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Chicago
Tribune
August 29, 2000
Tempo
Banding
Together
by
Etelka Lehoczky
© 2000 The Chicago Tribune
The
female singer-songwriter is an unassuming but tenacious
species. Between Ladyfest, the riotous bash that
wound up recently in Olympia, Wash., and the pastel
pop of Christina Aguilera & Co, it may seem that
the era of introspective, pared-down music by women
died along with the final chords of Lilith Fair.
Far from it. Even in Chicago, typically thought
of as a Guyville dominated by blues and alternative
rock, a substantial contingent of female songwriters
thrives. That's evident on a new compilation, "Big
Fish Little Fish: Emerging Women in Chicago Music,"
co-produced by two local performers who wanted to
show what women can do.
"We're
more sensitive," Ellen Rosner says acerbically,
referring to the traditional view of women songwriters.
The comment is particularly ironic considering its
source. A local veteran, Rosner is known as for
her aggressive stage presence and powerful singing
voice as she is for her lyrics. Having put in plenty
of time combating the stereotypes associated with
female musicians, Rosner jumped at the chance to
work on a compilation that showcases the versatility
of Chicago performers. That chance came when Antje,
another local performer who runs her own record
label, mentioned she had been thinking of the "Big
Fish" project. "It's something I'd wanted to do
for a long time," Antje says. "There's this sort
of undercurrent of opinion [about women musicians.]
Someone came over to me after a show once and said,
`I've never heard a woman play guitar like that
before.' And I said, `Well, then you haven't really
been listening, because there are a lot of great
women guitarists.' He wasn't trying to be ignorant,
he just hadn't been paying attention. That was one
of the reasons I wanted to do this project -- I
just wanted to make people more aware." "Not to
say strides haven't been made and that there isn't
a lot more open to a female artist now than there
used to be," Rosner adds. "But there's always going
to be that segment of the population that's going
to go, `Wow, I hope you don't take this the wrong
way, but you play really good for a chick,' thinking
that's a compliment."
For
Antje and Rosner, "Big Fish" was an opportunity
to showcase the diversity of Chicago's female singer-songwriters.
In addition to contacting people they knew through
the scene, Antje searched the Internet for mentions
of performers she hadn't yet discovered. "Neither
I nor Ellen Rosner had heard of Karen Anderson,
but I did this mass Web search to just pull up as
many people as possible, and she just turned up,"
Antje says. "She sent in this song, `Lost in Lafayette,'
that was just, like, wow. It was just amazing that
we hadn't heard of her between the two of us. So
that was a nice surprise." The result of Antje's
digging is a strikingly diverse picture of contemporary
guitar-based pop. Anderson's Cajun-country tune
and Kelly Kessler's throaty "Well of Tears" mark
one end of a spectrum that progresses from folk
and mainstream rock to Joy Eden Harrison's smoky
jazz. "There's some stuff on there that some people
might not pay attention to on first listen, because
it's too country, or too folky, or too jazzy," Antje
says. "But that was the idea behind this -- if people
hear little snippets on the album, they'll get a
better appreciation for the diversity."
Somewhere
near the heart of "Big Fish" are solid, full-bodied
grooves such as Astra Kelly's "Sunshine and Mr.
Blue" and Rosner's contribution, "The Perfect Malcontent,"
from her album of the same name. "Malcontent" spotlights
the witty, elegant songwriting that bridges many
of these dissimilar tunes. Rosner's self-deprecating
plaint, "It's me, me, me, I, I, I, me, me, me/ Well,
that's enough about me/ Tell me, what do you think
about me?" echoes the self-satirizing tone of Harrison's
account of first-date drama, "Pushing My Luck":
"I bought you tickets to a foreign movie/I don't
even know if you like Fellini." Harrison is one
of Rosner and Antje's most remarkable finds. Though
not the most recognizable Chicago musician, she
could easily be one of the most accomplished. Her
twisty voice recalls Rickie Lee Jones and Billie
Holiday"She was someone I had not really known,
but she's amazing," Rosner says. "I toured with
her over the summer, but she was somebody we just
sort of found. Antje had gone to see her and was
blown away." Harrison's sound might be expected
to contrast oddly with some of "Big Fish's" more
folk-inflected songs, such as the Twigs' "Hello,"
Ripley Caine's "Corvair" and Antje's contribution,
"To Please You." But Antje and Rosner made continuity
a priority at every stage of the project, and the
result is nearly seamless. "We listened to over
60 songs to determine which flowed the best into
each other -- that was our primary consideration,"
Antje says. "There was nobody in particular I wanted
on the album. I just knew that there was so much
great music that there would be more than enough
to put on at least one -- if not more -- albums."
