Acoustic, singer-songwriter

Ryan Cassata, is a 16 year old, singer-songwriter from Long Island, New York. Ryan plays guitar, piano, harmonica, and vocals. At the young age of 14, Ryan began to gig on Long Island. Now only two years later he has played over 100 shows and has already completed a Florida tour, and a New England tour, titled the “Love Around The World Tour.”

Ryan Cassata is the composer of the soundtrack for “Loop Planes”, an independent film about a transgendered teen and his relationships. Loop Planes appeared in the South By Southwest (SXSW) film and music festival (2010) and also appeared in the Tribeca Film festival. (2010) Ryan Cassata also appeared on The Larry King Live Show (2009) and the Tyra Banks Show (2010) for being transgender himself. Aside from being a musician Ryan is a strong advocate for the Transgender community. He has taught at many schools on Long Island, and even made it up to Albany to talk to New York State Officials. Ryan appeared in Hamptons Bay Magazine (2008), and Go Magazine (2008), for his hard work and advocacy. He also appeared in Bay Shore High Schools’ “Maroon Echo” twice for his advocacy along with his musical achievements.

Links to Ryan Cassata:

Ryan Cassata Music on Myspace

Ryan Cassata Videos on Youtube

Dalice Malice (A.K.A. Dalice Marie) is the internationally ignored Cuntry/Anarcho/Queercore/Folk songsstress currently located in Chicago. In January 2005 she was signed to DeadWait Records (Mt. Pleasant, MI) and released two full length albums (27Remastered and In Case You Haven’t Heard) under the name VanessaMarie.

In the summer of 2007 she released ‘Autoshow 1963′ and was the first album released under the name Dallas/Marie. In December of 2008 she released “Opening Your Mouth Once Again” following quickly with the album “A Young Patriot’s New Anthem” released in July. her final release came in the winter of 2008 when she released the album ‘Until We’re Good and Ready’. In the summer of 2009 she was diagnosed with epic brain freeze after indulging in seven consecutive 7-11 slurpies. She can now be found kicking cans down the streets of Chicago.

Links to Dalice Malice:

Music on Myspace

Youtube Videos

Dalice on Twitter

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Links to Walki’s Monster:

Walki’s Monster on Myspace

Links to Domina Catrina Lee:

Find and Listen to Music on CdBaby and Bandcamp

Too Much Information (TMI) plays the music of the “post-Boomer generation”—70s and 80s classic rock—as well as a mix of older and newer hits. The band covers a wide range of artists, from The Eagles and Eric Clapton to Bonnie Raitt and The B52s. They have a special knack for blues by way of Muddy Waters and Big Mamma Thornton, and a growing list of mixed-genre original tunes. Their musical versatility is apparent in every set. Not only do they play a wide range of pop, rock, funk, and blues, but five of the six take the main mic from time to time.

Lead singer Michael Woodward’s bluesy tenor voice is complimented by the rich vocal blends of Traci Payer, Jennifer R. Lopez (rhythm guitar), Jerry Diaz (percussion) and Bruce Blackstone (lead guitar & harmonica). The instrument section showcases the lead guitar magic of Blackstone, a Tucson music scene veteran formerly of Tucson favorites the Rusty Boys, the Wayback Machine, and the Dave Marsh Band. Sandra Starling keeps the party hopping on bass. TMI made its first public appearance at the Epic Café on Fourth Avenue in Tucson on March 25, 2005. In June 2006, TMI was named “Runner Up – Best Cover Band” at the Tucson Area Music Awards, less than 18 months after their first performance. They have played a number of local events including Tucson Folk Festival (2007, 2008), Fourth Avenue Street Fair (2007), Child & Family Resources’ Lobster Landing (2007), Pima County Child Abuse Prevention Council’s “Never Shake a Baby” Benefit (2006, 2007), Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation’s AIDSWALK (2006, 2007), Humane Society of Southern Arizona’s Doggie Boogie (2005, 2006), Phoenix Pride (2006, 2007), and Tucson’s Pride in the Desert (2006, 2007, 2008). The band has travelled as far as Atlanta, Georgia to headline the 2007 Southern Comfort Conference and was similarly featured at the April 2008 International Foundation for Gender Education Conference in Tucson.

