Cris Williamson

Decades before indie labels were the norm, and years before women had any real access to the industry, Cris Williamson and the Olivia Collective were busy changing the face of popular music. In 1975, the twenty-something former schoolteacher recorded The Changer and the Changed for her brainchild, Olivia Records, the first woman-owned, woman-focused record company. Her music and voice quickly became an essential part of the soundtrack of a movement and was the cornerstone of what would become known as “women’s music”—music created, performed, and marketed specifically for and by women. Today, The Changer and the Changed remains one of the best-selling independent releases of all time. 

For Cris, the music has always been the vehicle for something larger. Her work appears on a regular basis in books and thesis papers, on radio, and in film. Her albums are part of the curriculum for women's studies courses, and thousands of people who may not even know her name join their voices in “Song of the Soul” around campfires and places of worship. She is embraced by women. She is sampled in hip-hop. Her music is used by midwives welcoming life into the world, while hospice choirs sing her songs in tender sacred escort. “She is often considered a treasure, passed hand-to-hand, person-to-person,” says the Boston Phoenix, “Williamson is a heroic character whose tireless activism continues.” 

Today, with 34 full albums to her credit, Cris continues to tour the acoustic circuit, promoting her latest album, Harbor Street, and adding new material at each juncture. Her performance career has included three sold-out shows at Carnegie Hall and headlining many of the great folk festivals, including Newport, Kerrville, Moab, and Vancouver. Cris and Judy Dlugacz were recently honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award bestowed upon them by the Americana Music Association at their annual awards ceremony in the illustrious Ryman Theatre. The award was presented by NPR music critic Ann Powers. 

2025 will mark the 50th Anniversary of The Changer and the Changed and Cris is already busy preparing for a full schedule of touring and teaching, Cris will be presenting a bountiful handful of Changer and the Changed All-Star Anniversary Shows in select major cities—on land and at sea! In addition, Cris will be going into the studio in 2024 to record album #33! Stay tuned. 

Linda Tillery

Linda Tillery is a Grammy© nominated vocalist, producer, percussionist, arranger and cultural historian. Since she first appeared on stage at the tender age of 19, she has been considered as one of the Bay Area’s most soulful and dynamic singers.  

She is recognized as a pioneer in Women's music, with her second solo album titled Linda Tillery released on Olivia Records in 1977 and winning a Bammy (Bay Area Music Award) for “Best Independently Produced Album.” Tillery was also twice named “Outstanding Female Vocalist” at the Bay Area Jazz Awards. In addition to performing, she was the producer on three of Olivia's first eight albums. Within the women's music genre, she has collaborated with June Millington, Deidre McCalla, Barbara Higbie, Holly Near, Margie Adam, and others.  

During the 1980s, Tillery branched out in many directions, recording three albums under her own name while becoming a central figure in Oakland’s R&B and funk scene. 

In the 90’s, Ms. Tillery became a founding member of Bobby McFerrin’s Voicestra, where she began serious study of improvisation and vocal performance. She toured with Voicestra for over five years. 

In addition to her performing credits Tillery has appeared on over 70 recordings by such artists as Carlos Santana, Boz Scaggs, Pete and Sheila Escovedo, Taj Mahal, Vicki Randle, Eric Bibb, Mickey Hart, Bobby McFerrin, Linda Ronstadt, Huey Lewis & The News, The Whispers, Turtle Island String Quartet and Keith Terry’s percussion ensemble, Crosspulse. 

In 1992, Tillery formed the 6-member Cultural Heritage Choir – a percussion driven, vocal ensemble.  

She has metamorphosed into an authority on the African Diaspora in song. Her current mission is to help preserve and share the rich musical traditions of African American roots music. 

Linda will be joined by Tammy Hall on piano, Ruthie Price on drums and Kofy Brown on bass. 

Teresa Trull

Teresa Trull is a fiery haired vocal dynamo who combines a gutsy blues/rock style, top notch songwriting talents and sharp producing instincts in her many high energy projects. She has made five of her own recordings, including two successful duo pairings both with Higbie and with Cris Williamson (Country Blessed 1990). An accomplished producer of over 30 albums, Trull was named the Best Producer of an Independent Album at the New York Music Awards. She has performed and shared stages with Sheila E., David Sanborn, Joan Baez and many others. “Teresa Trull is absolutely magnificent.” (San Francisco Chronicle/Examiner)… “ Trull’s truly expressive voice projects a clear pure soprano and drops an octave below to achieve an equally clear strong alto…especially humorous…Her stage presence was always needle sharp… a world of talent.” (The Sunday Oregonian) 

Barbara Higbie

Called "a bolt of bright sunlight" by the L.A.Times, a “classy talent” by the Boston Globe and “the most exciting musician we’ve heard” by the S.F. Chronicle, Barbara Higbie brings joy and virtuosity to every performance. She is a Grammy-nominated, Bammy and Glama award winning composer, singer-songwriter and fiddler, appearing on over 100 albums, including 18 of her own and 12 compilations that have sold in the millions. She has recorded with Carlos Santana, Bonnie Raitt, Cris Williamson, Ferron, Linda Tillery, Holly Near, Teresa Trull and many others. “Unexpected,” a duo album with singer-songwriter, Teresa Trull (on Olivia/Second Wave Records) made Higbie/Trull one of the most popular acts in Women’s Music. At the same time, Barbara was the first woman to be signed to the famed instrumental label, Windham Hill Records, where she co-led a group that recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival, touring internationally for 15 years.  

The youngest of six children from a midwestern musical family, Higbie started piano at age four. At age 13, her family moved from small town Indiana to Ghana, West Africa. She attended Mills College and the Sorbonne in Paris. At 21, she was awarded the prestigious Watson Fellowship to collect traditional music in West Africa. At 22, she placed 6th in the National Women’s Fiddle Contest. At 23, she released her first original album on Windham Hill, the critically acclaimed “Tideline” on the Windham Hill label. 

 Barbara’s first solo CD on Sony Records, a singer-songwriter album in 1990, was named “Top Ten of the Year” by the Washington Post. In 2011, Higbie was named the first “Artist in Residence” for the famed west coast jazz club, Yoshi’s. There, she founded the group “Hills to Hollers” with gospel/blues singer and original Olivia collective member, Linda Tillery and bluegrass star, Laurie Lewis. Recently, Higbie’s composing and recording has harkened back to her Windham Hill roots, with a popular 3-part, all women “Chillogy” series, produced by Lisa Vogel, featuring the brilliant Jami Sieber, cello, Vicki Randle, guitar and Michaelle Goerlitz, percussion. December 2023 marks the release of her new “Solstice” album. In addition to composing, recording, playing festivals and touring, Barbara loves playing for Olivia audiences. She has performed on over 35 Olivia trips and counts them among the best experiences of her life.  

