Happy Mother's Day!

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Happy Mother's Day to all the moms, stepmoms, grandmas, godmothers, aunts, and like-a-moms reading today! We also remember today all the wonderful women we've lost, especially Pat, and know that they live on in us.

CHIRP Record Fair & Other Delights is THIS WEEKEND!

If you've never been to the CHIRP Record Fair & Other Delights, you don't know what you're missing! Picture aisle after aisle of vinyl and CDs, just waiting for you to love them and take them home. Plus, there's beer and snacks, and live music and DJs! Best of all, it all benefits the Chicago Independent Radio Project and CHIRPradio.org. Hot tip: Print out this page, and you'll get a discount on admission!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

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A hearty happy St. Patrick's Day to you and yours! Don't you wish there really was a vending machine for green beer? Maybe that's just my Irish side talking... Have a great day!

Lilith Fair Chicago Date Info Revealed

Some information has leaked out regarding the upcoming return of Lilith Fair this summer. The Chicago date will be Saturday, July 17th, at the First Midwest Theatre. The lineup for Chicago so far includes Cat Power, Heart, Kate Nash, Kelly Clarkson, La Roux, Mary J Blige, Meaghan Smith, Sarah McLachlan, Vedera , and Vita Chambers, plus a yet to be determined local band.

Yes, that's the same weekend as Pitchfork Festival - kind of a bad scheduling call, in my opinion, as plenty of folks going to Pitchfork would probably have wanted to see Lilith. For more information, check out the Lilith Facebook page.

Happy International Women's Day!

Today, March 8th, has been designated as International Women's Day by the United Nations, with the goal of drawing attention to the political and human rights of women. I am especially grateful this day to the women I know who have fought in ways large and small to make the world a better place for women and girls. I hope if you, like me, know one of those women, you will thank them today.

The ONE organization, a group at the forefront in the fight against extreme poverty, launched a Women One2One campaign today to help women empower each other around the world. Here, they share a video of one girl's story of the urgent need for health care around the world. Watch it, and get involved!

Happy Valentine's Day!

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From all the ladies of WOW to you, a very Happy Valentine's Day! We hope that your day is filled with love of family, friends, pets and perhaps a special valentine too!

While St. Valentine's day has come to be a day celebrating romantic love, the origins of the holiday relate to a Roman Catholic priest who was a political prisoner and martyr. According to legend, just before he was sentenced to death, St. Valentine performed a miracle by healing the blind daughter of his jailer, and wrote her a letter which he signed "from your Valentine".

While St. Valentine lived hundreds of years ago, today there are still many political prisoners around the world who need our help. I've always believed that the best Valentine's Day tribute is to write a "valentine" of support for a prisoner somewhere in the world. To that end, I encourage you to take a few minutes to visit the easy to use online action center at Amnesty International, where there is a long list of women who are currently imprisoned around the world for speaking out for women's rights. Your voice can make a difference!

Lilith Wants You, Aspiring Chicago Band!

Lilith Tour is looking for an aspiring Chicago band to perform a set at the Chicago stop on the 2010 tour this summer. For that matter, they're looking for a local artist or band in each of the cities on the tour schedule. To submit your band for consideration, upload a song to the Lilith Local Talent Search page, then get your friends and family to register to vote, starting in April. Winners will be announced in May. Good luck - and post in the comments if you've entered so we can vote for you!

Lilith 2010 Lineup Announced, To Our Delight

When it was announced earlier this year that Lilith Fair was returning in 2010, we were excited, but slightly nervous - bringing back a tour like that is a lot of work, and sometimes nostalgia makes things seem cooler than they actually were. Could they still get great artists? Would we still be excited about the lineup? Would it still be a celebration of women in music?

The answer is yes, yes, yes, as the Lilith lineup was announced today. There's a delightful combination of original members of the 90s Lilith lineup, like Sheryl Crow, Emmylou Harris, Indigo Girls, Tegan and Sara and Erykah Badu, as well as newbies to the Lilith experience like Metric, Mary J. Blige, Miranda Lambert and Ingrid Michaelson, and there's a mix of genres, from singer-songwriter to rock to pop to country to hip hop. If only all music festivals (ahem, Perry Farrel) were as diverse as this lineup. The organizers say there's more to come, but in the meantime, here's the confirmed lineup so far -

A Fine Frenzy
Ann Atomic
Ash Koley
Brandi Carlile
Butterfly Boucher
Chairlift
Chantal Kreviazuk
Colbie Caillat
Corinne Bailey Rae
Donna De Lory
Emmylou Harris
Erykah Badu
Grace Potter And The Nocturnals
Ima
Indigo Girls
Ingrid Michaelson
Janelle Monae
Jennifer Knapp
Jill Hennessy
Jill Scott
Katzenjammer
Ke$ha
Mary J. Blige
Meaghan Smith
Metric
Miranda Lambert
Nneka
Sara Bareilles
Sarah McLachlan
Serena Ryder
Sheryl Crow
The Submarines
Sugarland
Tara MacLean
Tegan And Sara
Vedera
The Weepies
Vita Chambers
Ximena Sarinana
Zee Avi

Stay tuned for more Lilith news!

