the Apollo Theater, Wells will hit the road to sing at L.A. Pride and South Carolina Pride later this year. With a beaming smile to accompany her messages of fulfillment, survival and freedom on tunes like 'Why' and 'Shakin Hands With Me,' Wells hopes the audience will be able to walk away with something from her lyrics.
Wells appreciates the artistic freedom offered at the Alt Q Festival. Free encourages the musicians to perform the material they composed themselves to truly reflect the queer experience. MeKole notes that so many people are cubed and confined and this showcase offers a wonderful opportunity to break out of set limitations. When Wells was in California, during her shows she played a game of 'Guess What?' with the audience, finally revealing at the end of her concert that she is a lesbian. She admits that if the audience knew this earlier on in the evening, they would have a different experience and would not have grasped her music's meaning entirely, if at all.
Singing since she was five, Wells has had many rebirths and has been performing professionally for 20 years. In 1987 she released her first dance record, 'Make My Day,' and then returned to the club charts with her single 'Where Did Our Love Go' under the name Eleesa. Currently she is working on her second full-length solo album, a follow up to 2004's cabaret and jazz influenced Full Circle.
Like Wells, New York's Reagon blends genres with ease. On her latest album, Have You Heard, on Ani DiFranco's Righteous Babe label, Reagon easily weaves blues, folk and R&B closer together. Reagon has been pegged as the socially conscious mix of Prince and Rufus Wainwright. Not only is Reagon a member of the band BIGLovely, but she has also toured with Ani DiFranco, Dar Williams and Lenny Kravitz.
As a multi-instrumentalist, McKeown also cannot be pigeon-holed into any one category with her musical style. Considering she has been making music for only 10 years, McKeown has already released four albums and two EPs, with songs having influences steeped in pop, rock, electronic and even big band. Working on an upcoming standards album and having just released a live CD, the singer of 'A Certain Pleasure' performs more than 200 live shows a year, according to her MySpace.com profile.
Lydon is extremely elated to be sharing a bill with veterans like Reagon, Wells and McKeown. Hoping to have an EP ready for purchase at the festival, Lydon offers a unique sound to the showcase. While she will be playing the acoustic guitar, Lydon's musical partner Kate Rickenbacker will be joining Lydon on stage, playing the electric violin. Lydon even admits she draws her style from a wide variety of influences including the Indigo Girls, Billie Holiday, Ani DiFranco and folk favorite Sarah Harmer. Having attended the festival last year for the first time, the Chicago native was amazed by the talent.
Lydon has material that covers a variety of topics, including political songs like 'Bullshit King' about the president, tunes about coming out and others covering issues such as being rejected. Not to spoil a mood, Lydon even jokes about having typical lesbian pop songs about breaking up with a girlfriend.
Melissa Ferrick, Ellen Rosner, Nedra Johnson and Jill Sobule are just some of the artists who have participated in this music series since its inception.
With a variety of artists who has been influenced by multiple genres of music, the Alt Q Festival boasts talent at various stages in each individual's respective career.
Tickets are still available for the Alt Q Festival, which will be held at the Old Town School of Folk Music on May 20 at 7 p.m. A portion of the proceeds from this event will benefit Equality Illinois.
See scottfree.net/altqfestival.html .