Mary Watkins

Ms. Watkins is the recipient of several granting foundations such as Meet the Composer, National Endowment for the Arts, Gerbodi Foundation, Zellerbach Family Fund and Calfornia Council for the Arts. She is an eclectic composer. She is also a pianist, arranger, recording artist and record producer. Much of her music reflects a love for many styles of music whether  jazz, gospel, Latin, country, rock, classical or pop. She has composed for solo piano for both adults and children, wind ensembles, string quartet, chamber and full symphony orchestra. She has also composed for theater, dance and film, songs for solo vocalists, vocal ensembles and large choruses. In 2015 she was commissioned by Women in Music to write a 22 minute symphonic work for the National Women’s Music Festival which was premeired in July, 2016 in Middleton Wisconsin. She has completed three operas, Queen Clara, with Lance Belville as librettist, and her second  opera, Dark River, in which she composed both music and libretto, commissioned by and premiered at the Oakland Opera Theater and later premiered on the east coast at Mt. Holyoke College. The production of her latest opera, Emmett Till, created with Clara Coss as librettist, is currently in the planning stages with The Harlem Lyric Opera Theatre Company for the 2018-2019 performance season.

While continuing her work as a composer, Mary Watkins continues to perform both solo piano and as part of her ensemble group. She conducts improvisation workshops, and teaches piano and music theory privately in Oakland, CA.

June Millington

June Millington has been making music since she was a child playing ukulele in her native Philippines. Having moved from Manila to California in the early sixties, she and her sister, bassist Jean, turned in their folk guitars for electric and formed a succession of all-girl bands. By ‘69 they were in Hollywood with their band Fanny, which was the first all-women’s rock band to be signed to a major label that released an entire album (Reprise/Warner Brothers). Through five successful albums and extensive touring of Europe and North America, Fanny served notice that women could do more than simply sing, they could write and play passionate rock ‘n roll. As David Bowie said of the group in an interview with Rolling Stone: 

“They were one of the finest fucking rock bands of their time.... They were extraordinary: They wrote everything, they played like motherfuckers.... They are as important as anyone else who’s ever been, ever....” (RS, January 2000) 

June left Fanny in 1973 and continued to record and perform with Jean (Ladies on the Stage, Ticket to Wonderful, Melting Pot, Play Like a Girl) as well as releasing solo albums Heartsong, Running, and One World, One Heart.  In 1976 she toured with Cris Williamson on her first groundbreaking national tour backing the explosive Changer and the Changed.  She produced Cris' follow-up, Strange Paradise, and continued with other artists including Holly Near (Fire in the Rain), Mary Watkins (Something Moving), Melanie DeMore (Share My Song), and Bitch and Animal (Sour Juice and Rhyme).  She is the co-founder and Artistic Director of the Institute for the Musical Arts [IMA], a non-profit organization for women and girls which hosts Rock ‘n Roll Girls Camps each summer. The Institute for the Musical Arts is an internationally known teaching, performing and recording facility supporting women in music and music-related business.    

June released her autobiography “Land of a Thousand Bridges: Island Girl in a Rock ‘n Roll World” in June of 2015 and has received a great deal of resulting press including articles in Pitchfork, MS Magazine, and Newsweek as well as on NPR.  Millington continues to perform, write and record and teaches at IMA as well as colleges and universities around North America.  

Deidre McCalla

Affectionately dubbed the "dreadlocked troubadour" by The Miami Herald, Deidre McCalla and her music embrace and celebrate the power and diversity of our lives. Ms Magazine named Deidre’s first Olivia recording ‘Don’t Doubt It’ one of 25 Classic Women’s Music albums. Her second album for Olivia 'With A Little Luck' received a San Francisco Cable Car Award and was declared one of the Ten Best Albums of the Year by the Oakland Tribune. Deidre’s most recent release ‘Playing for Keeps,’ on her own MaidenRock label, was listed as one of the Best CDs of the Year by Rhythms Magazine.   

With five critically acclaimed albums under her belt and shared stages with a long list of notables that include Suzanne Vega, Tracy Chapman, Holly Near, Cris Williamson, and Odetta, Deidre McCalla has captivated audiences from college coffeehouses to Carnegie Hall with delightful storytelling, vocals both graceful and gritty, and a warmth and generosity of spirit that should not be missed. Deidre has taught Performance at Warren Wilson College's Swannanoa Gathering and her work has been published in Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology, The Original Coming Out Stories, and Chrysalis: A Feminist Quarterly; she is also featured in The Power of Words: A Transformative Language Arts Reader.  

Dianne Davidson

ROLLING STONE: "Dianne Davidson actually gave me the chills."

Some singers today need a team of backup singers and a ten-piece band. Dianne Davidson could stand on stage with nothing but her voice and her songs and you’d hear more depth and power. She’s played her rock/blues/R&B songs in everything from Carnegie Hall to prominent Nashville venues. There’s a reason Variety called her a “… (a) chillingly powerful vocalist.”

Audiences love her between-song patter as much as her songs. In addition to solo concerts, she’s opened for Neil Young, the Moody Blues, and many more. She’s sung backing vocals in the studio and on stage with a host of well-known musicians—Linda Ronstadt, the Earl Scruggs Review, Jimmy Buffet, David Allen Coe, and too many others to list.

If you want solid songs presented with an impressive set of pipes in an emotion-packed performance, look no further than Dianne Davidson.

Lucie Blue Tremblay

Beginning in March 2020, Lucie Blue began producing livestreams for you (her tribe) twice a week called “Jammin’ In My Jammies” and created special ZOOM events as well, in the18 months that followed. No one would be alone. Inspiration fueled Lucie during these isolating times. Her latest CD was born with a special message that, “everything was going to be okay”.

The production and tracks travelled by internet and communication with the band all happened through ZOOM since Canada closed its borders to the world and Nova Scotia closed its border to other Canadian provinces. Once it was safe Lucie travelled to Quebec to complete her guitar and vocal tracks.

Olivia’s 50th Anniversary Cruise was Lucie’s first and last performance in 2023. Having suffered an injury shortly after, Lucie Blue underwent shoulder, bicep repair and rehab.

2023 was eventful yet filled with surprises. Lucie was commissioned to write and produce the song “You Are My Family” for the Cancer Care PAW Program. PAW offers financial support to help clients keep their pets home and cared for, while clients go through chemo and radiation treatment.

