The Queen of Clubland: Martha Wash unveils new single at this year's Pride festival

Winnipeg Pride Guide
May 2011

By SCOTT CARMAN

Winnipeggers are in for a cool treat on a hot day when Martha Wash takes to the stage at this year’s Pride Festival on June 5 at The Forks. They will be among the first in the world to hear The Queen of Clubland perform her new single, ‘I’ve Got You,” in front of a live audience.

The new single is due to be released at the end of May, just in time for Pride. The pop ballad features sweeping melodies, catchy hooks, and a chorus of back-up singers. It’s a bit of a departure for the woman who is responsible for delivering some of the biggest dance and house music hits of the last four decades.

“When I first heard the song, I wasn’t so sure about it,” Wash confided during a recent interview from her New York City home. “But my manager James said, ‘This is the song for you – you need to record this song.’ And the more I listened to it, the more I fell in love with it.”

Wash said the song is about how we all need a helping hand, and ties in nicely with Pride Winnipeg’s theme of “Unity” this year.

“Everybody takes away something different from this song,” Wash said. “A lot people end up in tears when they listen to it, but it’s not necessarily a sad song. It really means that we all need one another, and that I’ll be there for you, and we should all be there for each other, in a spiritual sense.”

Indeed, the song takes on special meaning in the context of this year’s Pride festivities. And Wash is excited about delivering it to an enthusiastic crowd at the Pride of Prairies – the largest Pride celebrations between Toronto and Vancouver.

“The gay community has been so supportive of me over the years,” Wash said. “They have been my #1 supporters through the years and they’re the ones who have kept me working all this time. I am so happy and grateful for that.”

Wash’s following in the queer community can be traced back to her breakthrough single “It’s Raining Men” in 1982, recorded by her band, The Weather Girls. The song was reprised in 1998 by Wash and RuPaul, and made popular again in 2001 when it was recorded and released by former Spice Girl, Geri Halliwell.

Since 1982, Wash has been responsible for some of the most memorable vocals in the history of dance and house music, including her work with Sylvester, Black Box (“Everybody Everybody,” “Strike It Up,” and “I Don’t Know Anybody Else”) and C+C Music Factory (“Gonna Make You Sweat/Everybody Dance Now”).

With a catalogue this impressive, Wash is sure to get the crowd on its feet at this year’s Pride Festival.

Despite her success in the charts and performing in front of large audiences all over the world, it was an intimate gig in Washington, D.C., that is the most memorable of Wash’s career – she performed at the White House in front of President Clinton and a number of VIP guests.

“I was watching TV on a Tuesday or something and President Clinton and the First Lady were doing a Christmas tour of the White House and I thought about how great it would be to perform there,” Wash said. “Two days later, I got a call asking if I would like to play at the White House – I almost fell off my seat. It was such a coincidence. So by that Saturday of the same week I was at the White House performing in front if the President of the United States of America. I’ll never forget that.”

When she’s not busy performing and recording, Martha finds time to volunteer for Quality Services for the Autism Community (QSAC), a New York City-based non-profit organization that provides comprehensive services to individuals with autism, and their families. She is QSAC’s celebrity spokesperson and lends her distinctive and powerful voice to help spread QSAC’s mission of helping individuals with autism to live meaningful and fulfilled lives.

For more information about Martha Wash, her new single “I’ve Got You” and the video that accompanies it, please visit her website at www.marthawash.com.

Copyright 2011

"To Kill A Kelpie" by Matthew McVarish tours San Francisco, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.

By SCOTT CARMAN

A month ago I posted a new song by my friend Matthew. Well not only is Matthew an accomplished singer/songwriter, he is also a critically-acclaimed playwright. One of his plays, "To Kill A Kelpie," has been touring around the United States lately, and earlier this week I went down to Chicago to see the play and catch up with Matthew.

The play was first performed in the UK. According to Metro.co.uk:

"As those familiar with Celtic folklore will know, a kelpie is a supernatural, shape-shifting spirit believed to haunt rivers and lochs in Scotland. For this Glasgay! production about child abuse, Matthew McVarish places tales of the beast, as told to two young brothers by their uncle, at the centre of his dysfunctional family drama."

"The brothers, now adults, are reunited after the death of their abusive relative and it becomes clear the tales of child-devouring monsters were in fact designed to prey on their fears and ensure their silence during their terrible ordeal. As they try to come to terms with things long buried and left unsaid, their childhood landscape of shame, confusion and doubt is brought into sharp focus as they go through some emotional shape-shifting of their own."

I may be biased, but I thought the play was very well written and acted. Well done, Matthew, and kudos to Stop the Silence, which helped fund this tour. Anyone interested in more information about the play can visit www.tokillakelpie.com or matthewmcvarish.com.

Letting Go - new single by Ty Witherspoon

By SCOTT CARMAN

Check out this new single, Letting Go, by my friend Ty Witherspoon - it's a pretty fun track with a great vibe.

Ty is a multi-talented singer, actor and dancer originally from Winnipeg, now living in Vancouver. Even though he doesn't live here anymore, I can still catch him on TV - he has auditioned a couple of times for So You Think You Can Dance Canada, and currently has a recurring role on Hellcats, an American cheerleading comedy-drama that airs on The CW in the United States. For more information about Ty, you can visit his website here: www.tyrellwitherspoon.com

His first single, Letting Go, is now available on iTunes. To buy the song, click here. A second single is expected to be released before summer. A music video for Letting Go is also in the works - watch for it in the coming weeks.

