#213 Ladies Roundtable- Kassandra Kocoshis, Dani Markham, Mona Tavakoli, Jacquelene Acevedo, Lilliana De Los Reyes, & Nikki Campbell!
This episode is sponsored by Dream Cymbals. They just released some new products this last week for NAMM 2021.
This episode features former friends of the show in a “Ladies Roundtable” setting.
Kassandra Kocoshis - Episode 12
Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday to Jeff “Tain” Watts born on January 20th
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, also born on January 20th
And the great Gary Burton, born on January 23rd.
Gig Alerts
Drum Day LA is back for 2021, with all the most exciting new products from your favorite drum and percussion brands. Killer new drums from DW and Gretsch, breakthrough percussion from LP and astounding value in drums and hardware from PDP. Do not miss this festival of drums and percussion. NO PASS REQUIRED. See it all on Friday, February 5, 2021 at 12noon (PST). Exclusively on the DW YouTube Channel.
Nate Smith is giving a masterclass for Vandercook College of Music this Friday January 29th at 7pm CST/8pm EST. Admission is $15 and you can get more info and purchase tickets by CLICKING HERE.
Registration closes Friday at 12pm CST/1pm EST.
Educational Spotlights
Learn more about hybrid drumming with Ableton Live. Musical Director and Dust Palace founder Joe Clegg (Mumford & Sons, Ellie Goulding) has teamed up with Ableton to deliver an exclusive, free webinar showcasing hybrid drumming for the studio and stage. Joe’s guest for this interactive session will be Adam Marcello, drummer and musical director for Katy Perry. As well as sharing their knowledge and answering questions, Joe and Adam will demonstrate practical and inventive ways to use Ableton Live to expand the potential of what a hybrid drum kit can do.
REGISTER HERE for the Ableton masterclass.
Drum Hangs are pleased to be able to offer the world's drumming community a completely immersive, interactive and informal experience harnessing the capabilities of Zoom.
Each week first-call session drummer, Neal Wilkinson, will be 'live from London' for a two hour broadcast where all participants can enjoy gaining immensely from Neal's insights into drums, music & drumming all gathered from a 40+ year career at the top.
A special guest will join the hang every week. Our special guests are chosen based on their contribution to music in real working situations, so they're able to give further insight into the music industry from their point of view.
Help
Rumba All-Stars is an cultural initiative aimed to rescue, preserve and permeate the genres of Afro-Cuban music and dance. An ensemble which consists of remaining elders and legends who have shaped the Rumba we know today.
Our goal is to raise funds necessary to put on our first concert which will be streamed live on social media platforms for those who practice and support this music to enjoy
In order to realize this goal we need to raise a minimum of $400USD. This will help pay for rehearsal space, instruments, concert space, artist time and effort and such.
Sugar Percussion did their first giveaway in 2017 to raise money for the Hurricane Irma relief effort. Since then these giveaways have become a real highpoint for this company. Through the kindness of thousands of you people we’ve been able to raise thousands of dollars to assist organizations doing the grueling and often thankless work of helping people, animals, racial injustice and disaster relief. Amidst the incessant irreverence that pervades this company, we take this part very seriously and will continue to make do so. We adamantly believe every one of us can and has a responsibility to help. Below is a list of organizations we’ve been able to assist all because of your generosity.
ACLU, Equal Justice Initiative, Black Lives Matter, BADRAP, Texas A&M Veterinary Emergency Team, Direct Relief, Music Cares, the Bail Project, RAICES, and Amnesty International.
Iconic Recording
This week’s iconic recording is "Spanish Joint" composed by D'Angelo, Charlie Hunter & Roy Hargrove.
D'Angelo - Vocals, Roy Hargrove - Trumpet, Charlie Hunter - Eight-String Guitar (both guitar and bass parts; no overdubs), Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson - Drums, and friend of the show Giovanni Hidalgo - Congas.
From D'Angelo's 2000 Virgin Records recording "Voodoo" (which just turned 21).