In May 2008, they played for the National Stonewall Democrats’ Black & White Ball. TMI’s music is universally fun and familiar, with a broad appeal to youth and seniors alike. The band represents a diverse spectrum of cultures and identities, which is evident in the selection and arrangement of the tunes they choose–and especially in their originals.

Links to TMI:

Official Website

Myspace

Reverbnation

Youtube

Facebook

Writer, Rapper, Story-teller

Red Durkin, from Raleigh, North Carolina, has toured extensively with the Tranny Roadshow, written and illustrated nine of her own zines, and wormed her way into the likes of Punk Planet magazine and the Advocate. A proud, mouthy southerner, Red brings her charming cleverness to everything she does and often carries herself on wit alone.
As a writer, a rapper, and a story-teller, she balances laugh-a-minute humor with her own queer-positive, pro-woman politics. Expect firey, from-the-hip feminism and unapologetically sarcastic satire from this multi-talented entertainer.

Links to the Wonderful World of Red Durkin:
Watch Videos and Subscribe to Reds Vlog on Youtube

Listen to Music from Red Durkins Hip-hop/punk/pop project MC Redorix

Red Durkin on Myspace

Copy of a Copy Press on Myspace (Check out Reds awesome Illustrations here!)

Desiree Hines, a native of Jackson, Mississippi, is well on her way to being one of the worlds most visible African American Women who is a Classical/Pipe Organist. Miss Hines began her transition from Male To Female at the age of 22, leaving Mississippi for Seattle-Tacoma, Washington.

Miss Hines serves as an organist for several churches along the East Coast, in NewYork, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC. In 2010, she will return to the extension division of the famed Mannes College of Music in New York City to pursue the diploma in Organ Performance. In 2007, Hines began to develop the idea for an integrated Performing Arts Festival featuring emerging Arts Professions from the GLBT Community worldwide. In 2009, the first annual Philadelphia GLBT Arts Festival was held, showcasing over 10 performers from 5 of the United States and two Canadian Territories in over 25 performances. For 2010, the festival will over 50 performers in ensembles and solo concerts over one week in June.

Links to Desiree Hines:

Watch Videos of Miss Hines on YouTube!

Click Here to Learn about the Philadelphia GLBT Arts Festival!

poetry, music

oakland, ca

Performer/author/musician solidad decosta is an uppity Portuguese woman who isn’t afraid to claim her black Latina maternal ancestry. Equal parts street journalist, storyteller and crone-ta-be with Leo moon credentials, her work encompasses the why and where of life outside the boxes in a label obsessed world, and the what, when, who and how of everything else.

solidad has performed at a variety of venues throughout the US, including St. Marks, Antioch University, Pitzer College, Bumpershoot Literary Stage, SomARTS and Brava! Center for the Arts. Her work has appeared in Shampoo, Mirage#4/Period(ical), ALLiance, P!, Angry Poet, Street NOTES and the San Francisco Bay Guardian. In addition, solidad has facilitated writing and performance workshops at Cell Space, STARC, Dancing Tree, SF Juvenile Hall, Alameda County Youth Facility and Pitzer College. She holds an MFA in Writing from California College of the Arts, and was the 2008 recipient of the Kari Edwards Scholarship at Naropa University’s Summer Writing Program.

Official Website of solidad decosta

Click here for Show Schedule

Shock Value – Video

Got a spiritual core which I like to keep in touch with, especially through music. Previously known as data-boy, better known these days as astottara, which I play all styles under – from jamming a guitar with sweet melodies, to electro chaos, to more poppy rap kind of stuff.