Hearing Lucie Blue live in concert is a personal and moving experience and though she sometimes sings of the powerful storm we are living in, she always and carefully brings us back to the beauty right in front of us. It is refreshing to witness the freedom and liberation of this songwriter as some may remember her early immigration issues when she self disclosed as a lesbian in the Mid 80’s. She is now a full-fledged dual citizen of Canada and the USA.

In the summer you can find Lucie and her wife Pat managing their lovely rental property in Nova Scotia called The Princess and the Sea. It’s hard to leave Paradise, NS but knowing you’ll all be on the other end has Lucie looking forward to cruising with Olivia again and getting a chance to re-launch this her CD “So Many Wows” in person.

“The best thing about Lucie's music in the past is that when it was first heard, it was always current. It touched where you, and the rest of us, were living at that time. Her latest CD “So Many Wows” is no exception. Her voice is warmer and richer and sweeter than ever, and its songs will keep playing in your head even after you've pulled out the earbuds.” ©2022.ShellyRoberts.

Tret Fure

Tret Fure began her career at the age of 16, singing in coffeehouses and campuses in the Midwest. At 19, she moved to LA in hopes of obtaining a record deal. Within a year she was performing as guitarist and vocalist for Spencer Davis, touring with him and penning the single for his album "Mousetrap". She went on to record her own album in 1973 on MCA/UNI Records, with the late Lowell George of Little Feat as her producer. With the success of that release, she opened for such bands as Yes, Poco, and the Geils Band.

A prolific artists in the contemporary singer-songwriter arena, Tret Fure has released 17 albums and CDs over the course of her 50 year career. In addition to being a gifted songwriter, Fure has engineered and produced countless recordings by a variety of artists, including her own work.

In the early 80s, Tret moved to the independent side of the industry discovering the blossoming genre known as Women's Music. She recorded with and produced some of the best of women's music including mixing the legendary "Meg & Cris at Carnegie Hall" (1983). She worked as a duo with Cris Williamson throughout the 90s, producing, engineering and releasing 3 CDs together.

Now after 9 acoustic releases on her own label, Tomboy girl Records, she has reestablished herself in the folk world, winning the South Florida Folk Festival Singer/ Songwriter Competition in 2 out of 3 categories., Best Overall and Best Up-Tempo Song. as well as the prestigious Jane Schliessman Award for Outstanding Contributions to Women's Music. In 2009, Tret was voted "Pride In The Arts Favorite Female/Lesbian Musician". In the same year she received the Janine C Rae Award for her work in Women's Music.. In 2017, Tret took 2nd place in the Musicians United to Protect Bristol Bay songwriting contest for her song "The Fishermen of Bristol Bay”. Her acclaimed solo releases include "Tret Fure" (1973), "Terminal Hold" (1984), "Edges of the Heart" (1986), "Time Turns the Moon" (1990), "Back Home" (2001) which took both album of the year and single of the year awards for 2001 from OutVoice Top 40, "My Shoes" (2003) in which Sing Out! Magazine says "Fure's new solo venture signals her intent to do more than just move on. This album soars...She has never sounded better...This mature effort surely ranks among Fure's finest works and will be savored by old-time fans and new fans alike.", "Anytime Anywhere" (2005) and "True Compass" (2007) both beautiful collections of songs of love and passion, "The Horizon" (2010), "A Piece of the Sky" (2013) and "Rembrandt Afternoons" (2015) which was chosen by the acclaimed folk music show 'Midnight Special' as their album of the week and was in heavy rotation on folk shows around the country. Her song "Freedom" has been arranged for chorale groups and is being performed widely around the country. "Roses in November" (2018) was on the Folk DJ charts for 8 months. Her song "Lessons From Home Plate" was the #1 song in the month of June, with the album at #4 and she was the #2 artist. In November, the title song was #7. The album ended up in the top twenty for the year. Wanda A. Fischer from WMAC Northeast Public Radio has this to say, "Roses in November is yet another masterpiece from Tret. Exceptionally crafted songs delivered with passion, conviction and, yes, soul. Tret weaves magic both in the lyrics and between the lines. This will certainly be on my "Best of 2018" list.”

Now Tret has released a stunning collection of songs on her latest release, “Stone by Stone” (2020). This album is proving to be her most mature and deeply moving CD to date. The title song is an autobiographical look at love through the lens of time. “Stone by Stone:” was the #2 CD in the month of January, 2021 with the #1 song “Monuments” on the FAI Folk DJ charts. “Monuments” was also one of four first place winners in the 2020 “A Still Small Voice 4U” songwriting competition.

Fure also markets of her own line of clothing named after her popular song "Tomboy girl". In addition, Tret teaches guitar and songwriting individually and in workshop settings. She paints pet portraits on commission and, an accomplished cook, Fure has also published a cookbook, "Tret's Kitchen", featuring her own recipes. Along with bridging the marketing, production, music and art worlds, Tret served for 6 years as President of Local 1000, The Traveling Musicians Association—a union geared toward helping traveling musicians find security and longevity.
Tret is truly a Renaissance Woman!

Karen Williams

Karen Williams is a force, a buzzsaw joke machine. She is proactively provocative, and fearless in confronting cliches, and investigating stereotypes through hyperbole. Her comedy stands out as a distinct, cantankerous voice in the lesbian community and a unique perspective on the world at large. “Human Beings: What A Concept,” Karen Williams’ debut comedy album, is a glimpse into the inner politics of a marginalized group that, by necessity, became curators and creators of their own culture. Karen addresses conformity in kindness, love, and relationships. She shares misgivings about aging, codependency, motherhood, and sexuality, especially regarding intersections with race and libertine living. Karen tells it like it is, as she sees it, cutting through the pleasantries with nuance, texture, ambiance, ambivalence, and gusto. She has lingo for those in the know and expertly crafted elaborations for those who aren’t. Throughout, Karen displays an unmatched genius for sarcasm, irony, and rhetoric. If something doesn’t make sense, she’ll knock some sense into it, but gracefully. Her technique is impressive. Rather than beat her opponent over the head, she’ll take the egregiously erroneous or misinformed stance as her own, stretch the faulty logic until it’s paper thin, and wrap the whole farce up into a bow. Karen Williams is special. For more about Karen's humor and healing work, visit www.hahainstitute.com  

