This year’s American Songbook (at the Lincoln Center) celebrates the voices of women and nonbinary performers who have not only shaped the landscape of music, but have also driven important conversations on gender, identity, and empowerment. Galvanized by a Sex Pistols concert, the UK-born Marion Elliot adapted the sobriquet Poly Styrene, formed a band and then promptly changed the history of rock by recording the seminal punk anthem Oh Bondage! Up Yours! Poly Styrene would only release one album in the 1970s, but Germ Free Adolescents would prove to be one of the most influential LPs of its era. For this evening of music by and inspired by Poly Styrene and her band X-Ray Spex, the American Songbook band—featuring Keyanna Hutchinson (guitar), Barbara Duncan (percussion), Evan Lawrence (bass), and Elenna Canlas (keyboards and vocals)—will be joined by an array of musical luminaries, all paying their respects to a true punk pioneer. Watch it all HERE!!
Featured Artists
Host: LaRonda Davis
Vocalists:
Cleo Reed
Dunia Best
Felice Rosser
Honeychild Coleman
Princess Nokia
Lisa McQuade
Militia Vox
Rachel Dissident
Rose Blood
Shara Lunon
