Local Sirens will Continue Early Next Month

Poster design for the second Local Sirens concert (from the Rickshaw Stop event page)

Almost exactly a month ago this site announced the launch of the Local Sirens concert series by Women’s Audio Mission. The plan was to offer free, quarterly music performance events that feature emerging and established local woman-identified (transgender or cisgender), non-binary or gender non-conforming artists. It appears, however, that those quarters may involve uneven “lengths.” The first concert took place at the end of last month (January 29); and the second concert has now been planned for the beginning of next month!

This “time warp” is justified, however, because the next concert will be presented in honor of International Women’s Day, which takes place every year of March 8. As was the case with the first concert, the program will consist of three sets, all presenting Bay Area artists:

1. Meklit Hadero (who performs simply as “Meklit”) is a singer and songwriter based here in San Francisco. She was born in Ethiopia, raised in the United States, and studied political science at Yale University. Her music draws upon both Ethiopian sources and current jazz practices.
2. Gina Madrid was born and raised in Guadalajara in Mexico. She moved to Oakland in 1999, and she previously performed as Raw-G. Her genre may best be described as “cross-cultural, multi-lingual, politically charged Hip-Hop.”
3. Naima Shalhoub is Lebanese-American. She is a vocalist, composer, and performing artist, as well as an educator. She sees the music she makes as a tool for transformation liberation, education, and self-expression.

As was the case with the first concert, the performance will begin at 8 p.m., taking place on Tuesday, March 5. This time the venue will be the Rickshaw Stop, a former television studio with about 4000 square feet of floor space. The venue includes food service, as well as a full bar. The address is 155 Fell Street, about halfway between South Van Ness Avenue and Franklin Street. Doors will probably open at 7 p.m.; and, to repeat what has already been mentioned, this will be a free event.