Great job, Ty, and hope to see you soon!

Letting Go (Full Version) by tyrellwitherspoon

Martha Wash to headline this year's Pride Festival

By SCOTT CARMAN

Pride Winnipeg is pleased to announce its headliner for this year's Pride Festival: the Queen of Clubland, Martha Wash. Wash is best known for the smash hit dance/disco anthem "It's Raining Men." She has had a successful solo career and worked with numerous other artists including C+C Music Factory, Luther Vandross, and RuPaul.

To read the full news release: click here

For more information about Wash: click here

This year's Pride Festival takes place June 5 at The Forks, following the annual rally at the Manitoba legislature and parade through downtown Winnipeg. The rally, parade, and festival are all free to attend and open to everyone.

Hope to see you there!

Lovin That Man - new song by Matthew McVarish

By SCOTT CARMAN

I know this blog is dedicated (for the most part) to my writing, but I haven't done any writing lately! So I'm sharing with you a new song and video by my good friend Matthew, from Scotland. His new solo album is out this summer. Hope you enjoy.

Deborah Cox: Dance diva and darling of the queer community

Winnipeg Pride Guide
May 2010

By SCOTT CARMAN

She’s Canada’s sweetheart of the dance music world, and as a sure sign that Pride Winnipeg is ‘growing up’ and cementing its place as the Pride of the Prairies, Deborah Cox is set to headline the first-ever Pride festival at The Forks on June 6.

“I’m really looking forward to it – everybody needs to come ready and prepared to have a great time,” Cox said in a recent interview. “My shows are always about high energy and connecting with the audience – it’s going to be very fun.”

This year’s Pride Winnipeg performance will not be the first time Cox has performed for the queer community – she has played at Pride events in Toronto and elsewhere. With R&B hits like “Beautiful U R” and “Nobody’s Supposed To Be Here” – as well as countless dance remixes – Cox’s music has resonated within the GLBTTQ* community for years.

“It’s been an amazing ride. I’ve had this fan base for more than 10 years,” Cox said. “The gay community has been extremely supportive – unconditionally. They’re always behind everything I do, and I’ve been fortunate to travel all over the whole world because of my dance music and connecting with that fan base.”

In 1995, label executive Clive Davis signed Cox to Arista Records, and she released her self-titled debut album the same year. After some success, Cox released a non-album single for the soundtrack to the 1997 movie Money Talks, titled “Things Just Ain’t The Same.” A dance mix of the song topped the U.S. dance charts, and was included on her second album, 1998’s One Wish.

The first single from that album, “Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here,” spent 14 weeks at #1 on the Hot R&B charts in the U.S., as well as eight consecutive weeks at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album went platinum, becoming Cox’s biggest-selling album to date.

Cox then recorded a new song, “Absolutely Not,” for the soundtrack to Dr. Dolittle 2. Remixes of the song repeated the success of One Wish’s singles on the dance charts, and the Chanel mix of “Absolutely Not” was included on her third album, The Morning After, which was released in November 2002 on J Records.

On February 17, 2004, she made her Broadway debut in the Elton John-Tim Rice musical Aida, returning to recording only to release a dance remix of “Easy As Life” as a single.

Her fourth R&B studio album, The Promise, was released in late 2008. The song “Beautiful U R” reached #3 on the Canadian Radio Chart becoming her most successful single in nearly 10 years. It also peaked at #3 on the Canadian Hot AC Chart and hit #1 on the US Dance chart – becoming her tenth song to do it.

It was a remix of “House Is Not A Home” that earned her a permanent place in the hearts of queers everywhere, as well as a spot on tour with Cyndi Lauper in 2008.

“The song was having a tremendous amount of success in the clubs and Cyndi’s camp knew I had a strong following in gay community,” Cox said. “They were getting ready to head out on tour and the scheduling happened to work out perfectly, so I managed to do the whole tour with them. It was an amazing experience.”

She has won or been nominated for some of the music industry’s biggest awards. Her most recent recognition was Best House/Garage Track at the Winter Music Conference at the end of March, for the song “Leave The World Behind.”

“Dance music no longer on the fringe, it’s more in the mainstream now,” Cox said of the win.

While she’s in Winnipeg, she’ll not only perform the free outdoor festival at the Forks, but also make a special guest appearance and perform a couple of songs at the Fusion: White & Wild dance party at the Marlborough Hotel on June 6. Tickets for the dance party are $25, and more information can be found on the Pride Winnipeg website: www.pridewinnipeg.com.

If you can’t get enough of Cox while she’s in town, plan on travelling to New York City in the fall, when she’ll make her return to Broadway originating the role of Josephine Baker.

Josephine Baker was the first African American to star in a major motion picture, to integrate an American concert hall, and to become a world-famous entertainer. She is also noted for her contributions to the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, for assisting the French Resistance during World War II and for being the first American-born woman to receive the French military honor, the Croix de Guerre.

“I’m really excited about this opportunity,” Cox said. “It’s something that requires a lot of research – focusing on her, the character, the icon, the activist. I can’t wait to tackle it."

Copyright 2010