The documentary “Devil’s Pie” about D’Angelo, that Damon mentions can be seen by CLICKING HERE.
Music News
Eric Church and Jazmine Sullivan will perform the National Anthem before the big game. Singer H.E.R. will also perform “America the Beautiful” before kick-off. Deaf rapper and artist Warren “Wawa” Snipe will perform both songs in American Sign Language. The Weekend is the Halftime show featured performer. -Article
On the first Friday of every month since March, Bandcamp has waived their revenue share to help support the many artists who have seen their livelihoods disrupted by the pandemic. Over the course of these nine days, fans paid artists and labels $40 million dollars, helping cover rents, mortgages, groceries, medications, and much more. If you’re among the nearly 800,000 fans who participated, thank you.
Although vaccines are starting to roll out, it will likely be several months before live performance revenue starts to return. So they’re going to continue doing Bandcamp Fridays in 2021, on February 5th, March 5th, April 2nd, and May 7th. As always, isitbandcampfriday.com has the details. -Article
Over 100 British musicians are warning that Brexit threatens future European tours. Musicians from all genres have come together to comment on the state of affairs. Ed Sheeran, Sting, Roger Waters from Pink Floyd, and even Simon Rattle have spoken out about the current state of Brexit in a letter to The Times newspaper.
The musicians accused the government of breaking a promise to negotiate for them. An earlier deal would have allowed British musicians to perform in the European Union without requiring work permits or visas. The letter calls for another deal allowing paperwork-free travel for both British and European artists who are touring. -Article
The Who’s Roger Daltrey has signed a petition to fix EU touring restrictions imposed by Brexit. Daltrey was an outspoken supporter of the Brexit campaign. Now he’s facing calls of hypocrisy from fans who are upset that Daltrey is fence-sitting. The Who frontman previously spoke in favor of Brexit before all the details were hashed out. He’s now one of 100 artist signatures on a letter to the Government criticizing the deal. The main issue for artists is the lack of visa-free travel imposed by the split. -Article
Around 20,000 people attended a packed concert in New Zealand last weekend as the country enjoys its restriction-free summer. The island country has gone weeks without any new COVID-19 infections — the last local case was recorded nearly two months ago, reports The Chronicle Herald. -Article
Ladies Roundtable Interview
The song leading into and out of the interview is an original song composed by the guests of this week’s episode. It is called Scylla. Scylla was a supernatural female creature, with 12 feet and six heads on long snaky necks, each head having a triple row of sharklike teeth, while her loins were girdled by the heads of baying dogs. From her lair in a cave she devoured whatever ventured within reach, including six of Odysseus's companions.
Damon mentions Tom Tom Magazine and Hit Like a Girl as two female percussion based organizations.
Dani brings up her female instructor Diane Downs, who runs the Louisville Leopards Percussion Ensemble, as a source of empowerment.
Lilliana and Jacquelene had their fathers (Wally and Memo) who played percussion as a source of inspiration.
Nikki and Jacquelene mention how important representation is and seeing people that look like you for encouragement.
Nikki brings up how the more religious musical settings were more obvious to see the male vs female roles in percussion playing. She also mentions Carolyn Brandy as being one of the ladies of percussion to break down some of these barriers.
Jacquelene asks about the Daf drummers from Iran. Mona talks about touring with Ebi and receiving positive feedback from her playing drums and percussion. Here is a little history on the Daf. They have different sizes; the larger drums are played mainly by men in spiritual rituals and medium size drums are played mainly by women.
Mona mentions how women aren’t necessarily allowed to play on stage. In fact, Women were not admitted into the Theatres until 1916,when the Iran Minister of Culture received the license to initiate Iranian Comedy, which was thereafter performed at The Grand Hotel. For a decade, Jewish, Turkish and Armenian actresses could be seen on stage. -Article
Damon asks what everyone did during the pandemic. Kassandra moved to a cabin in the woods of Montana while teaching remotely online. Dani was touring with Trixie Whitley in Europe. The tour ended abruptly and ended up heading back to Louisville. She spent a lot of time learning and taking road trips. Lilliana spent a lot of time with family, took some trips to Mexico and did some gardening.
