DYKE‘ \ laremIer_lane §tilI loves women: All Interview With Alix Dobkin BY ESTHER ROTHBLUM hat’s the first thing that comes to mind when we think about women’s music? Many lesbians will recall Alix Dobkin’s 1973 album Lavender Jane Loves Women. How did Dobkin first became a lesbian musician as opposed to a musician who was a lesbian? She had been a professional folksinger for many years, and she recalled, “I was writing about my own life, so music was part of my consciousness raising. I was at the right place, at the right time, with the right background, doing the right thing.” She produced several albums of women’s music during the 1970s and 19805, as well as a compilation disc in I992 and a book in I978. Her first two LPs were re-released on CD in 1998. I asked Dobkin what other music was around for lesbians when she first began performing. The answer: not much. Robin Tyler had produced Maxine Feldman in 1972, creating a 45- RPM record with two songs on it. There was the Chicago Women’s Liberation ‘RO¢k“é”B'afid‘ ‘arid tlfe’ " ;-iwdnieh "s""" h1iiii'§iE7}7is“"iE6fi‘liiiiéd; "t‘6'”“ "folk music, which it never was,” New Haven Women’s Liberation Rock Band Double Album. And in New York, Lesbian Feminist Liberation conducted a talent show and recorded it, resulting in, a record /called A Few Loving Women. But Dobkin’s Lavender Jane A . Loves Women was the first album of women’s music that was dis- tributed internationally. “Those days were tremen- dously exciting,” Alix said. “First of all, I was writing about myself as a lesbian. I was writing the kinds of songs in which you could not change a pronoun and (Upstairs If you want to get it tomght, Get ‘t here this a ernoon. Fun Stuff for Under$25gt 207 Flynn Ave. 2nd floor Burlington 0 (802) 859-8966 ‘ Stone Hours Tue-Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 1-5 have it still make sense. In other words, you could not change my music into heterosexual songs. They were clearly and openly songs about women loving women. I realized that as long as Festivals, (Alyson Press, 1999) as an excellent overview of this ofi-forgotten topic so close to her heart. “Women’s music is about rais- ing consciousness, and most peo- “I/bu could not change my music into heterosexual songs. They were clearly and openly songs about women loving women. ” I was writing songs like that, I was writing unique material. No one had ever written that before, and even the women depending on lesbian audiences almost never write about lesbians —- in fact, they rarely mention women!” Even today, Dobkin feels that there is a great need for lesbians to be writing about their lives. She has sensed at times that women’s music has received a bad rap, when in fact it is precise- ly because of the foremothers in women’s music that performers like the Indigo Girls have been successful. “There is this belief that said Dobkin. "‘The negative reac- tion coming from many young _lesbians is due largely to the backlash against feminism. Our communities very much reflect what is going on in the world generally and feminism has been dismissed, even by women in our own communities.” Dobkin recommends Bonnie Morris’ book Eden Built By Eyes: The Culture Of Womens Music '\ «‘?“"\l amour RAINBOW ca-EC77 ple don’t even know what that is any more," she said. “Furthermore, due to budget cuts in education, we’ve also lost a generation that was schooled to appreciate music” Nevertheless, she is excited by the fact that many of her perfor- mances these days are at univer- sities, so that she does have an impact on young women. After a lifetime in New York, Dobkin is now living in California and still performing around the country. She is involved with a club that features concerts by women and holds and furthers our culture (its director, Barbara Price, is a former co-pro- "1iu’éé?“’;’é$f" ltlié*lMichigan Womyn’s Music Festival). Dobkin is also writing a column for Chicago Outlines and working on a book of her memoirs. V Esther Rothblum is Professor of Psychology at the University of Vermont and Editor of the Journal of Lesbian Studies. She can be reached at John Dewey Hall, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT] email: esther: rothblum@uvm. edu. /' 04» THE T.V. SHOW BY, FOR AND ABOUT VERl10NT'5 L/G/B/T COMMUNIITY AND OUR SUPPORTERSI Sit back and enjoy our July program filled with news, resources and an informative interview with Mike Bensel from the R.U.1.2? Community Center — PROGRAM SCHEDULE and VIEWING mro —— Adelphia (CH. 15) (Greater Burlington area) Fri 9pm Adelphia (CH. 15) (Montpelier, Waterbury, Randolph) 2nd & 4th Fri 7:30pm Lake Champlain (CH. 2) 1st & 2nd Mon 11pm and 1st & 2nd wed. 10pm Helicon (CH. 7) (Barre) 2nd & 4th Mon 8:30pm _ BCTV (CH. 8) (Brattleboro) call 257-0888 for air days/time _ ’ MCTV (Middlebury, E. Middlebury, Weybridge) 388-3062 for airtimes MMCTV (CH. 3)(Richmond, Jericho, Underhill) call 434-2550 for air days/time WENO (CH-.15) (Enosburg, Berkshire, Richford) 1st & 3rd Sun at 8pm CA-TV (Bennington, Pownal, Shaftsbury, Woodford,' Hoosick Falls) ' call 442-5363 for air days/time DISCOGRAPHY Lavender Jane Loves Women (I973) Living with Lesbians (I976) XXALIX (I980) These Women (I986) Yahoo Australia (I990) Love and Politics (compilation, I992) Living with Lavender Jane (CD re-release of first two albums, I998) BIBLIOGRAPHY Alix Dobkin’s Adventures In Women's Music (Not just A Songbook) (I978) WEB www.|adys|ipper.org/vendors/ladyslipper/a|ix_dob|