Suzanne Westenhoefer

No one ever accused Suzanne of being subtle, not the shuttle driver who took her to the airport, the woman she was in line with at the grocery store yesterday and certainly not her audiences.  Subtle, she is not.
After 25 years of groundbreaking, stereotype-shattering and brutally honest comedy, she’s not about to start pulling punches now.
The kid from Amish Country who began her comedy career on a dare is celebrating a quarter century of out, open, no-holds-barred comedy.
Suzanne tells the truth. The truth is life is funny, especially when it’s fermented in Suzanne’s mind. That’s why she could never be in the closet, making her a trailblazer when she started doing stand-up in the 1990s. She was the first openly lesbian comedian with an HBO Special and the first openly lesbian comedian on “Late Night with David Letterman.”
Heck, she was on Sally Jesse Raphael in 1991 on a show called “Breaking the Lesbian Stereotype…Lesbians Who Don’t Look Like Lesbians.” From “OMG, a lesbian has long hair and wears make up” to “I went to Helen and Jane’s wedding last weekend,” that’s how far we’ve come in the 25 years Suzanne has been telling her truth to audiences all over the world. Some of that is certainly thanks to her candor, courage and charisma.
Suzanne never does the same show twice. She can’t. She doesn’t write anything down. She charges boldly onto the stage and what happens is always a mystery and a delight. Enjoy a wild night of comedy in a city near you.

Elvira Kurt

Elvira Kurt is an award-winning, trail-blazing, blazer-wearing stand-up comic and Second City alumna who can now add thespian lesbian to her long list of credits following her Montreal theatrical stage debut in the Broadway smash hit, POTUS:. From hosting her own prime time talk show in Canada, popcultured with Elvira Kurt, to her more recent co-hosting appearances on CTV’s The Social, along with her numerous televised comedy specials, Kurt has done it all—at home and abroad. She’s earned multiple nominations for U.S. College Comedian of The Year, performed solo shows from Iceland and Iqaluit to Australia and New Zealand and is considered a queer icon for being one of the first openly gay stand-up comedians.

Elvira's work in television is extensive. Highlights include writing and performing on Baroness Von sketch Show, Carolyn Taylor's I Have Nothing, being a judge on The Second City’s Next Comedy Legend, a recurring role in the critically acclaimed pre-school series, Miss Persona, and hosting a Mark Burnett- produced game show, Spin Off.

She continues to showcase her creative talents in writing, producing, and directing in everything from the Seth Rogen-produced, The Great Canadian Pottery Throwdown to the Netflix hit, Drink Masters, Canada’s Drag Race, and The Great Canadian Baking Show. Elvira has received many prestigious accolades, including recognition at the Canadian Screen Awards, Canadian Comedy Awards, Toronto Fringe Festival, and earning the Jury Choice Award at the Cannes Short Film Showcase. All this and a sitcom currently in development means Elvira Kurt is one busy teacup butch!

Lisa Koch

Daft. Demented. #SNORT. Picture Tina Fey meets Bette Midler with Joan Jett’s guitar chops... and you’ve got Lisa Koch. An irreverent singer, comedian, out lesbian, and sober chick, Koch (“Coke”) is a deliciously twisted mix of comedy, theater, and tunes. She has recorded five solo CDs, is an alumnus of the quirky sketch comedy duo Dos Fallopia (Ham for the Holidays), and has shared the stage with the likes of Janis Ian, Kate Clinton, Lily Tomlin, Karla Bonoff, the Indigo Girls, and Steve Martin. She composed the off-Broadway musical 27, Rue de Fleurus, has been seen on LOGO and Olivia cruises, and actually had one of her songs sampled by Jay-Z. Lisa brings to Olivia her guitar, her wacky songs, and her musings on being a woman… from middle age to mammograms to singing vulvas. 

Roxanna Ward

Cabaret-comic extraordinaire Roxanna Ward hails from Laguna Beach, California. Her engaging blend of piano bar and comedy caused one reviewer to observe, “It’s as if Bette Midler and Steve Allen had a love child.” A pianist, musical arranger, producer, and teacher, Ward has worked with legends Dolly Parton, Laura Nyro, Tennessee Ernie Ford, and Bea Arthur. She has conducted orchestras as far apart as Milwaukee, Dusseldorf, and closer to home with Pacific Symphony. As a songwriter, she penned the R&B single “Remember Who You Are,” which reached number 16 on Billboard’s jazz chart when recorded by Phyllis Hyman, and more recently was recorded by Suede.

Roxanna has spent 20 years teaching chorus at both Thurston Middle School and Laguna Beach High School, building the program to admirable levels, and has served as Music Director at the Laguna Playhouse, Irvine Valley College, and Orange County School of the Arts, to name but a few. She has been the Music Director of choice since the inception of No Square Theatre, in California, and has also starred in No Square's productions of Gypsy (Mama Rose), Nunsense (Reverend Mother), and numerous other Lagunatics shows.

Roxanna’s greatest accomplishment is her son, Jake, who’s not only reached adulthood with grace and humor, but is soon to marry a wonderful young lady while enjoying a successful career in finance in San Diego. She’s also the proud mama of the devastatingly attractive mutt, Buddy, who frequently accompanies her to the theatre.

Roxanna is a beloved member of the Olivia family; her Olivia debut was on an Alaska cruise in 1992. Since then, she's joined us several times a year, and her brilliant comedy, writing, musicianship, and singing endears her to audiences everywhere. Whether you are seeing Roxanna for the first time or the tenth, she always makes you laugh and warms your heart.

Vickie Shaw

Comedian Vickie Shaw is one of our favorite entertainers with Olivia. She has made women of Olivia laugh for over 20 years. Her "take no prisoners" (she's southern) style of comedy is incredibly hilarious and she takes you on a gut-busting journey of extreme humor. She has traveled the U.S. and the world (mostly with Olivia) making people all over the globe laugh until they cry! You've seen her on television, Comedy Central, four comedy specials on LOGO, Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen, and movies (Laughing Matters More), as well as benefits, fundraisers and numerous Pride events all over the U.S. You don't want to miss this incredible entertainer. 

Dana Goldberg

Raised by a wild pack of Jews, otherwise known as her mother and two siblings, veteran comedian Dana Goldberg is a force of nature on stage. With performances at the San Francisco International Comedy Competition, The Comedy Festival produced by TBS and HBO, and the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, Goldberg’s quick wit and playful stage presence have earned her loyal fans across the country and abroad.

A crowd favorite, she has become a triple threat, combining her comedy, hosting, and writing talents to become one of the most sought-after entertainers on the circuit. Deeming her one of the top five funniest lesbians in America, Curve magazine raved, “Goldberg is one of the brightest lights in a stellar comedy landscape,” and Advocate.com named Goldberg one of the top three LGBT comedians in the nation. 

