Trans Women Sing : Ten Lovely Noises
This is the companion article to Trans Women Sing: Rie Daisies on ‘owning’ the transfeminine voice.
For inspiration and encouragement I look to trans women who are making music today.* I listen and hear achievement, beauty and hope. It is my good fortune to know several of these women personally, and they have been gracious with their time and encouragement. My commentary on their work may be somewhat coloured by love.
Given my own background in music, it comes as no surprise to me that a major change of direction in my life would arrive through music. But the source and nature of that change came as quite a surprise indeed, in the form of a few words from another trans woman singer…
Jordan Raskopoulos / Axis of Awesome
Probably best known for their Four Chords Song, it is the comedic music trio Axis of Awesome — and specifically lead singer Jordan Raskopoulos — who are responsible for me discovering the online trans community, after the quarter century of isolation in stealth life which followed my transition in the late 1980s.
As an Awesome fan, I was very much looking forward to the start of their 2016 tour. As I did not, at the time, spend much time online, I was unaware of any rumours. Imagine my reaction to their new opening number, The Elephant in the Room. Yes, my head exploded. I then had a quick look and found Jordan’s amazing coming-out video. I was, quite simply, overcome. This, out of nowhere.
What followed, for me, was a whole lot of googling and youtubing, and what opened up before me was an enormous trans community that I never knew existed. Angel that she is, Jordan was kind enough to chat with me. She made a passing remark which ultimately led to my decision to start publishing my own work. She said,
What I noticed, early on, in my own transition, was a lack of ‘old guard’ in the community.
(I guess that would be me. Eventually, I decided to step up, and began publishing. Thank you Jordan.)
Unlike most of the women described here, Jordan has decided not to modify her singing voice. Like Laura Jane Grace (see next), she has an extensive, established body of work, and has decided to proceed on-course. In our correspondence, she said,
I love singing and I am aware that my voice has a particular vocal range and I don’t, personally, feel any need to restrict myself in my singing in order to sound more feminine. My voice is an instrument. I’m proud of it. I want to use it to its full potential.*
Stepping out of comedic mode, Axis of Awesome has included a haunting cover of Laura Jane Grace’s Transgender Dysphoria Blues on their latest album, Viva La Vida Loca Las Vegas. The striking contrast between Jordan’s cover and the original speaks to the reach of LJG’s songwriting and Jordan’s interpretation.
Artist site axisofawesome.com YouTube iTunes
Laura Jane Grace / Against Me!
Laura Jane Grace’s experience as a trans woman and performer are well documented, both in her biography and in an excellent documentary series.
Like Jordan Raskopoulos, LJG continues to perform using the voice her fans have known for years. In this video she performs a great acoustic version of Transgender Dysphoria Blues, and here’s the full-on punk. I’m also quite fond of the recently released 333.
Artist site againstme.net YouTube Soundcloud iTunes Bandcamp
Namoli Brennet
‘…[I was] Giving up singing because it sounded too deep, too resonant, I thought that I was supposed to disappear, to be swallowed up by a new identity, one that would be compromised by a rich baritone. The internal struggle over that, the strong desire for complete self-expression that would not be contained in a soft falsetto or a strained alto. The willingness to step into a place of complete uncertainty…’
— Namoli Brennet, from her blog.
With a catalogue of twelve albums spanning fourteen years, Namoli Brennet is one of the longest working transfeminine vocalists I know. I find it fascinating (and encouraging on a personal level) to listen to her recordings, old-to-new, following her vocal development over the years.
Having worked solo for the first twelve years of her performing career, Namoli teamed up with German musicians Amy Zapf and Micha Maass in 2014, forming The Namoli Brennet Trio, based in Berlin.
Little is generally available, but there are a few YouTube videos of the Trio in concert.
There is a Namoli Brennet Trio album in existence, the as-yet unreleased Live from Germany (2016, review here); a very well-engineered live recording of songs from Namoli’s back catalogue. Much as I enjoy her solo work, the Trio brings depth and interest that just can’t be achieved using a single guitar. There is no specific release scheduled for Live, only a hint that it may be released sometime in future.
Whilst Namoli’s YouTube channel has some interesting material (I enjoyed the series showing the production of Born to Rise in 2011), most of the better videos of Namoli are posted by others. From her tour last year, with The Namoli Brennet Trio, comes this performance of Settle Down in Wiesenburg, Germany. My favourite ‘oldie’ is Thorn in Your Side from The Brighter Side of Me (2004).
Artist site namolibrennet.com iTunes
Isley Reust / Spectacular Spectacular
A professional musician both before and after transition, Isley Reust performs guitar and backing vocals with her current band, Spectacular Spectacular. She has a nice, feminine speaking voice, and I would love to hear her do more as a vocalist.
As a musician and songwriter, Isley (with Spectacular) is probably best known in the trans community for the title song to Her Story, heard (in part) at the end of Episode 5. Here is the wonderful video of the complete song, produced by the Her Story crew.
And, I really like the debut album, Blur, available on Bandcamp (see below).
Facebook YouTube Soundcloud iTunes Bandcamp
Sidney Chase
I just can’t stop listening to Sidney Chase’s newly-released 2nd album, Pajamas (2016). It’s one of those rare records where I love every track. Here is the video for the single Salty, and you can listen to the full album here. But buy the record.
Artist site sidneychase.com YouTube Soundcloud iTunes Bandcamp
Rie Daisies
For my interview with Rie Daisies, plus listening recommendations and discography, see the companion article Trans Women Sing: Rie Daisies on ‘owning’ the transfeminine voice.
Artist site riedaisies.com YouTube Soundcloud iTunes ReverbNation
Tona Brown
A magnificent classical mezzo soprano and violinist, Tona Brown has performed at Carnegie Hall and she sang the US national anthem for President Obama.
I have yet to find any high-quality videos of Tona performing. The song captured in the phone-video of the Carnegie performance linked above is very impressive, and this (rather rough) session video features first her violin, then her voice (at 0:50).
Tona’s 2011 album This Is Who I Am is available on iTunes (see below).
Artist site tonabrown.com YouTube Soundcloud iTunes
Anohni
Anohni’s voice is unique: I was recently watching Episode 9 of the Wachowski series Sense8, in which a cover of Dylan’s Knocking on Heaven’s Door is featured, and I pegged Anohni as the singer after the first bar. No one else sounds like the beautiful Anohni.
This astonishing video of Drone Bomb Me (Hopelessness, 2016) left me speechless.
Artist site anohni.com YouTube iTunes Bandcamp
Two up-and-coming voices…
Many musicians struggle with poverty early in their careers and, with complicated barriers to employment in ‘day jobs’, trans musicians may struggle more than most.
Recorded with minimal equipment and meagre resources, early demos, videos, and self-released albums often suffer from poor production values which can mask the underlying talent. Appreciation of the work of a young artist may require generously ‘listening through’ the present, into their future.
With that in mind, I am listening into the future of these two young women. I’m looking forward to hearing what they’ll be producing as they build their talent and resources. Please consider supporting them.
Delia Melody
Artist site deliamelody.com YouTube Facebook
Claire Michelle
Artist site clairemichellemusic.com YouTube Soundcloud Bandcamp
Read Trans Women Sing: Rie Daisies on ‘owning’ the transfeminine voice here…
Click here for links to some voice training resources…
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