Damon brings up the overrated/underrated section. Mona was very happy with the website Offerup, and the elliptical machine she got. Lilliana got some new patio furniture. She has been purging her closet and feels like “fast fashion” (fast fashion are brands like H&M, Zara, Top Shop, Uniqlo, etc) is overrated.
Damon talks about his uniform of hoodies and his beef with how they are made differently for men and women.
Nikki did some road trips, hiked and went to the beach in between online workshops and teaching. She helped lead an Afro-Panamanian workshop as well. Mona talks about face fatigue with being on screens all day during the pandemic in different mediums. She upgraded her home studio and also redesigned the program for the Rock and Roll camp for Girls that she runs in L.A.. Check out WeRock (dot) LA! Mona also did some promotion for the new Jason Mraz album she co-wrote on.
Damon brings up the optimism of getting back to live music in the fall. At a virtual conference hosted by the Association of Performing Arts Professionals, Dr. Anthony Fauci said it would be safe to hold concerts, open movie theaters, and resume other live events once the US achieves herd immunity “some time in the fall.” (Via New York Times.)
The nation’s foremost expert on infectious diseases cautioned that our ability to return to normal would depend on the success of the vaccine rollout. He estimated that herd immunity would be reached when between 70-85% of the population had received the jab. “If everything goes right, this is will occur some time in the fall of 2021,” he said, “so that by the time we get to the early to mid-fall, you can have people feeling safe performing onstage as well as people in the audience.” -Article
Mona would like to see Coming 2 America in an actual movie theater.
Dani brings up seeing live music at Drive-In theaters. With traditional live music events still on hold due to coronavirus concerns, many artists are entertaining fans with drive in gigs. Here’s a complete drive in concert directory, including every upcoming show. Plus, be sure to check back for additional drive in concert information, as this piece will be updated with newly announced events. -Article
This is an article to talk more detail about what Germany is doing to bring back live music in a safe post-covid environment.
Kassandra brings up that this new decade could be the start of the “new roaring 20s”. The last time there was a pandemic, right after there was an explosion of the arts and nightlife.
Damon asks about stress dreams. Lilliana has a recurring dream (as well as Dani and Jacquelene) about missing soundcheck. Another one Lilliana has is getting to soundcheck late, and scrambling to get her gear situated and taken out of the cases (Jacquelene has this one too). Or she also has to go on stage and can’t remember lyrics. Dani has one where she forgets all the music or that she has all of the wrong implements and can’t find the correct ones. Mona had one about which sweatpants (aka soft pants-or stretchy pants) will work for all activities.
Dogs, cats, and Marc Jacobs boots are the first things getting grabbed on the way out of a fire in the apt.
Jacquelene talks about how doing American Utopia lets her dive into the other artistic aspects that she doesn’t always get to do. Dancing, singing and acting as well as the drumming.
Mona brings up the L.A. food bank and what they have going on.
Things always brought on tour: Toys, bells and small instruments (Jacquelene), Matcha tea (Dani), & Skin care routine (Lilliana).
Dani brings up how important the arts are in social justice, which leads Damon to talk about the grassroots organization, Be An Arts Hero. Their mission is to get a cabinet level position for the Arts and Culture.
Kassandra brings up how the Music Festival in Butte, Montana is a hub for the community in bringing tourists, and boosting the economy.
Dani is working on a new xylophone rag album. Nikki is working on a new single called Afro-Raices.
Jacquelene brings up the politeness that is found in gender roles that can be misconstrued as weakness. Lilliana seconds that. Dani mentions how she has noticed it in conversations with mixed genders. Mona talks about the balance of listening vs. “making noise”, which is one of the things taught and discussed at the camp she teaches at.
Nikki suggests reconvening again for International Women’s Day which is Monday March 8th this year.
