Sheila E. is still trying to make sense of life without Prince.
The brilliant pop musician the world lost in April was the same man who introduced Sheila Escovedo to the world over 30 years ago, and the man who had even once famously, unexpectedly proposed marriage right on stage during a concert.
“We had been together for so long, making music, hanging out,” says Sheila E., who worked off and on with Prince as a writer, percussionist and vocalist, starting with 1984’s Purple Rain. “You lose your musical soulmate and your best friend, and you try to move on — there are good days and bad days.”
In her current show, Sheila E. performs some of the hits she recorded with Prince as well as new songs dedicated to him, including the simple, stark and powerful ballad “Girl Meets Boy.” “It is challenging to get through some of those songs,” she says. “After you cry a little bit or talk about it, it makes you feel better. And knowing that people feel the same way that you do absolutely helps.”
In recent years, Sheila E. has toured in support of Icon, a diverse, underappreciated album featuring a song co-written by and featuring Prince (“Leader of the Band”) and several Prince-esque songs that should have been hits. “I said the same thing,” she says. “I thought it was a great group of songs that radio would play, but it’s a pay-to-play kind of thing. I wish more people would hear it so that they could know about it, but it takes millions of dollars to do that. It’s just ridiculous..”
She wins over people to her music, new as well as old, whenever she takes the stage. A dynamic, consummate performer, Sheila E. sings, plays guitar and all manner of percussion, engaging the crowd in conversation and giving her all, each and every time. “I’m never not into it,” she says. “Sometimes you can tell when you see me play, how emotional I get. It takes every piece of me to try to help you feel what I feel.
“I just want to continue to spread love [and counter] the bullying, the hating,” she says. “No matter who you are — gay, straight, black or white — if I can touch your heart and be a blessing through my music, that’s the most amazing thing.”
Sheila E performs Wednesday, Nov. 9, and Thursday, Nov. 10, at 8 p.m., at the Barns at Wolf Trap, 1635 Trap Road, Vienna. Tickets are $55 to $70. Call 877-WOLFTRAP or visit wolftrap.org.
There's more Mozart on tap around town this spring than even the most devoted Mozartian could catch. The same, more or less, goes for fans of Mendelssohn and Verdi. Puccini, too.
Yet none of those classical music titans can hold a candle to a certain German giant who's still the most popular "Emperor" of them all, with many area music organizations -- from the most prominent orchestras to the scrappiest chamber ensembles -- performing Beethoven.
One other interesting development is the marked rise in popularity of a composer whose name and work was totally absent and virtually unknown just a few years ago. This season, Florence Price is the "Most Revived Composer." She's practically the belle of the ball, with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Capital City Symphony, and National Chamber Ensemble each featuring a different work of the pioneering Black composer, who died at age 66, more than 70 years ago.
The D.C. area is on track to be graced by two visits from the Indigo Girls this year, including a stint with the Fairfax Symphony at Capital One Hall and a remarkable double-bill pairing with fellow lesbian vanguard Melissa Etheridge at Wolf Trap. Wolf Trap is also the place to go for a second edition of the venue's Out & About Festival, this year offering a new cohort of LGBTQ musical acts.
Queer artists are really, truly just about everywhere, coming to nearly every music venue in the region this season. A quick scan of the listings bears this out: There's Donna Missal at The Atlantis, BOOMscat at Blues Alley, CMAT at DC9, XOMG Pop! at the Fillmore, Billy Gilman at Jammin Java, Mary Gauthier at Rams Head on Stage, and Mx Mundy at Songbyrd. And that's just a quick and easy seven, with several times that number waiting in the wings for your discovery.
The season of rebirth and renewal is beautifully expressed in dance. And in that spirit, it's especially beautiful this season to see so much renewed life among dance artists, companies, and venues that have for the past few years endured the pandemic struggles and survived, or even come back stronger.
In every corner of the DMV, from Dance Place to Wolf Trap, the Kennedy Center to Hylton Performing Arts, world-class artists are making their debuts on our stages, or premiering never-before-seen works sure to excite, inspire, or push the boundaries of what we've come to expect.
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