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{{short description|American singer-songwriter}}
{{short description|American singer-songwriter}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}}
'''Linda Shear''' (born 1948 in [[Chicago, Illinois]]) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and piano player.
'''Linda Shear''' (born 1948 in Chicago, Illinois) is a singer-songwriter and piano player. On May 13, 1972, she performed in the first out-lesbian concert in the U.S.{{cn|date=February 2022}} at the University of Illinois, Chicago Circle Campus. She was accompanied by percussionist Ella Szekeley. The Chicago Women's Liberation Rock Band was also on the bill that evening. Soon after, Shear began performing with her band, Family of Woman. Following the dissolution of Family of Woman, Shear began touring and released her album ''A Lesbian Portrait'' on her own independent record label, Old Lady Blue Jeans, in 1974. She performed in concert and at [[women's music]] festivals, including the [[Michigan Womyn's Music Festival]]. In 1977 she was a supporter of [[lesbian separatism]].


== Musical career ==
⚫
Although Shear had little commercial success, she remains an icon in some lesbian circles.<ref>{{Cite web|title=DYKE A Quarterly|url=https://www.dykeaquarterly.com/|access-date=2021-05-29|website=DYKE A Quarterly}}</ref> Her music and story was featured by [[JD Doyle]] in 2001<ref name="JDDoyle">{{Cite web |title=October 2001 Script |url=http://www.queermusicheritage.com/oct2001s.html |access-date=2021-05-29 |website=www.queermusicheritage.com}}</ref> and she was interviewed in the 2002 documentary ''[[Radical Harmonies]]'', appears on the breast cancer research benefit CD ''High Risk'', and appears at www.chicagogayhistory.org.<ref name=hist/>
On May 13, 1972, she and percussionist Ella Szekely performed in the first known out-[[lesbian]] concert in the U.S. at the [[University of Illinois Chicago Circle Campus|University of Illinois, Chicago Circle Campus]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Love |first=Barbara J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HRouCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA420 |title=Feminists Who Changed America, 1963-1975 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |location=Urbana |year=2006 |isbn=0252097475 |pages=420}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=January 5, 1973 |title=The Family of Woman |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/community.28035405.pdf |access-date=March 1, 2024 |work=Chicago Women's Liberation Union News |page=5 |jstor=community.28035405 |via=JSTOR}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=May 1972 |title=For the First Time A Lesbian Benefit Concert |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/community.28039104.pdf |access-date=March 2, 2024 |work=Lavender Woman |volume=1 |issue=3 |page=2 |jstor=community.28039104 |via=JSTOR}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Brody |first=Michal |url=https://archive.org/details/arewethereyetcon0000unse/page/8/mode/2up |title=Are We There Yet?: A Continuing History of Lavender Woman, a Chicago Lesbian Newspaper, 1971-1976 |date=1985 |publisher=Aunt Lute Book Co. |location=Iowa City, Iowa |isbn=978-0-918040-07-7 |page=8 |url-access=registration}}</ref> The Chicago Women's Liberation Rock Band was also on the bill that evening. Soon after, Shear began performing with her band, Family of Woman, which included Szekely, violinist Joan Capra, and guitar players Sherry Jenkins, Judy Handler, and [[Susan Abod]].<ref name=":0" /> Susan Kahn served as their sound technician, and they played nationally as the first known out lesbian band in the country, including at the second National Lesbian Conference at the [[University of California, Berkeley]] in 1973.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Jovanovich |first=Alex |date=2017-10-03 |title=Barbara Hammer |url=https://www.artforum.com/columns/barbara-hammer-talks-about-her-retrospective-films-and-legacy-235927/ |access-date=2024-03-01 |magazine=Artforum |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":0" />