In addition to headlining clubs, theaters, and festivals around the country, Goldberg has performed at and emceed dozens of high profile events and has shared the national stage with luminaries such as President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, President Bill Clinton, Kerry Washington, Jennifer Lopez, John Lithgow, Alfred Molina, Jennifer Hudson, Sir Elton John, Mariah Carey, Shonda Rhimes, and many more. Combining her gift of humor with humanitarian efforts, Goldberg has helped to raise over thirty million dollars for nonprofits around the country in the fight for marriage equality, LGBT rights, women’s rights, and HIV and AIDS education and prevention.

Crystal Bowersox

Crystal Bowersox, a northwest Ohio native currently calling Nashville home, has built her life around music. Crystal’s love for music developed at an early age, from a need to find peace in a chaotic world. Through art and creation, Crystal was able to direct her energy and emotion, finding a way to mend a mind in turmoil. For her, music was always the most effective form of catharsis, and she would play for anyone, anywhere. In her own words, “my guitar was an appendage. I couldn’t live without it.”

Dead set on a career in music, Crystal moved to Chicago as a teenager, spending her days performing underground on subway platforms between working odd jobs. There she broadened her musical horizons and shared her talents in a variety of venues, ultimately auditioning for American Idol. Crystal’s time on the show proved to be well spent—she immediately left the soundstage for the recording studio. Since then, she has released three LPs, two EPs, and several singles and is currently developing Trauma Queen, an autobiographical theatrical rock concert. Additionally, she has used her talents to benefit several causes close to her heart, including becoming an advocate and inspiration for people with Type 1 diabetes.

To create her latest LP, Alive, Crystal called on her “chosen family” of musicians and drew upon her influences—folk-pop, classic rock, soul, blues, and country—to make music that resonates with her spirit. It is both tender and tough, rough yet polished. And Crystal’s voice, as one of her songwriting partners describes it, is “like dirt and diamonds.”

Crystal intends to make music with healing power. At this point, she sees far beyond her own troubles, but by reliving her own painful moments in song, she hopes to transcend that pain, lifting both herself and her audience to a higher place. In the opening lines of “A Broken Wing” she sings, “I know there’s beauty in the burden / And even on my darkest day that sun will shine.” Crystal’s story is one of resilience and perseverance, and it’s evident in every note of Alive. 

Sweet Baby J'ai

Few entertainers can command a stage like the indefatigable Sweet Baby J'ai. Recently inducted into the California Jazz & Blues Museum Hall of Fame, she is a multi-award winning, critically acclaimed singer, songwriter, actress and festival producer. Known for her sensual and powerful vocals, J’ai has won three Bravo “Entertainer of the Year” awards, two Blues and Soul Magazine “Best Jazz Vocal Performance” awards, two “Best Actress in a Leading Role” awards, and was honored as a Living Jazz Legend by the Los Angeles City Council.

As a U.S. Jazz Ambassador, J’ai has received rave reviews both domestically and internationally for her expansive mix of jazz, blues, and soul, and has successfully sold her albums worldwide. The New York Times described her voice as, “…part cream, part honey and all soul,” while LN Magazine said, “She echoes the great talent of Billie Holiday and Etta James." The Russian Ulyanovsk Times referred to her as “the brightest representative of the world jazz scene…performing jazz, blues, funk, gospel, soul, pop, and even R&B equally brilliantly!”

SweetBaby J’ai continues to play a critical role in inspiring young female artists around the world, spreading joy wherever she goes!

Julie Wolf

Julie Wolf is a music producer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, music director and teacher. She has appeared on stages around the world and on numerous critically acclaimed recordings. She has collaborated with Carly Simon, Indigo Girls, Ani DiFranco, Maceo Parker, Bruce Cockburn, Amy Ray, Dar Williams, Rumer and Wayne Horvitz among many others. Recent highlights include television performances with Carly Simon (Late Night with Stephen Colbert, The View and Live with Kelly and Michael), recording a duet with Carly Simon for the release of Chimes of Freedom:The Songs of Bob Dylan, producing Bruce Cockburn, working with Joan Baez and producing records for multiple artists of varying genres.

Based in Oakland, California, Julie is a part of a vibrant creative community that includes musicians, dancers, choreographers, poets, filmmakers, actors, directors, writers, teachers, healers and activists. She runs Julie Wolf Music, specializing in music production, composing for film and dance, sound design, and music/audio editing. Recent producing credits include Katie Cash’s Gift Horse, Cris Williamson’s Motherland, Gina Breedlove’s Language of Light, Rachel Friedman’s My Marching Band, The Lost American JazzBook (winner of Jazz Vocal Album Of The Year at the 14th Independent Music Awards), A Fragile Tomorrow’s One Way Ticket (winner of Best Cover Of The Year/15th Independent Music Awards) and Lucia Lilikoi’s Vessel. Julie also teaches music and production clinics, workshops and private students.

Throughout all of these adventures, Julie has continued her work with Olivia which began in 1994, making this her longest standing gig! She’s thrilled to be here with us accompanying many of the musicians onboard, giving some rare solo performances from behind the piano and reuniting with Olivia community!

Zoë Lewis

British transplant, ZOË LEWIS is a band in a body! High energy vintage swing, gypsy jazz, world-beat grooves on ukulele, piano, guitar, washboard, harmonica, spoons and more! Known for her stories as much as for her music, this multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, vaudevillian hails originally from the UK but has made Provincetown, MA her home for over three decades. She's traveled to over 70 countries picking up grooves and stories along the way, released 10 albums of original material, toured with Judy Collins, the Indigo Girls, Richie Havens, Nanci Griffiths and has even opened for Pat Benatar on the ukulele! She has most recently been writing songs for the Netflix Kids show Ask the StoryBots.

She has won numerous songwriting awards, her compositions have appeared on Broadway, in documentaries, movie soundtracks and in commercials. She’s written and produced two musicals; SNAILROAD and ACROSS THE POND which were staged in Provincetown to packed houses. She heads a 1920’s Prohibition era jazz band ZOË LEWIS AND THE BOOTLEGGERS and her SPEAKEASY NIGHTS have become a big hit on Cape Cod.

In 2014, Zoë was awarded "PROVINCETOWN WOMAN OF THE YEAR" and in 2016,"VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR" for her grass roots environmental work and ocean pollution campaigns. Every winter she takes her show to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, performs in Provincetown all summer long and tours the rest of the year.