"Big
Fish" couldn't have happened without Sweet Pickle
Music, Antje's two-year-old record label. She created
it to release her own albums -- her second, "Simply
Being Cleopatra," is due out in early fall -- and
she has taken on other projects such as Las Guitarras
de Espana's full-length release "Donde Esta Paco?"
"Big Fish" is a charity project of sorts for Sweet
Pickle. All profits from the sale of the CD will
help support the Woman Made Gallery, which also
sponsored a contest to select the disc's cover art.
Antje and Rosner have spoken of a follow-up to "Big
Fish." Although the album's cover bears the designation
"volume one," it's not clear when another volume
will be coming. But for these artists, the process
is almost as rewarding as the result.
-----
Daily Herald
Friday July 14 2000
Time
Out!
Fishing
For Equality
Daughter's CD, mother's gallery promote women's
art
by
Mark Guarino, Daily Herald Music Critic
© 2000 The Daily Herald
Lilith
Fair may be dead in the outdoor arenas this summer,
but in stores is its anecdote. The recently released
CD, "Big Fish, Little Fish: Volume 1" is a compilation
of 16 female musicians from the Chicago area, and
its roster is more diverse than any Lilith Fair
bill in its three-year history. Included in the
lineup are country crooners Kelly Kessler and Karen
Anderson, rock duo The Twigs, funk diva Astra Kelly,
pop singers Beki Hemingway and Alice Peacock, sassy
soul belter Ellen Rosner and many, like singers
Anne O'Meara Heaton and Joy Eden Harrison, who defy
categories altogether. It was meant as almost an
infomercial trumpeting the vast pool of talented
women playing almost every night in Chicago clubs
and coffeehouses. "I think if people came once or
twice and heard the bands, they'd be surprised there's
a lot of really good music," said Antje Gehrken,
who released the album under her own Sweet Pickle
label. They'll have an opportunity Saturday when
most of the women on the CD will perform at a release
party at the Double Door in Chicago. Antje
(who performs under only her first name) released
her own solo album last year and its follow-up is
scheduled to come out at the end of this summer.
She meant "Big Fish" to combat the assumption that
women can only front a band as a singer and not
be accomplished songwriters and instrumentalists
as well. The seed for the project was planted when
a man approached Antje after one of her shows and
exclaimed, "I've never heard a woman play a guitar
like that." A year ago, she called for submissions
and weeded through about 60 to the final 16 (including
herself) that made the cut. "Usually compilations
have just random songs. Our mission was to get a
good album overall," she said. Antje, 31, grew up
in Chicago and studied classical composition at
Roosevelt. But she spent much of her early years
as a teacher at Columbia College and today at the
Old Town School of Folk Music. Although she performed
in bands, it took her until recently to play her
own music, which she performs in a trio. The leap
she made to become an artist - like many on "Big
Fish Little Fish" - shares the same spirit as those
involved with Woman Made Gallery, which benefits
from the CD's profits. The gallery is located on
the first floor of a South Loop mansion that dates
back to 1871, making it one of the oldest buildings
in Chicago. Its co-founder, Beate Minkovski, is
Antje's mother. "In visual arts, there is still
no equality," Minkovski said. "It's important half
the population has something to offer creatively."
Like her daughter, Minkovski has been an artistic
entrepreneur all her life. She graduated from Northeastern
Illinois University with a degree in sculpting in
1992 and staged her senior show at a tiny storefront
in Chicago's Ravenswood neighborhood. The theme
was "Manmade Women" and featured a blow-up doll,
Barbies, and other exaggerated female icons propped
up on pedestals. "We had people standing all the
way to the corner" at the show's opening, she remembered.
Although she had no plans "to start a gallery,"
the success of her show gave her the idea there
was indeed a need for a woman-centered art gallery.
She and a fellow student incorporated that year
and named the storefront Woman Made, a pun on her
show's title. Three years ago, they were invited
to move into the South Side mansion by its owner,
whose mother was an arts enthusiast. Since then,
the gallery has grown from its initial 10 members
to more than 600 from all around the world. Last
year, its operating budget was $86,000. This year,
it has grown to $145,000. "We do the best we can
with the least amount of money," said Minkovski,
56. A few years ago, a theme on the Virgin Mary
(a show asking "who is she?" Minkovski said) generated
death threats and major media coverage. But not
every show "is a complete shocker," she said. Animal
stories, surrealism and gender issues have all been
themes. Even a domestic violence show at the gallery
received permission to be staged inside the state
capital building in Springfield. Minkovski also
has plans for a "virtual gallery" on the Internet,
which will include Woman Made artists from all around
the world, like one member from Saudi Arabia who
has trouble participating in Chicago shows. "How
can they send art to us when it's almost impossible
with the shipping and custom costs?" Minkovski asked.