Following the dissolution of Family of Woman, Shear began touring and released her album ''A Lesbian Portrait'' on her own independent record label, Old Lady Blue Jeans, in 1976.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 2001 |title=Linda Shear - A Lesbian Portrait |url=https://www.queermusicheritage.com/oct2001b.html |access-date=2024-03-01 |website=Queer Music Heritage}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Cowan |first=Liza |date=May 18, 2012 |title=DYKE A Quarterly No. 2, 1976. Rated XX: Recorded Women's Music |url=https://www.dykeaquarterly.com/people-linda-shear/ |access-date=March 1, 2024 |website=DYKE, A Quarterly}}</ref> [[Elana Dykewomon]] reviewed the album positively in ''DYKE, A Quarterly.''<ref name=":1" /> She performed in concert and at [[women's music]] festivals, including the [[Michigan Womyn's Music Festival]].<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Esther |first1=Jean |last2=Cook |first2=Lucinda |date=October 1979 |title=A Taste of Honey in Michigan |url=https://archive.org/details/valley-womens-voice-1979-10/page/2/mode/2up |page=3 |access-date=March 5, 2024 |work=Valley Women's Voice}}</ref> She was a supporter of [[lesbian separatism]], and in 1976 began requesting that her audiences be limited to lesbians only.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last1=Brunet |first1=Ariane |last2=Turcotte |first2=Louise |chapter=Separatism and Radicalism: An analysis of the differences and similarities |editor-last1=Hoagland |editor-first1=Sarah Lucia |url=http://archive.org/details/forlesbiansonly00sara |title=For Lesbians Only: A Separatist Anthology |editor-last2=Penelope |editor-first2=Julia |date=1988 |location=London, England |publisher=Onlywomen Press |isbn=978-0-906500-28-6 |page=452}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last1=James |first1=Flame |last2=Smith |first2=Betsy |last3=Wechsler |first3=Nancy |date=October 7, 1978 |title=Separatist Politics at the Women's Music Festival |url=https://archive.org/details/gaycommunitynews0611gayc/page/10/mode/2up?q=%22linda+shear%22 |access-date=March 1, 2024 |work=Gay Community News |pages=10–11}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Tilchen |first=Maida |chapter=Lesbians and Women's Music |editor-last1=Darty |editor-first1=Trudy |editor-last2=Potter |editor-first2=Sandee |url=http://archive.org/details/womenidentifiedw0000unse |title=Women-Identified Women |date=1984 |edition=First |location=Palo Alto, California |publisher=Mayfield Publishing |isbn=978-0-87484-573-0 |page=296}}</ref> In the early 1970s, Shear helped found the Chicago-based lesbian newspaper, ''[[Lavender Woman]].''<ref name=":0" />
⚫
On September 28, 2008, after 25 years of domestic partnership, Linda married Windflower Townley. They live in Northern California with their two dogs, Emma Rose and Skylar Grace.<ref name=hist>{{Cite web|title=Chicago Gay History|url=https://www.chicagogayhistory.com/biography.php?id=779|access-date=2021-05-29|website=www.chicagogayhistory.com}}</ref> Windflower has retired as the Organizational Development and Training Manager for the City of Santa Rosa and is fully absorbed in her poetry writing and photography. Linda has retired from her CPA practice and is back, full time, to songwriting and music.

{| class="wikitable"
⚫
Although Shear had little commercial success, she remains an icon in some lesbian circles.<ref>{{Cite web|title=DYKE A Quarterly|url=https://www.dykeaquarterly.com/|access-date=2021-05-29|website=DYKE A Quarterly}}</ref> Her music and story was featured by JD Doyle in 2001.<ref name="JDDoyle">{{Cite web |title=October 2001 Script |url=http://www.queermusicheritage.com/oct2001s.html |access-date=2021-05-29 |website=www.queermusicheritage.com}}</ref> She was interviewed in the 2002 documentary ''[[Radical Harmonies]]'', and she appeared on the breast cancer research benefit CD ''High Risk.'' In 2010, she was interviewed by [[Tracy Baim]] for her project, Chicago Gay History.<ref name="hist" />
|

|}
== Personal life ==
In 1974, Shear moved to [[Northampton, Massachusetts]] with her partner Tryna Goldsmith. In 1975, they were involved in a custody battle for their eleven-year old daughter, which they ultimately lost.<ref>{{Cite journal |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=lesbians lose |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25772173 |journal=Off Our Backs |date=March 1975 |volume=5 |issue=3 |page=16 |jstor=25772173 |issn=0030-0071 |via=JSTOR |url-access=subscription |access-date=March 5, 2024}}</ref>

⚫
On September 28, 2008, after 25 years of domestic partnership, Shear married Windflower Townley. They live in Northern California with their two dogs, Emma Rose and Skylar Grace.<ref name="hist">{{Cite web|title=Linda Shear and Windflower |website=Chicago Gay History |url=https://www.chicagogayhistory.com/biography.php?id=779 |access-date=March 5, 2024}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
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[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
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[[Category:American women singers]]
[[Category:American folk singers]]
[[Category:American folk singers]]
[[Category:LGBT songwriters]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ songwriters]]
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[[Category:American LGBTQ singers]]
[[Category:American lesbian musicians]]
[[Category:American lesbian musicians]]
[[Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ rights activists]]
[[Category:Singers from Chicago]]
[[Category:Singers from Chicago]]
[[Category:LGBT singers from the United States]]
[[Category:Women's music]]
[[Category:Women's music]]
[[Category:20th-century LGBT people]]
[[Category:Lesbian singers]]
[[Category:21st-century LGBT people]]
[[Category:Lesbian songwriters]]
[[Category:21st-century American women]]
[[Category:20th-century American women singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American singers]]
[[Category:21st-century American women singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people]]

Latest revision as of 23:16, 24 September 2024

Linda Shear (born 1948 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and piano player.