Never really been one to play much with others Started my life in a girl’s body but always played with the boys, learnt pretty much anything and everything musicwise from six, got into composition and songwriting, poetry, gay activism since I was 13 after coming out somewhat involuntarily. Use my music to muse, my main loves are kirtan (Hare Krishna style of getting wild musically) and 80s new wave, as well as emocore, hardcore, folk, country and also indie and industrial.

Always looking to collaborate with ideas – especially those combining a sociological and psychological awareness to spiritual awareness, which are usually unfortunately isolated ideals. In my spare time I do vegan catering, eat pizza cupcakes and sushi, produce music, ride bikes, renovate caravans or at least dream that I am, converse and play with my friends, read lots and dream about pirate ships.

Listen to Music by eRinn on the player below! eRinn has a variety of differnt styles of tracks below so if you don’t connect with one def check out a few others! eRinn is truly an incredibly diverse musician, check it out:

Through both music and film Actor Slash Model addresses issues of gender identity, gender performance and politics, a sex positive ideal, and the art making process.

As a duet music project, Actor Slash Model creates fun, quirky, entertaining music exploring gender and sex positivity as well as the most basic inspirations to all people: love, heartbreak, joy, pain, etc., set up in what they like to call an “Indie-Grass” musical style, often incorporating costumes and vaudvillian performative styles. The duet has toured the United States including performing in New York, Boston, Philadephia, Washington DC, Baltimore, Pittsburg, Clevland, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Santa Fe, Los Angelels, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and of course, their hometown, Chicago, amongst other places.

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Watch Videos from Actor Slash Model

Links for Actor Slash Model:

Official Website
Actor Slash Model On Myspace
Facebook link for Riot Acts the Movie
Facebook link for Actor Slash Model
The Homoticons – the latest brain child of madsen minax (of actor slash model), jesse alexander (of cobalt and the hired guns) and elias krell (ex opera singer goes maverick accordionist) make up the homotional rollercoaster that is THE HOMOTICONS.

Threat Level – This is a quarterly screening series of both new and old short (maximum 30 minutes) queer film/video work.

Los Angeles

Metahuman aka Kalil Cohen began recording and interpreting the world around him at the age of 5, with meticulously detailed travel journals of family trips. With an insatiable drive to make sense of life through rhythm and rhyme, Metahuman soon began self-publishing his poetry, although his grandmother was his only customer for some time.  Many years later, Metahuman became known as a hip-hop lyricist, filmmaker, speaker and performance poet, a political dissident, radical transsexual activist, autobiographical confessionalist, outspoken social misfit, friend, lover, and teacher.  Metahuman is many things to many people, as he continues to make sense of the world through his art.

Metahuman is a die-hard hip-hop fan, mixing the intellectual roots of his politics with the visceral love of flow to create a unique sound that blends old-school rap metaphors with radical queer politics. With his feet rooted in the 1970’s wordplay of hip-hop godfather Gil Scott-Heron and a head full of 21st century house beats, Metahuman offers up thought-provoking rhymes laced with unforgettable dance rhythms. Metahuman is also a producer and filmmaker, founding the Trans/Giving Film Festival in 2009, the first transgender film festival in Los Angeles. With the arts collective Trans/Giving he produces performance, visual art, and film events in Los Angeles.  His award-winning short films, including “Queerer Than Thou”, have screened at over 30 film festivals worldwide including in London, Amsterdam, and Belgium, as well as at academic conferences and in college classrooms.

Metahuman combines advocacy with art by performing at colleges as well as in theaters and clubs.  In addition to performances, his residencies include lectures, workshops with youth (including middle school, high school, and college), administrators, and K-12 classroom teachers. His workshops and presentations help organizations and schools to become more educated about and inclusive of transgender people. His work as a presenter and facilitator has a particular focus on the intersections between gender identity and the many other identities that we each hold, including race, class, and sexuality. He has given workshops to graduate departments, high school Gay Straight Alliances, LGBT and Women’s Centers at colleges and universities, and at conferences throughout the United States including at Creating Change. In 2008 he received the Trans-Unity Pride “Pride Award” for his service and dedication to the transgender community.

