AMERICAN SABOR EVENTS AT CSULA Speaker Series/Concert Series California State University, Los Angeles Music Recital Hall Friday, January 24th **All Events Are Free and Open to the Public** “Chicanas in the East L.A. Music Scene†Panel/Concert Featuring: Alice Bag, Teresa Covarrubias, Lysa Flores, Martha Gonzales plus Special Guests 1-2:45 p.m. Panel: “Chicanas in the East L.A. Music Scene†Featuring musicians Alice Bag of the Bags, Martha Gonzales of Quetzal, Lysa Flores, and Professor Michelle Habell-Pallan (see bios below). This panel will showcase the story of the women who rock and forged a place for women’s voices in the East Los Angeles punk music scene of the 1980s and the subsequent starring role of Chicanas in the East LA music scene of the 1990s and 2000s. An evening concert will follow later that evening. 7:30-10pm Concert: “Chicanas in the East L.A. Music Scene†In a historic collaboration, three generations of Chicana musicians come together to celebrate and acknowledge the central role of women in the making of the East Los Angeles sound. Alice Bag of the influential punk band the Bags, Teresa Covarrubias lead singer of the Brat—one of the first Chican@ punk bands, Lysa Flores- famed Chicana activista, actresss and songwriter and Martha Gonzales of the break out East L.A. band Quetzal join forces and perform together for the first time on stage at the CSULA Music Hall. They will be backed up by an all–female band that will include Gloria Estrada, guitarist for La Santa Cecilia, percussionist Caitlin Moss, and Vaneza Calderón on bass. Opening the night will be Lysa Flores in a collaboration with East LA Taiko for a ground breaking experimentation of Chicana Rock and Japanese Taiko. The members of East LA Taiko include Fredo Ortiz of Beastie Boys, Maceo Hernandez- the demon drummer of LA and Dave Jones of Carnage Asada. Biographies of Featured Panelists/Performers: · Alice Bag – Alicia Armendariz Velasquez (aka Alice Bag) is a punk rock singer, musician, author, educator and feminist archivist. She is most famous for being a member of The Bags, one of the first bands on the L.A. punk scene. The Bags were notable for having two female lead musicians (Patricia Morrison co-founded the group with her school friend, Bag) and for pioneering an aggressive sound and style which has been cited as an early influence on what would become the hardcore punk sound. Bag went on to appear and perform in other Los Angeles based rock bands including Castration Squad, The Boneheads, Alarma, Cambridge Apostles, Swing Set, Cholita - the Female Menudo (with her friend and collaborator, performance artist Vaginal Davis), Las Tres, Goddess 13 and Stay At Home Bomb. Bag's memoir, Violence Girl, From East LA Rage to Hollywood Stage - A Chicana Punk Story, was published by Feral House in Fall 2011. · Teresa Covarrubias –Raised in Boyle Heights in East L.A., Covarrubias recorded and performed as lead singer of The Brat in the 1970s and 1980s. The Brat was an influential Chicano punk band from East Los Angeles formed by Covarrubias and guitarist brothers Rudy and Sid Medina. The Brat featured Covarrubias’ aggressive, yet melodic, punk vocals critiquing social inequality. The Brat never found breakthrough success and remained an underground East L.A. Chican@ act until breaking up in the late ‘80s. After the Brat broke up Covarrubias joined Chicana feminist groups Las Tres and Goddess 13. These groups, along with other Chicana musical formations, influenced the shape of L.A.s early punk scene in both Hollywood and East L.A. She continues to be an important East L.A. performer. · Lysa Flores - Flores, a first generation Mexican-American, has been a pioneer in the “East Los†alternative scene since her teens and was named by Newsweek as one of “20 young Latinos to watch in the new millenniumâ€. A woman of many facets Flores is a singer songwriter, activist, actress, producer and started her own recorded label in 1998. For her starring role in the critically acclaimed film Star Maps, Flores earned a “Best Debut Performance†nomination from the Independent Spirit Awards. Flores also served as the films Musical Director and Produced the ground breaking soundtrack that introduced Chicano and Mexicano artists to an international audience. Refusing to be categorized by society's stifling labels, she moves easily through musical genres and art forms with a unique style. She has toured extensively both the US and Europe and has recorded and collaborated with such luminaries as Tex-Mex superstar Flaco Jimenez, indie-rock legend Jonathan Richman, John Doe, Peter Case, David Hidalgo(Los Lobos), guitarist Bill Frisell, and drummer D.J. Bonebrake (X, the Knitters). · Martha Gonzales – Dr. Gonzalez was born and raised in East Los Angeles and is a Chicana artivista (artist/activist), feminist music theorist and professor of Chicano Studies at Scripps College in Pomona. She has been the lead singer and percussionist for the band Quetzal for the last 17 years. The unique blend of East Los Angeles sounds as well as the social justice content in the work of Quetzal has sparked dialogue and theoretical work among various artist communities, culture theorists, and scholars across the country, Mexico and Japan. They have produced five full-length albums and in 2013 won the Grammy for Best Latin Pop, Rock or Album for their latest, Imaginaries. · Michelle Habell-Pallan - Dr. Habell-Pallan is a Professor in the Department of Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Washington in Seattle. A respected cultural critic, digital archivista, and exhibit curator, she authored Loca Motion: The Travels of Chicana/Latina Popular Culture and co-edited Latino/a Popular Culture. She is co-curator of the award-winning bilingual and currently traveling exhibit American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music and co-founder and co-director the University of Washington Libraries Women Who Rock Oral History Archive. For upcoming American Sabor Events at CSULA, please visit https://americansabor.org/exhibition/venue/1534 Thanks to the Ford Motor Company Fund, the Smithsonian Institution, the Experience Music Project and the University of Washington for their sponsorship of this event.