Notes on the Tanya Donelly-Girl Authority connection, and the next Darkbuster Hometown Throwup
Tanya Donelly
|
Not long ago John Virant, label president at Rounder, was chatting up the nine-girl Boston pop group GIRL AUTHORITY to TANYA DONELLY (formerly of Throwing Muses and Belly, now a solo artist). Virant’s daughter, Zoë, sings in Girl Authority. (Zoë is also the name of the Rounder imprint for which the band record.) Donelly, who lives in Arlington, took her seven-year-old daughter Gracie to see them play in Natick. “Gracie loved them,” she reports, noting her daughter is perfect for the 5-to-15 demo. (The GA gals are 9-14.) “And I thought they were really good, too. It’s pure, enthusiastic pop, and they really can sing, with good choreography.”
Donelly wrote four songs for GA, the first of which, “This Is My Day,” will be on their second album, Road Trip, out March 13. “It’s a girl-power song,” she explains, where the girl discovers that “it’s up to me to make my day. Empowerment for young girls is always an important issue.” Also writing for the CD were VINCE CLARKE (of Erasure) with a bubbly dance tune, “Let’s Get Together,” and CYNDI LAUPER with a ballad called “Shine”; it’s filled out with covers of the Go-Go’s, Pat Benatar, and Joan Jett. Girl Authority have two concerts at the Natick Center for the Performing Arts this Saturday, January 27; the 2 pm show is sold out, but as of this writing tickets are available for the 11 am show.
February is one of our darkest months, so why not devote a week to DARKBUSTER, the twisted punk-rock band? They’re hosting their second annual “Hometown Throwup”; not to be confused with the Mighty Mighty Bosstones’ old “Hometown Throwdown,” it’s seven shows in seven nights at the Abbey Lounge, February 18-24, with three different openers each night. Darkbuster’s 2005 Weakness for Spirits has been picked up for re-release and national distribution by the LA-based label I Scream.
On the Web
Girl Authority: //www.girlauthority.com/
Darkbuster: //www.darkbuster.net/
Email the author
Jim Sullivan: jimsullivanink@verizon.net