Lilith Rises Again - Tour Returns for Summer 2010

The rumors are true - Lilith Fair, the legendary all-female music festival championed by Sarah McLachlan, will return this summer! The new Lilith Fair website was launched yesterday, and although it doesn't have much in the way of details, Chicago is on the list of cities where Lilith Fair will stop. From 1997 to 1999, you may remember that Lilith Fair was one of the most popular and successful traveling music festivals in the world, with 1.5 million tickets sold, and $10 million dollars raised for charities. Pretty much every female musician who was around in the late 90s did a stint on the Lilith Fair tour roster.

So the question is, who will play this year? Tripwire is hosting a Lilith Fair Fantasy League contest with their predictions for 2010's lineup. Who do you want to see? Post your wishlist in the comments section!

I Was a Naked Girl Reading

A few weeks ago, I participated "So You Want To Be a Naked Girl" at Studio Lamour. The event was a spin off of the studio's monthly event Naked Girls Reading, which hosts members of the Chicago Starlets reading pieces based around a theme...naked. September marked the first amatuer night, done in the vein of a reality show. I joined seven other contestants, each of us reading a piece of prose or poetry, followed by a cold reading and then finally being asked a beauty pageant-esque question. At the conclusion, the audience sent in their votes via text message, American Idol style and a winner was crowned...er, boaed; an attractive brunette who read Dr. Seuss' "Oh the Places You'll Go".

I am pretty comfortable speaking in public, but I wasn't so sure how comfortable I would be doing it in my birthday suit. The setting was intimate, with only about fifty people in the audience, the readers sitting on couches and chairs and the audience seated at cafe tables filling the room. At first the nudity seemed out of place, but as the evening wore on it was easy to forget and the focus shifted to the reading. The selections varied between sexy poems to comedic bits to the abovementioned Dr. Seuss.

Of course, the biggest about this is: why naked? Some, including a writer from the Chicago Tribune have postulated that the nudity is just a gimmick. Yes, undressed, attractive women does tend to grab people's attention. But here it is not without context. Women are often placed into the category of "smart" or "pretty", but not both. There is also the Jerry Lewis perpetuated myth that women cannot be funny, or that women are not attractive if they are witty. Naked Girls Reading smashes both of those thoughts, and provides a space where women can safely shed their clothes for their own satisfaction, without fearing agression from the spectators.

With Naked Girls Reading events happening in five other states (and several others announcing that they will be beginning one in the coming months) and an anticipated feature on the Carson Daly show, the phrase "bedtime story" may never be the same!

Crafty Ladies Take Over Division Street!

This weekend marks the return of the 7th annual Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago! This year, as last year, the festival will take place on Division Street in between Damen Avenue and Paulina Street in Wicker Park, both Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 7pm. Art, shopping, snacks, and music!

If you've never been to the Renegade Craft Fair, you're really missing out. Over 300 artists travel from around the Midwest, and further, to peddle their handmade and DIY wears. You can find everything from jewelry and clothes to bath products and toys - pretty much anything that can be made by hand is there! My own favorite past purchases have been hand-painted wood carved earrings (I wore them last week!), a set of cupcake birthday cards, and pickle stickers. If you're looking for something unique or quirky, this is the place to find it. You'll also be supporting independent and largely women-owned businesses, which is a great thing, especially in this economy.

Here's my dirty secret about Renegade - sometimes I go and "window shop" for, ahem, let's call it "inspiration" for my own crafty Christmas projects! Sshhh, don't tell!

Beer, BBQ and Bloodshot - Celebrate this Saturday!

This Saturday September 12, Chicago record label Bloodshot celebrates their 15th anniversary with the Bloodshot Beer-B-Q at the Hideout Block Party. The musical lineup consists entirely of Bloodshot artists, including some of our favorites - Jon Langford & Sally Timms, The Blacks, Scotland Yard Gospel Choir and Alejandro Escovedo. Besides great music, there will also be delicious bar-b-que to be eaten and beers to be drunk, plus other fun activities including a children's art area, spelling bee, and an art show curated by Yard Dog in Austin, TX. Tickets are just $10 and the event will benefit two great Chicago charities, Rock For Kids and 826Chicago. If you're planning on stopping by, drop over to the Chicago Independent Radio Project table and say hi - Elizabeth and I will be there around 4pm, ready to tell you all about CHIRP!

Girls Rock on Chic-A-Go-Go - Live Audience Needed!

We just received work from our friends at Girls Rock Chicago that three bands that were formed at this year's camp will be appearing live on the popular Chicago dance party television show Chic-A-Go-Go. The Wiggins, Mourning Glory and Circular Convention will all perform, and everyone is welcome to come and dance during the taping of the show. So get on your dancing shoes and have some fun!