Links To Metahuman:

Official Website

Brooklyn, NY

Twilight of the Idle describes themselves as “queer cabaret wordrock” but what, you ask, is queer cabaret wordrock? It is Ricky Riot’s thought-provoking, fun, direct, and well-crafted lyrics and Vaudevillian piano playing, the rock-n-roll jolt of Juliana Brown’s masterful guitar skills, a splash of brass from trombonist Lily Paulina, and Lindsay Haughton’s versatile drumming that sits in the pocket like a baby kangeroo.

Ricky Riot started Twilight of the Idle in 2005 at SUNY Purchase, where he studied studio composition. After several different versions of the band, he released the first Twilight of the Idle album, Modesty, in January of 2009. Modesty is available on CD Baby and iTunes, and features Ricky’s many different sides: Heartfelt spoken-word pieces and timing experimentation, lightened by bluesy cabaret.
Shortly after recording Modesty, he started performing with Lindsay Haughton, a self-identified Funktastic Groove Machine who can bang on anything with finesse. He and Lindsay both volunteer at Willie Mae Rock Camp For Girls. He joined forces with multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire Juliana Brown after they both heard each other play at an event at the New York LGBT Center. They both love improvising and share an appreciation for the Doors, and they instantly hit it off.

Twilight of the Idle is currently recording their new album, The Only Queers In The Room, produced by Ricky and Julie and engineered by Juno Black. The album is expected to come out in early May. Unlike the minimalism of Modesty, which only has vocals, piano, and drums, the band’s new album falls just short of setting up a mic by the kitchen sink and having Lindsay bang it with a mallet. One song even has a choir. Ricky plays several keyboard instruments including Hammond organ, Julie plays several guitars, bass, and balalaika, and Lindsay plays percussion instruments in addition to drum kit. The songs on The Only Queers In The Room are both upbeat and socially conscious, with anthemic hooks to sing along to, danceable beats, and lots of solos. Julie also sings and writes on a few songs, and poet Jan Clausen wrote the lyrics on one. And yes, the voice you hear is Ricky’s, two octaves lower.

Twilight of the Idle have been included in the Tranny Roadshow’s Brooklyn show, opened for a large-scale production of The Vagina Monologues, and performed at Camp Trans in Michigan and Make Music New York. Their song Colder will be included in Trans-Fusions 2, the second compilation CD by Trans-Genre, which will be released in March. In addition to the usual bars and clubs, the band’s list of past venues include house parties, street fairs, art openings, a book release, benefits, and other community events. They love radical spaces such as Vox Pop and 60 Main. They have their audiences laughing, dancing, thinking, nodding their heads vehemently in agreement, singing along to I’m Not Buying Your Sh*t Anymore, and occasionally giving dirty looks and dropping the mailing list like a hot potato so that it won’t make them gay.
When not writing or playing piano, Ricky works at an after-school program and teaches piano lessons privately. He likes to ride his bicycle, work out, and learn guitar. Julie likes to listen to records and hang out with her cat, Oreo. Lily plays in the Rude Mechanical Orchestra, and Lindsay’s numerous other groups include Gamelan Dharma Swara, Suzy Sellout, and the 42nd Army Band.
Twilight of the Idle is dedicated to smashing patriarchy and ending oppression, creating a bigger space for transgender musicians, and making the world a more welcoming place for gender non-normative people. Their mission is to inspire people to take action on the issues about which they are passionate, and to have fun in the process.