“A gorgeous writer—so evocative, tender and thoughtful. A mesmerizing performer." — New York Times

"She stormed the main stage playing everything from swinging folk and Latin jazz to acoustic funk and sprightly Celtic flavoured tunes. Her boundless energy was hard to ignore." —OTTAWA XPRESS, Canada

"A masterful combination of song, performance and artistry with a contagiously positive attitude and free spirit. Probably one of the most the most charismatic performances I've ever seen." — BAY GUARDIAN, San Francisco, CA

"Her indie style playful, yet dharmic songs and troubadour performances are infectious. She captivates and endears the audience to hang onto every word." — Roots and Wings, Boston.

Alyson Palmer

Alyson Palmer is the singer-songwriter, producer-director, and performing artist best known for her ongoing three decades of work with the iconic rock band BETTY. She is the music director who created the feminist variety show CHIX, which was the closing finale set of the last eleven Michigan Womyn’s Music Festivals and Olivia’s 2017 Festival at Sea Cruise.

Featuring the immense talent that gathers at festivals, CHIX shows have featured Holly Near, Cris Williamson, Amy Ray, Vicki Randle, Toshi Reagon, and dozens of other brilliant performers and comics in themed shows such as “Rock Chix Lix,” “Chix Sings the Blues,” “Southern Fried Chix,” “80’s Prom,” and more. With BETTY, her music has been featured on scores of ads, films, and television series, including Life with Mikey and The L Word. Alyson is also the author of an essay collection, Wonderland.

Alyson tours internationally with BETTY and The BETTY Effect, a nonprofit wing she created with Elizabeth and Amy Ziff for the empowerment and self-advocacy of women, girls, LGBTQ communities, and other groups striving for equal rights worldwide.

In 2017, Alyson launched 1@1, an audacious women’s equality project that linked over 500,000 people worldwide in one minute of focused silence to connect those at the Women’s Marches around the world with those physically unable to attend. In 2018, 1@1 once again connected marches from coast to coast and internationally. An ongoing project, 1@1 is a women’s equality amplifier that features feminist changemakers in inspirational 1-minute videos every Monday at 1 PM Eastern Time. The free series can be followed at 1at1.org or on the 1@1 app.

Alyson’s all-time favorite project is the dazzling adventures of her beloved children, Ruby and Lake.

Kofy Brown

Kofy Brown, an Oakland, CA musician, singer and songwriter has been a pioneering force in the Bay Area’s hip-hop soul scene for the last couple of decades. Leading her band on tour paving the way for other indie artist to trek forth, the Kofy Brown Band have spread the gospel of Brown’s unique style of soul, rock, funk and more all-over North America, Canada and Europe. Kofy Brown has thrived by following her own creative path.  She and her band have developed a reputation for putting on an outstanding live show.  Her music is a soulful combination of funk, rock, blues and hip-hop topped off with a singing and rap style she calls word song. 

Katie Cash

 
Singer-songwriter and guitarist Katie Cash writes personally charged, emotion-packed songs and performs them with a passionate urgency that has made her a local star in the Bay Area music scene. As a member of multiple bands including Skip The Needle, Cash made her debut solo album “Gift Horse”, produced by Julie Wolf (Ani DiFranco, Carly Simon, Indigo Girls).  The album showcases her pointed songwriting and the edgy musical sensibility that's been honed by extensive roadwork and onstage experience.  

“Katie Cash gave excellent support with her rock and folk endeavors, entwining delicate and powerful into a set so worth seeing.” – The Bay Bridged 

Sarah Bush Dance Project

Sarah Bush Dance Project (SBDP) was formed in 2007 to promote innovative artistry and community interaction through the creation and presentation of multimedia dance theater. SBDP generates complex and captivating choreography, layering beauty with compelling issues of place and social justice. The company is rooted in community engagement and is committed to creating dance that in process and performance, embodies the values of its collaborators and tends to the needs, welfare, and spirit of the collaborators, audience, community and environment. 

SBDP has created five critically acclaimed repertory shows in the Bay Area: Home, Rocked by Women, This Land, Spirit & Bones, and Un-Changing Nature. 

SBDP’s 2018 production of Spirit & Bones received two Isadora Duncan Dance Award nominations: Outstanding Achievement in Performance – Company and Outstanding Achievement in Music/Sound/Text. 

DJ Rockaway

Born and raised in Queens, DJ Rockaway has been bringing her passion and love for music to US and international dance floors for nearly two decades. Although she is true New Yorker (just listen to her talk!), she is a regular on both the East and West coasts. You’ll find her spinning at nightclubs, weddings and other private events, and galas for national nonprofits, such as NCLR, HRC, and Equality California, to name a few—and she is also a regular DJ on Olivia cruise and resort vacations.

The executive producer of the San Francisco Women’s Stage and the founder of PLAY San Francisco and PLAY San Jose, monthly events for women who love to dance, DJ Rockaway has created a unique mix of music styles—dance, hip-hop, R&B, house, club, retro—that allows her to play for all who love to dance and feel the music. In her spare time, you can find her behind a camera lens, playing with her drone, or filming and editing music videos. For DJ Rockaway, music is more than a blend of sounds, music is an experience… she wants you to feel it, live it, escape into it.

DJ Christie James

A Bay Area native, Christie's career began with the US military where she served in Italy as a member of the U.S. Navy. She was formerly stationed in Washington D.C. as a member of the Presidential Honor Guard under President Clinton. While serving as a Navy journalist, she became enamored with the world of radio.  

Christie came to the Bay Area in 2003 where she started as a radio intern and gained extensive knowledge and experience through a variety of positions at various stations in the Bay Area. She has been on the air with KYLD, KISQ, V101.1, PRIDE Radio and most recently she has become the host of the top-rated "Morning Drive with Christie Live' show on 80s+ @103.7.  

Christie is also heavily involved in the Bay Area LGBTQ+ community having produced stages for S.F. Pride, Oakland Pride, and Co-Chaired Pridefest Oakland. You can also catch Christie in the mix at the Oakland Coliseum serving as the official Treehouse DJ for the Oakland Athletics.  

DJ Citizen Jane

DJ Citizen Jane is a Singer-Songwriter / International DJ who grew up in Miami. She now spends her time writing, recording and producing between Miami and Los Angeles. Citizen Jane is currently working on her debut solo project with multiple renowned producers and collaborating with up-and-coming female artists. She recently released her fourth single with sultry lyrics "Drunken Kisses". Her forthcoming EP featuring her first single "Campo de Guerra" which takes her back to her Latin Roots will be setting the tone of a rebirth for Citizen Jane.

