This week's guest blogger is Kelsey..."Tina sounds like the unholy love child of Janis Joplin, Joan Osborne, and the goddess of Southern Baptist Soul. Goes with: Saturday-night sinning and Sunday-morning spirit-cleansing." J.C. - Bitch Magazine
When PRIDE weekend kicked off this last Friday here in Minneapolis, I had no idea what I was in for. I decided on a whim to go to the Uptown Block Party, where Tina Schlieske was headlining. WOW, WOW, WOW! I didn’t know anything about her before I arrived, but I was in love by the time I left! She is a queer female singer/songwriter/activist with a huge diva voice and a rockin’ performance style. I could not sit still through the entire set! I jumped/danced/yelled/spun around in the street until I was exhausted and dizzy, but I still couldn’t get enough of her soulful voice and bluesy musical stylings.
Right then and there, I decided that I needed to blog about her, and the more I found out about her, the more amazed I became. She grew up here in Minneapolis, where she taught herself to the play the guitar and started her first band, Tina and the B-Sides, while still in High School. She and the B-Sides stayed together for 10 years, during which time Tina started her own record label called Movement Records. (Now here is where I got really excited…) In 2001, music legend and fellow Austinite Stevie Ray Vaughn (!!!!) approached Tina to be the new lead singer/rhythm guitarist for his band, Double Trouble. (I know you’re excited, too. Don’t try to hide it.) Eventually, though, she decided to leave the band in order to create her new, solo debut album, “Slow Burn,” here in her native Minnesota.
Unfortunately, I could not find any song lyrics for her, but I did find this great video of her performing at 1st Ave. It’s a promo video, so it’s not one continuous song, but instead a great sampling of some new songs, some stuff she did with the B-Sides, and some stuff from her new solo album. All in all, she is an amazing performer, who marries my love for my two homelands (Austin, TX and Minneapolis, MN), and y’all should check her out!
And, since I’m just this sentimental (it is pride after all), this is a recording of her song “Never Knew Love,” dedicated to Meggo…