Links to Twilight of the Idle:

Official Twilight of the Idle Website

Twilight of the Idle on Myspace

Twilight of the Idle on Sonic Bids

London, UK

Breaking Communications – The name for the band came from a song we wrote called “breakdown in communication” as a sort of homage to the Led Zeppelin track “Communication Breakdown” (… see, “then it’s not just a clever name”)

Alexandra Tovey : (Vox, Guitars, Keyboards, Theremin, & “Sp. F.X.”) – also DJ’s in various dingy pubs in South London and likes going out to twinkly places with loud music, throwing herself around like a Dutch Elm in 1979, and getting off her head a little because “… i’m currently enjoying being the 16-year-old girl i wasn’t allowed to be when i really was 16 (at the height of acid house, old skool rave bunnies!)….” she uses multitudinous knackered machinery and instruments that are clinging on for dear mortality. however, there have been various cameos by friends under the moniker “Pylons On Mars”. – Most likely to say “… d’ya want a cup of Tea?”, – Least likely to say “… ooo, i fancy a bacon sarnie!”.

Random Dent : (Vox, Percussion, Harmonica, & “Sp. F.X.”) – grew up in the wilds of deepest, darkest, Essex, and being “not only the only gay in the village” left her family home and moved to London, had various crappy jobs, met a nice girl from South Wales, married, had three beautiful children, separated from the nice girl from South Wales. moved back to London, met another really nice girl from deepest Surrey, whom she is living with – (very happy thanks).  Met Ms. Tovey thru her music (“Twisted Touch”), and now can be found smiling maniacally at passengers on the 466 bus. – Most likely to say “… tea? … milk, no sugar please”, – Least likely to say “… chocolate? … no thanks.

Check Out this Video From Random Dent:

More Music and info from Random Dent on Reverbnation!

- London, UK

Diana is a performing composer and musician playing Piano Violin & Guitar. She currently plays with the Rock/Roots band Elephant Shelf and also the Delta Ladies who mix roots acoustic music and electronica.

Diana composes in a variety of styles from pop to rock to Jazz and and classical music.Diana is also expert in multi-media recording and music production.

Links to Diana Stone:

Diana Stone’s Official Website

Diana Stone’s Glass Cage Music Site

Music Site for Delta Ladies

Music Site for Elephant Shelf

San Francisco, CA

Shawna Virago is celebrated as a transgender pioneer in music, filmmaking and activism. Miss Virago is a singer/songwriter whose music twists together roots rock and folk-punk, creating anthems for a new generation. A transsexual feminist icon for the Twenty First Century, Virago is a wordsmith in the troubadour tradition whose songs are slice-of-life windows into queer and transgender life. Her piercing observations about survival in a predatory world, sticking up for the underdog, queer love and gender outlaws are backed by the bittersweetness of her steady acoustic guitar.

Virago has a raging sweetness and raw humor that seduces the listener into joining the trans/gender revolution. Her performances are celebrated for their compelling mix of original songs, storytelling and stand-up. A longtime favorite in San Francisco’s underground transgender music scene, Virago is widely celebrated as a gifted lyricist and edgy provocateur. Her songs range from folk-punk to acoustic glam twang, with a dash of naughty queer Americana – with exceptional lyrics that range from sexy to sarcastic, polemic to political, haunting to heartfelt.

Virago’s lyrics dig deep at police brutality, the economic marginalization of transgender people and life lived on the sweet continuum of being trans. Virago is brimming with contradictions and complexities: once a punk rock boy, now a sexy blonde, she channels a DIY aesthetic as a guitar-slinging Candy Darling. The San Francisco Bay Times said, “if Keith Richards was a tranny that got together with Merle Haggard, Shawna Virago would be their love child.”

Links to Shawna Virago

Official Website

Shawna Virago on Myspace

Trannyfest site – Transgender & Transgenre film, video, culture

Current Schedule:

TRANNY FEST Transgender Film Festival

Date / Time:

Tranny Fest LIVE! (performance event): Thurs Nov 5, 8pm

Tranny Fest film program 1: Fri Nov 6, 8pm

Tranny Fest film program 2: Sat Nov 7, 8pm

Location: Mama Calizo’s Voice Factory 1519 Mission at 11th Street, San Francisco

Tickets: $12 at the door Tranny Fest transgender film festival returns this November with new screenings of local, national and international short films and videos. This year’s Festival features two nights of films and a live performance event.

Tranny Fest Director: Shawna Virago.