Musical career

[edit]

On May 13, 1972, she and percussionist Ella Szekely performed in the first known out-lesbian concert in the U.S. at the University of Illinois, Chicago Circle Campus.[1][2][3][4] The Chicago Women's Liberation Rock Band was also on the bill that evening. Soon after, Shear began performing with her band, Family of Woman, which included Szekely, violinist Joan Capra, and guitar players Sherry Jenkins, Judy Handler, and Susan Abod.[1] Susan Kahn served as their sound technician, and they played nationally as the first known out lesbian band in the country, including at the second National Lesbian Conference at the University of California, Berkeley in 1973.[5][1]

Following the dissolution of Family of Woman, Shear began touring and released her album A Lesbian Portrait on her own independent record label, Old Lady Blue Jeans, in 1976.[6][7] Elana Dykewomon reviewed the album positively in DYKE, A Quarterly.[7] She performed in concert and at women's music festivals, including the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival.[8] She was a supporter of lesbian separatism, and in 1976 began requesting that her audiences be limited to lesbians only.[9][10][11] In the early 1970s, Shear helped found the Chicago-based lesbian newspaper, Lavender Woman.[1]

Although Shear had little commercial success, she remains an icon in some lesbian circles.[12] Her music and story was featured by JD Doyle in 2001.[13] She was interviewed in the 2002 documentary Radical Harmonies, and she appeared on the breast cancer research benefit CD High Risk. In 2010, she was interviewed by Tracy Baim for her project, Chicago Gay History.[14]

Personal life

[edit]

In 1974, Shear moved to Northampton, Massachusetts with her partner Tryna Goldsmith. In 1975, they were involved in a custody battle for their eleven-year old daughter, which they ultimately lost.[15]

On September 28, 2008, after 25 years of domestic partnership, Shear married Windflower Townley. They live in Northern California with their two dogs, Emma Rose and Skylar Grace.[14]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d Love, Barbara J. (2006). Feminists Who Changed America, 1963-1975. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. p. 420. ISBN 0252097475.
  2. ^ "The Family of Woman" (PDF). Chicago Women's Liberation Union News. January 5, 1973. p. 5. JSTOR community.28035405. Retrieved March 1, 2024 – via JSTOR.
  3. ^ "For the First Time A Lesbian Benefit Concert" (PDF). Lavender Woman. Vol. 1, no. 3. May 1972. p. 2. JSTOR community.28039104. Retrieved March 2, 2024 – via JSTOR.
  4. ^ Brody, Michal (1985). Are We There Yet?: A Continuing History of Lavender Woman, a Chicago Lesbian Newspaper, 1971-1976. Iowa City, Iowa: Aunt Lute Book Co. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-918040-07-7.
  5. ^ Jovanovich, Alex (October 3, 2017). "Barbara Hammer". Artforum. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  6. ^ "Linda Shear - A Lesbian Portrait". Queer Music Heritage. October 2001. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Cowan, Liza (May 18, 2012). "DYKE A Quarterly No. 2, 1976. Rated XX: Recorded Women's Music". DYKE, A Quarterly. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  8. ^ Esther, Jean; Cook, Lucinda (October 1979). "A Taste of Honey in Michigan". Valley Women's Voice. p. 3. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  9. ^ Brunet, Ariane; Turcotte, Louise (1988). "Separatism and Radicalism: An analysis of the differences and similarities". In Hoagland, Sarah Lucia; Penelope, Julia (eds.). For Lesbians Only: A Separatist Anthology. London, England: Onlywomen Press. p. 452. ISBN 978-0-906500-28-6.
  10. ^ James, Flame; Smith, Betsy; Wechsler, Nancy (October 7, 1978). "Separatist Politics at the Women's Music Festival". Gay Community News. pp. 10–11. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  11. ^ Tilchen, Maida (1984). "Lesbians and Women's Music". In Darty, Trudy; Potter, Sandee (eds.). Women-Identified Women (First ed.). Palo Alto, California: Mayfield Publishing. p. 296. ISBN 978-0-87484-573-0.
  12. ^ "DYKE A Quarterly". DYKE A Quarterly. Retrieved May 29, 2021.
  13. ^ "October 2001 Script". www.queermusicheritage.com. Retrieved May 29, 2021.
  14. ^ a b "Linda Shear and Windflower". Chicago Gay History. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  15. ^ "lesbians lose". Off Our Backs. 5 (3): 16. March 1975. ISSN 0030-0071. JSTOR 25772173. Retrieved March 5, 2024 – via JSTOR.
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