Bitch w/ Garrison Starr & special guest Margaret Cho

Bitch is a longstanding queer music icon who Yahoo Entertainment called “a feminist force that the world needs now more than ever” when she released “Bitchcraft,” her 9th studio album, on the legendary label Kill Rock Stars in 2022. With her signature electric violin and lyrical smarts front and center over huge beats and deep synths, Bitch coined the genre “Poet Pop” and she has been touring nationally ever since, igniting her loyal following and inspiring new followers with her colorful and bold stage shows.

“Bitchcraft is a masterpiece,” said Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls, who, along with Ani Difranco, have taken Bitch on tour as their opener. Joey Soloway (Transparent) directed the music video for “Easy Target.”

In addition to headlining over 70 shows in 2022, Bitch honed her acting chops and played a role in the new Audible podcast of Alison Bechdel’s “Dykes To Watch Out For,” alongside Jane Lynch, Carrie Brownstein and Roxane Gay. The series was directed by Leigh Silverman, and Bitch co-wrote a song for it with Faith Soloway.

Bitch first achieved notoriety as one half of the queer folk duo Bitch and Animal. The band toured with Ani DiFranco, and released two albums on her label Righteous Babe Records. In the mid 2000s, Bitch went solo, and shared stages with the Indigo Girls, acted in John Cameron Mitchell’s film “Shortbus,” co-wrote a song with Margaret Cho, produced two albums of her elder and folk hero Ferron.

Bitchcraft, Bitch’s first album in 8 years, is one that makes you think and makes you dance. Full of violins, synths, and huge vocals, the record is neon pink and in your face. It’s Joni Mitchell set to a clicktrack; it’s queer Cyndi Lauper and will hex you with its brilliance. It also makes you think: about the state of the world, about evil politicians, about what it means to exist as a woman, and how to find joy along the way.

“The legendary queer icon is back” Bust Magazine “There’s no stopping her now” LA Weekly

“Bitch is a force to be reckoned with” Joey Soloway to MTV

“Bitch is a straight-up, real, fearless performer.” – Ani Difranco to Spin Magazine

“Bitchcraft is poppy and poetic and will put her on the map for new audiences to discover”

Brooklyn Vegan

“Bitch is a feminist force that the world needs now more than ever” Yahoo Entertainment

“Bitchcraft is a masterpiece” Amy Ray, Indigo Girls

 

Garrison Starr thought she was done playing music. A lifetime of trauma, from her upbringing in a fundamentalist Christian household in Mississippi to more than two decades navigating the music industry, left her spirit broken. With her days as a major-label artist behind her, the Grammy nominated singer, songwriter, and producer was ready to pack it in.

“I felt that what I had to say didn’t matter to anybody. That I was a failure,” says Starr. “I’m just gonna stop trying. So I did.”

“Then I realized I am the artist in the room. I still have a lot to say,” Starr recalls. “That was a great gift. I thought that part of my life was over. I thought I was too old, too outspoken, too this, too that. I’m not good enough for this industry.”

“I used to be that girl trying so hard to please everybody, to do the right thing in everybody else’s eyes,” Starr says. “But I can’t be that anymore. I know what you want me to be, but I’m not that person. I can’t do it. I’m dying inside. I can’t hold back.”

Starr’s singing is both warm and bold, her words softened by the perspective gained from her cohorts without losing the fire of her convictions. She mixes compassion with a sense of purpose that hearkens back to the message-forward spirit of the 1960s folk movement. It’s a matter, she says, of being pointed without being angry. “One of the things I’ve learned is that, if you want to communicate something to somebody, you have to do it in a way that they can hear you,” Starr says.

Comedian. Actor. Musician. Advocate. Entrepreneur. Five-time Grammy and Emmy nominee. Margaret Cho’s strong voice has been lighting the path for other women, other members of underrepresented groups, other performers, to follow. Her recent television appearances – guest star on Season 2 of The Flight Attendant (HBO Max), guest star on Season 2 of Hacks (HBO Max) and two Netflix is a Joke comedy specials: Stand Out: An LGBTQ+ Celebration and Jane Fonda & Lily Tomlin: Ladies Night Live – have expanded an already wide-ranging career, and her role as the ‘mother hen’ in the well-reviewed movie Fire Island solidifies why we all love Margaret in the first place.

As a comedian Margaret has been named one of Rolling Stone magazine’s 50 Best Stand-Up Comics of All Time, one of Vogue magazine’s Top 9 Female Comedians of all time, while CNN chose her as one of the 50 People Who Changed American Comedy. Thankfully, Margaret has more stories to tell, and her production company, Animal Family Productions, has multiple scripted shows in development for 2022 and beyond.