With the progress they've made promoting woman-centered
art, Antje and her mother expect to open the doors
a bit for male artists as well. Antje hopes a second
"Big Fish Little Fish" CD will include male musicians.
Her mother, who was just honored this year as the
most distinguished alumni of the year from Northeastern
Illinois, also sees art as building "solidarity."
Men have already been invited to participate in
shows with more universal themes, like prejudice
or gender issues. "I think it's enriching for men
and women," she said. "It makes our culture more
balanced."
-----
Chicago Magazine
July 2000
Bright Lights
Gals
and Gals
by
Elizabeth Lenhard
© 2000 Chicago Magazine
Big
Fish~Little Fish, Volume 1: Various Artists (Sweet
Pickle Music)
Sixteen tracks of homegrown grrlish charm, this
compilation features locals both famous (Ellen Rosner,
Dolly Varden) and obscure (Patty Ortega, Summer
Chance). If some of the songs are a bit Natalie
Merchant-ish, many are winning, particularly the
Twigs' wispy anthem "hello" and the lilting
"To Please You" by Antje.
------
Chicago
Tribune/Metromix
Friday July 14 2000
Angling
for attention
"Big Fish Little Fish" spotlights Chicago women
in music
By Dan Kening
© 2000 The Chicago Tribune
Every
now and then a project comes along that reminds
you how rich and diverse Chicago's musical landscape
is. The new compilation album "Big Fish Little Fish"
is such a project. Produced by local singer-songwriters
Antje Gehrken and Ellen Rosner, the album spotlights
the talents of 16 of Chicago's female musicians
of varying renown and musical styles. "I've been
in the local music scene for 10 years, and it became
clear to me that local music doesn't get as much
recognition in Chicago as it should -- particularly
local music by women," says Gehrken, who professionally
goes by her first name. "This project is something
I had wanted to do for quite a long time." "Big
Fish Little Fish" became closer to reality in May
of last year, when Gehrken found herself on a bill
with kindred souls Ripley Caine and Rosner, neither
of whom she had met before. "We all hit it off,"
says Gehrken. "I was telling Ellen about the project
I had in mind, because she books a lot of other
artists and knew a lot of artists I didn't know
and vice versa." The two decided to put out a call
for submissions of up to three songs by local female
artists. Eventually they wound up with more than
60 song submissions, and used a group of local music
industry advisers to help with the final selection
process. "We wanted as diverse a selection of music
as possible, and I think we got that," says Gehrken
who, along with Caine and Rosner, appears on the
album. "There's this one tune by Astra Kelly which
is kind of funk-alternative-acoustic 'get up and
dance' music. At the other end of the spectrum we
have Kelly Kessler, who has a very twangy country-pop
style. And then there's Joy Eden Harrison, who is
very jazzy, but fits perfectly on the album." Released
this weekend on Gehrken's own Sweet Pickle Music
label, the album is available at most major music
retail chains, and its proceeds will benefit the
not-for-profit Woman Made Gallery. "We hope that
the music on this album is so strong that it'll
make people rethink any stereotypes they might have
about women's music," says Gehrken. The "Big Fish
Little Fish" album release concert featuring 13
of the album's performers is at 10 p.m. Saturday
at the Double Door, 1572 N. Milwaukee Ave. Tickets
are $10. Call 773-489-3160.
-----
Outlines,
The Voice of Chicago's Gay and Lesbian Community
July
7, 2000
Arts
& Entertainment Music Mix Chicago
Chicago-A-Go-Go
By
Gregg Shapiro
© 2000 Lambda Publications Inc.
It’s
been a while since a Chicago band shook things up
in the world of pop music. However, that doesn’t
mean that there aren’t Chicago bands trying to turn
the focus towards the third coast. Several recent
releases prove that, although Chicago may not have
considerable representation on top of the charts
or on the airwaves, it’s not for lack of trying.
Three various artists discs are a good place to
start to examine the variety of music emerging from
Chicago.
Big
Fish Little Fish–Volume 1 (Sweet Pickle Music),
subtitled "emerging women in Chicago music," is
an impressive compilation that is also an excellent
companion-piece to last year’s historic two-disc
set High Risk by Outlines. The women on the disc
are from both the lesbian and straight communities,
and the work, a mix of both previously released
and unreleased tracks, is all of the highest quality.