She grew up with a mix of traditional Latin music and influences in classic rock and electronic music. She has a passion for voice melodies, harmonies, percussions and electronic sounds. After traveling the world with her successful DJ career she acquired a fusion of melodic rhythms, Latin vibes mixed with percussion and her sultry voice adding an electronic touch. She refers to herself as a cultural mix carrying pieces of every country she has visited on her tour and adding it all to her music catalogue. After performing at Madison Square Garden and at Sydney, Australia’s Huge Music Festival for over 45,000 she has broken through the glass ceiling and nothing can stop her from the pursuit of her goals. She recently captivated an even broader audience by being the face of the "Fighting Spirit" Modelo Beer Campaign appearing on their TV Commercial globally. She will also be debuting her new Fashion Clothing Line designed by her on the runway at Sony Hall in New York City during NYC Fashion Week 2021.

Irene Young

With 600 CD covers and thousands of promo photos to her credit, Irene Young is not your average photographer. She started her career in Manhattan's Folk City Village music scene during the late 70's and 80's, gaining her chops by photographing East Coast music notables like The Roches, Laura Nyro, Shawn Colvin, Suzanne Vega, Judy Collins, Loudon Wainwright III, Lucy Kaplanski, Tom Paxton, John McCutcheon, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, Anne Hills, Christine Lavin, and more. West Coast record companies started taking note, and eventually, she was lured to the beauty of the SF Bay Area where she became primary photographer for Olivia and Windham Hill. Other notables photographed by Young are Al Jarreau, Mary Black, Rosario Dawson, Sonia Braga, Jennifer Berezan, Susan Griffin, Judy Grahn, and countless others. Her photographs have appeared in numerous publications, including Oprah Magazine, Us Magazine, The New York Times, The SF Chronicle, The Washington Post, People Magazine, Rolling Stone, and The Utne Reader. 

As a result of her 2005 battle with breast cancer, she produced the Glass Half Full CD, a compilation benefiting Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, formerly called the Breast Cancer Fund. In 2015, Young produced a sold-out multi-artist benefit at The Freight & Salvage in Berkeley. After a 2nd diagnosis in 2017, she will reprise the concert May 27, 2018. She is the house photographer at The Freight & Salvage. 

Young has had four years of training at The Academy of Intuitive Arts. She says that her intuitive training has enabled her to be a better photographer and having photographed thousands of people has sharpened her intuition. She states, “The art of seeing does not start and stop with our eyes.”  

In 2013 she was invited to present a 200-digital image retrospective for Olivia marking their 40-year anniversary. The following year, her exhibit, FOR THE RECORD: Women Who Changed the World with Song, was exhibited at The Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, CA., and at the National Women’s Music Festival in 2015.   

As a video producer, her Youtube channel has garnered over 700,000 views. In 2017, she began mentoring multi-creative, Tina Silano. Young states, "I have been gifted with much experience, and over the coming years, I want to pass it on. Tina has the eye, the charm, the humor, and the emotional intelligence to carry on what I do and make it her own." As both web designer and photographer, Young offers consultations to budding creatives who wish to explore building an online portfolio. 

Col. Grethe Cammermeyer

Retired Col. Margarethe (Grethe) Cammermeyer, RN, PhD, was born in Oslo, Norway, in 1942, when Norway was under Nazi occupation. She immigrated with her family to the United States at the age of nine. After earning a bachelor’s degree at the University of Maryland, she had joined the Army at nineteen, and went on active duty as an Army nurse, serving in Germany, the USA and Vietnam.

While stationed in Europe she married a fellow military officer. In 1968, after seven years on active duty, she was forced to leave the military when she was pregnant with her first child. She returned to the military, joining the Army Reserves, in 1972, when women could serve with dependents. Divorced after 15 years, she continued her education, earning a master’s and PhD from University of Washington. She held concurrent careers in the Army Reserves and National Guard and in the VA Medical Health Care system, where she worked as a clinical nurse specialist, nurse practitioner, and researcher in neuroscience nursing.

In 1989, having served in the military for 25 years, Col. Cammermeyer disclosed that she was a lesbian during a top-secret security investigation. She was ultimately discharged in 1991. With Lambda Legal on her legal team, she challenged her discharge in federal court, won, and was reinstated and finally retired after 31 years of service. Portrayed by Glenn Close, and produced by Barbara Streisand, her story was memorialized in an NBC made-for-television movie, Serving in Silence. The movie is based on her autobiography of the same name, which depicts Grethe’s life and struggles and was updated in 2016.

Dr. Cammermeyer and her spouse Diane Divelbess live on Whidbey Island in Washington state with their one dog, Bella.

Dr. Bonnie Morris

Bonnie J. Morris is a women’s history professor and the author of 17 books. She has devoted over 34 years to documenting the women’s music movement, first publishing Eden Built by Eves (2000), a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award, and then The Disappearing L (2016). Her 2018 volume, The Feminist Revolution, was selected by Oprah’s Book Club and the American Library Association as a top pick for women’s history.

Dr Bon organized the first-ever exhibit on the women’s music movement at the Library of Congress (seen by over half a million visitors) and arranged for some of Olivia’s albums to be housed in the Smithsonian. She received the Ruth Rowan Believer award from the National Women’s Music Festival in 2017, shortly before moving to California to teach at the University of California, Berkeley. In her extra time, she writes prize-winning lesbian time travel novels and keeps an eye on the Olivia archives.

Rachel Wahba

In the four and a half decades since Rachel Wahba cofounded Olivia, she has remained an enthusiastic ambassador for the company. She helped to shape Olivia’s direction when it was a groundbreaking women’s record label. Later, as the company began transitioning to travel, she continued to promote Olivia and its transformational impact on women. Now that Olivia is established as the world’s premier provider of cruise, resort, and adventure vacations for LGBTQ+ women, Rachel promotes the company internationally as she develops relationships with potential new travel partners and explores worldwide destinations for future trips. A special source of pride is her work with the Nepal Youth Organization, for which Olivia’s partnering raised money to educate, house, and train girls and women who were freed from the Kamlari system of indentured servitude, enabling them to achieve and maintain independence.

Rachel loves how Olivia invites LGBTQ+ women to build timeless friendships, and she never tires of witnessing how the Olivia experience promotes a stronger sense of self in guests (including herself) after traveling with the company. Olivia’s positive impact, extending to ship and resort staff members and to the individuals in each destination that the company visits, is a great source of pride for Rachel.

In addition to her involvement with Olivia, Rachel is a licensed psychotherapist in San Francisco and Marin. She is also a writer deeply engaged in topics ranging from her Middle Eastern/North African Jewish heritage to psychotherapy. As an Iraqi-Egyptian Jew who grew up stateless in Japan, she is passionate about the history of Mizrahim, Jews from Arab lands. Rachel has a blog on The Times of Israel and has also been published in several groundbreaking anthologies on being a queer Arabic-Jewish lesbian, in psychoanalytic journals on psychotherapy, and online in Huffpost and Epocalips.