WHAT: GIRLS ROCK! CHICAGO APPEAR ON CHIC-A-GO-GO
WHEN: 3:00-6:00PM this SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 5th
WHERE: CAN-TV Studio (322 S. Green Street, Chicago, IL)
WHO: Everyone! This show is ALL AGES.
HOW MUCH: This is a FREE event!

Rockin' For Kids - WOW Mix cds!

We've spoken often of our love for the good people over at Rock For Kids, a charity that provides music lessons, holiday gifts and other support for at risk and homeless children in Chicago. One of our favorite things about Rock For Kids is their awesome fundraising events... and there's one coming up this Friday, August 21st, the Music Mixer! If you haven't been to a Music Mixer before, picture tables of mix CDs made by some of your favorite local "celebrities", all up for bid, with all the money going to Rock For Kids programs! It's a grand time and so fun to see what people put on their mixes. We here at WOW are honored to be included as one of the "celebrity music mixers" this year, and there will be a special three disc set up for auction from Emily, Elizabeth and I. Other mixers this year include folks from Bloodshot Records, Bob Nanna, Hot Doug, Metro, Double Door and Victory Records, among others. I hope you'll come out and join us at the Rock For Kids Music Mixer this Friday night, August 21st, at Smart Bar, 3730 N Clark Street. It all starts at 7pm and bidding ends at 10pm! Oh by the way, if you can't make it, you can always bid online by proxy at the Rock For Kids website.

Feminist Bargins: Women & Children First Used Book Sale

Here's some shopping for a cause this weekend - stop by Women & Children First, Chicago's feminist book store, this Saturday and Sunday August 1 and 2 for the annual Used Book Sale. Proceeds will benefit the Women's Voices Fund. The Women’s Voices Fund, a project of Women & Children First Bookstore and a grantee of the Crossroads Fund, raises money to help sustain and develop an ongoing program series focused on women’s lives, ideas, and work. This unique work which has been offered only at Women & Children first for the last twenty-five years, is crucial to guaranteeing that a wide and diverse range of women’s voices and the best voices in children’s literature continue to be heard.

While you're there, why not spend a little of this week's paycheck on a new book from the store, or sign up as a member for $25 and get discounts all year long? In this tough economy, it's the small independent businesses who are suffering the most - help keep great local companies like Women & Children First going by putting your wallet where your values are!

Heading To Pitchfork? Shop For CHIRP!

If you're heading to the Pitchfork Music Festival this weekend in Union Park, don't forget to bring some spending money for records! The Chicago Independent Radio Project will be there, holding their annual Record Fair fundraiser on July 17, 18 and 19th at Pitchfork.

Talk about shopping opportunities! There will be over forty tables of records and cds from all the best independent record labels, stores and dealers, so browse to your heart's content under the shaded tent. I know I always pick up several gems every year at the fair... usually the problem is limiting myself!

And, don't forget to stop by the CHIRP table, where there will be tshirts and other goodies for sale, and you can write a letter to Congress in support of low power FM radio. Plus, some of the ladies of WOW will be womanning the tables, so be sure to stop by and say hi!

Multiple Sclerosis Diagnosed with Exene Cervenka

By now you may have heard that the legendary rock chick and bad ass, Exene Cervenka, has been diagnosed with MS, a debilitating disease that she's already backtalking in press releases... yep, that's our Exene. We really like the story up at Gapers Block by Jeremy Henderson, where he posits that perhaps MS has more to fear from Ms. Cervenka than she does from the disease! Coincidentally, X starts a three night run here in Chicago at Double Door tonight. Tickets are still available but no doubt will go fast.

Here's one of my favorite videos of X...

Free St. Vincent Tickets - Millenium Park TONIGHT

We just found out from Metro's Twitter feed that there's some wristbands for reserved seating for tonight's show with St. Vincent at Millennium Park. We spoke last week about how much we love St. Vincent, so if you're free tonight, follow the instructions from the tweet -

@MetroChicago FREE wristbands for @St_Vincent at Mil Pk 2night. Stop by Metro b4 5pm, 1st come 1st served, limit 4, show @ 6pm sharp.

FYI, Metro is located at 3730 North Clark Street. Go get your tickets now!

Shameless Self-Promotion

Hey, come see my band play!


Tonight! Double Door! 9PM! New songs! New merch! Hot pants! Exclamation points! Here's a flyer for 2 bucks off cover!

http://www.elliemaybe.com/maybenauts/maybenauts052809.jpg

Monday Monday Monday

Who: The Glorious Vapors, with before and after sets by DJ Wondertwins, a.k.a. Emily (from WOW, duh) and Michael Flavor (of The Hidden Mitten and Hump Day Dance Party)

What: Rock music, cheap beers, carousing and carrying on, pretending like we don't have to go to work on Tuesday.

Where: The Whistler, 2421 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL

When: Monday, May 25th, 9pm til close.

Why: Why? Because we like you.