There are solo performers, with names both familiar
and new, such as Ellen Rosner ("The Perfect Malcontent"),
Ripley Caine ("Corvair"), Karen Anderson ("Lost
in Lafayette"), Joy Eden Harrison ("Pushing My Luck"),
Kelly Kessler ("Well Of Tears") and Antje ("To Please
You"). Bands such as Dolly Varden ("Progress Note")
and The Twigs ("Hello") are also represented on
this generous collection. Kudos to Rosner and Antje
(Gehrken) for assembling material by such a rich
and fresh group of musicians, and for having proceeds
from the sale of the disc benefit Woman Made Gallery.
This Saturday, July 15, at Double Door, Brigid "Milly"
Murphy hosts a CD release part for Big Fish Little
Fish. Many of the CD’s artists will perform live.
-----
Illinois
Entertainer
July 16, 2000
Big
Fish Little Fish Emerging Women in Chicago Music
CD Release Party
By Terrence Flamm
© 2000 Illinois Entertainer
Last Saturday night brought 13 of
the 16 artists involved with this project before
an appreciative audience at the Double Door. Conceived
by singer-songwriter Antje, Big Fish, released on
her own Sweet Pickle label, features tracks submitted
by women in the local music scene. Antje knew the
hometown talent was there, and she enlisted singer-songwriter
Ellen Rosner to help bring it all together. "We
put a call out to emerging artists," Rosner said
prior to the live show, "and went around to see
who we thought would be good." The pair's instincts
proved to be particularly sharp. The CD covers a
variety of musical styles, and as the show's host,
Brigid Murphy proclaimed at one point, "There's
not a stinker in the bunch." According to Antje,
performance artist Murphy appeared as herself rather
than her popular alter ego Milly of Milly's Orchid
Show because this was an event that celebrated women
in the arts. "It was to emphasize that she is the
woman behind the art," Antje explained. Murphy kept
things running smoothly by providing thumbnail sketches
for each performer, and added to the festivities
by periodically tossing Big Fish t-shirts into the
crowd. Most of the acts performed two songs, including
one from the compilation. Some of them seemed to
need a more intimate setting than the cavernous
Double Door could provide, but everyone was well
received by the audience. Judging from their performances,
each of the acts featured in the Big Fish line-up
would be well worth seeing on their own. Beki Hemingway
was a wise choice to kick off the show. Rocking
out with "All The Time," her high energy track from
Big Fish, Hemingway is an engaging performer with
a powerful voice. The party continued with Karen
Anderson, who performed "Lost In Lafayette," a melodic
country-flavored song that showcases her knack for
clever lyrics. Alice Peacock's "Something Else,"
Kelly Kessler's "Well Of Tears," and the band Dolly
Varden's "Progress Note" were slower, richly textured
songs that also tapped into a C&W vein. Joy Eden
Harrison made a strong impression with the playful
old-time jazz of "Pushing My Luck," which includes
great lines like, "My best friend says you're a
walking time bomb/I'm looking for a match so I can
light your fuse." Anne O'Meara Heaton created the
hypnotic rhythms of her sultry "Black Notebook"
using only her voice and keyboards. Cathy Braaten's
emotional ballad "All In My Head" and Ripley Caine's
tuneful acoustic number "Corvair" were prime examples
of the polished songwriting and first rate singing
that make Big Fish such as successful effort. Summer
Chance checked in with "Waxen Wings," an exquisite
fable played to acoustic guitar, and Patty Ortega
performed the soulful "Everything Is You" with her
band. Not to be outdone, organizers Antje and Ellen
Rosner each turned in impressive three-song sets.
Antje performed the beautiful ballad "To Please
You," which sounds like vintage Kate Bush, as well
as two songs from her second album, due to be released
in the fall. Rosner, the last performer of the evening,
offered "The Perfect Malcontent," the catchy title
track of her recently-released album of witty folk-rock,
plus two songs from its follow-up. Big Fish has
a number of tracks that serve as previews of forthcoming
releases from the artists. Dolly Varden's "Progress
Note" also appears on their own The Dumbest Magnets
(Evil Teen Records) CD, which was released right
about the same time as Big Fish. The CD release
party offered a well-chosen finale as all the acts
joined together onstage for a spirited rendition
of "I'll Take You There," the early '70s hit by
Chicago's own The Staple Singers. Antje and Rosner
had succeeded in bringing together some of the city's
most powerful female voices in one venue as well
as on one CD. Big Fish Little Fish: Emerging Women
In Chicago Music also features the funky "Sunshine
& Mr. Blue" by Astra Kelly, and evocative ballads
from Nancy Walker and The Twigs, but unfortunately,
those three acts were unable to make the live show.
Considering the success of the July 15th performance,
it's not impossible that another Big Fish showcase
could take place in the future. "We're really proud
of each piece," Antje said of the 16-track CD she
compiled with Rosner. "We wish we could have written
each one. But this is the next best thing."