Rachel is a staunch supporter of several nonprofits promoting education and advocacy, including JIMENA (Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa), for which she is a speaker and serves on the advisory board. In the fall of 2019, Rachel was honored with the LGBTQ Trailblazer Award by A Wider Bridge, a queer nonprofit organization dedicated to creating greater connection and communication between the LGBTQ communities in the US and Israel, fostering understanding and equality for all.

Rachel earned her bachelor of arts degree in psychology and women’s studies and her master’s degree in clinical social work from San Francisco State University. She enjoys spending her free time hanging out with friends, writing, reading, traveling, and walking her labradoodles.

Judy Dlugacz

Dlugacz is the founder and president of Olivia Travel, the premier travel company for queer women. Named a “Best Company to Work For” by the San Francisco Business Times, the pioneering company specializes in experiences, opportunities, and inclusion and provides a safe space for queer women to be themselves, out and proud as they travel the world. To date, Olivia has taken more than 300,000 women on more than 350 cruise, resort, riverboat, and adventure vacations, providing them with unique experiences and featuring dynamic entertainers, speakers and custom programming. “Olivia has attracted a multitude of celebrities and influencers over the years, including Maya Angelou, Melissa Etheridge, Billie Jean King, Patti LaBelle, Gloria Steinem, Bonnie Raitt, and Lily Tomlin,” Dlugacz said.

Before Olivia Travel, Dlugacz co-founded Olivia Records, a groundbreaking label. They specialized in women artists, and its success grew out of her vision for a more diverse and inclusive music scene, which at the time of its founding in 1973 was dominated by men. During her tenure leading the label, Dlugacz produced 40 albums and sold more than a million records. She oversaw the production of hundreds of concerts and events across the United States and around the world. She was the executive producer of the first HBO comedy special featuring a lesbian performer, Suzanne Westenhoefer, and was nominated for a Chloe Award. She also worked with the Nepal Youth Foundation, where she raised more than $300,000 to help young women escape indentured servitude.

Born in Queens, New York, Judy Dlugacz received a degree in psychology from the University of Michigan and moved to Washington, DC, where she became one of the city’s first woman electrical construction workers. After eight months under a hard hat, she switched to cab driving, then to teaching, and was headed for law school when she and four lesbian feminist friends, Meg Christian, Ginny Berson, Jennifer Woodul and Kate Winter, decided to create a business.

The adventure began in a DC living room where during a radio interview, singer/songwriter Cris Williamson suggested to the friends that they start a record company specializing in female artists. The very next day, using a name chosen from a book Meg was reading, the Olivia Collective was formed. Olivia Records was then created, and the journey begun. Determined to “give women a chance to develop their own skills as engineers and producers, recording artists and record distributors” the group survived more on spunk than savvy.

The collective cut its first 45 in 1974. Featuring Meg Christian and Cris Williamson, the record sold 5,000 copies and gave the group a shot of much needed momentum.

The next album, Cris Williamson’s iconic The Changer and the Changed, became the financial cornerstone of the company and the soundtrack of a movement. Judy and Olivia went on to produce 40 albums, and sold more than one million records. Olivia Records became one of the industry’s leading independent labels and the music became its own genre of music, “Women”s Music.”

Judy’s vision and evolution continued when, in 1990, she combined two of her passions—music and travel—by hosting a “concert on a cruise.” The response was so overwhelming that she founded a company offering vacations exclusively created for women, Olivia Travel. Olivia Travel is now the world’s largest company serving the lesbian community, with cruises and resorts, including riverboat trips.

Her production credits include the PBS documentary The Changer: A Record of the Times; and an HBO comedy special with comedian Suzanne Westenhoefer.

Jenna Woodul

One of the founders of Olivia Records, Jennifer joined up with the other founders because of relationships formed in Washington, DC, where we’d all been part of the flourishing political lesbian community: Ginny Berson, Meg Christian, Kate Winter, and Judy Dlugacz. 

Before Olivia, along with Ginny, Jennifer was also a founding member of the Furies, a radical lesbian feminist collective that promoted loving women as a political choice for women, publishing a newspaper that caused some stir in the women’s community of that time.  

When the Furies ended, Jennifer moved with Kate Winter to Albuquerque for a couple years, where, among other things, they taught a class on Lesbian Feminism in America, which the NM State Legislature tried to have banned from the University of NM course catalog. 

Summoned urgently back to DC by Ginny and Meg, Jennifer and Kate then met Judy for the first time. The burning idea was that we combine our politics with the power of women-loving music, which we had all experienced at Meg’s gigs as we followed her around Washington’s nightclubs. 

It was an idea that resonated among many women—changing our lives and their lives, and helping to shape emerging lesbian culture. Under Judy’s guidance and with her persistence, it has adapted with the times, becoming the Olivia of today. 

Jennifer left Olivia in 1980. She’s been involved in social media and online community for the last 34 years, first at Apple, and then in a business she co-founded, LiveWorld. She has 3 daughters and 3 grandchildren, and for the last 20 years, an amazing partner, Allison Schwanda. 

Ginny Berson

Ginny Z Berson is a long-time political activist driven by a longing for justice. She was a member of The Furies—a radical lesbian feminist separatist collective in Washington, D.C. that lived and worked collectively to develop lesbian feminist political thought and philosophy. They produced a mostly monthly newspaper, The Furies, that was distributed nationally and had a significant impact on women’s groups all over the U.S. Ginny was a regular contributor and member of the editorial staff. After The Furies broke up, Ginny pulled together a group of women in D.C. to begin visioning and planning what would become Olivia Records, the national women’s record company. She and her partner, the musician Meg Christian, were the initial driving force getting Olivia off the ground. Ginny stayed at Olivia for seven plus years, and during that time the Olivia collective produced records by Meg, Cris Williamson, BeBe K’Roche, Linda Tillery, Teresa Trull, Mary Watkins, a poetry album by Pat Parker and Judy Grahn, and Lesbian Concentrate—a “lesbianthology” in response to a rising wave of homophobia. After leaving Olivia in 1980, Ginny worked for many years in community radio—at KPFA-FM, Pacifica Radio, and the National Federation of Community Broadcasters. She worked as Director of Outreach for World Trust Educational Services, an anti-racist educational organization that produces documentary films, curricula, workshops and trainings. She also does racial equity work in her neighborhood as part of Neighbors for Racial Justice. She is the author of Olivia on the Record: A Radical Experiment in Women's Music (Aunt Lute Books).