Pride St. Louis Announces Headliners & Emcees for the 2013 Pride St. Louis LGBT Festival June 29 – June 30, 2013!

Andy Bell of Erasure, Jessica Sutta formerly of the Pussycat Dolls, Latrice Royale of RuPaul’s Drag Race and American pop diva Taylor Dayne headline Pride St. Louis LGBT Festival in new location downtown.

The 2013 Pride St. Louis, Inc. Board of Directors is proud to announce the headliners & special guests for the 2013 Pride St. Louis LGBT Festival including: special guest pop-punk singer Eryn Woods, lead singer of Erasure Andy Bell, former Pussycats Doll Jessica Sutta, RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Star Latrice Royale, and platinum recording artist Taylor Dayne.

In addition to the hot headliner lineup guests will be entertained by an amazing group of emcees on two different stages! Emcees this year include: St. Louis’ favorite burlesque duo Lola van Ella & Sammich the Tramp, first openly gay comedian ever to appear on television Suzanne Westenhoefer, 2012 Miss Gay Missouri Michelle McCausland, comedian & former cast member of The Big Gay Sketch Show Julie Goldman, and RuPaul’s Drag Race favorite Shannel.

Saturday June 29, 2013

• Eryn Woods – 8:10pm
• Andy Bell of Erasure – 9:00pm
• Lola van Ella & Sammich the Tramp (emcee)
• Suzanne Westenhoefer (emcee)
• Julie Goldman (emcee)

Sunday June 30, 2013

• Latrice Royale of RuPaul’s Drag Race – 3:40pm
• Jessica Sutta former Pussycat Doll – 4:30pm
• Taylor Dayne – 7:00pm
• Michelle McCausland (emcee)
• Shannel of RuPaul’s Drag Race (emcee)

The 2013 Pride St. Louis LGBT Festival will be breaking in their new home at Soldiers Memorial Park in downtown St. Louis this summer with a newly designed festival & extended hours. Guests will find two stages, an amazing selection of food, athletics, U.S. military tribute, Pride 5K and much more. The St. Louis Arch stands tall just a few blocks away with the historic City Hall adjacent to the festival grounds. The premiere Pride St. Louis LGBT Festival will be front and center the weekend of June 29th & June 30th with an amazing entertainment lineup!

Lola Van Ella & Sammich The Tramp

Lola Van Ella & Sammich The Tramp

Emcees

Saturday, June 29 – Noon To 5 p.m.

Lola van Ella is an international burlesque singer, dancer, producer, instructor and emcee. One of the premier names in burlesque, she performs frequently and produces many shows, including the international Show-Me Burlesque Festival, the largest festival of its kind in the midwest, as well as Naughti Gras, the largest erotic art event of the year, The Shimmy Showdown, and the wildly popular and nationally touring Beggar’s Carnivale with her partner Sammich the Tramp.

Lola is the CEO of VanElla Productions and Studio, which is the home of burlesque, vaudeville and variety education and entertainment in St. Louis and the only boutique school like it in the area. She also teaches at and various festivals and Universities all over the country, and often travels to bring the art of burlesque and striptease to different communities around the world. In 2008 Alive Magazine named her one St. Louis’ most influential people and has been written about and featured locally in St. Louis Magazine, Vital Voice, AOL Cities Best, the Riverfront Times, The Post Dispatch and KDHX.

Lola has received the 1st and 2nd runner up titles, respectively, in the Queen of Burlesque Competition 3 years in a row at the New Orleans Burlesque Festival and has been voted in the top 25 performers in 21st Century Burlesque’s Top 50 Burlesque Performers worldwide for the past 4 years. In reference to her performance style, 21st Century wrote,“Striptease and song is so often a marriage that doesn’t quite work. So few performers can do both to a high standard, and at the same time. But Lola is an example of how well it can be done. It’s the little gestures, winks, raising of the eyebrows and knowing smiles that make her performances special.”

In addition, she runs her own student troupe the Bon-Bons, and her company, Van Ella Productions works with, and represents some of the best talent in the midwest, including The Hoochie Coochie Girls and The Beggar’s Carnivale impressive list of performers.

As a performer, Lola has performed 3 times at Miss Exotic World has been featured at the Best of Midwest Burlesk, Colorado, Vancouver, Chicago and London Burlesque Festivals and in engagements and shows all over the world, from Miami, New York, Dallas, San Francisco and Seattle to Berlin, Amsterdam, Nuremburg and Jamaica.

She is a passionate and driven producer and performer who is always looking to up the ante, raise the stakes and push the envelope to bring the best of her abilities to the stage and beyond, and works tirelessly to bring dreams to life.

With a sultry voice, devastating shimmy, and flirtatious smile; this adventurous ecdysiast has garnered a lot of attention and the tagline “The Derriere Beyond Compare”.

Sammich the Tramp is a wandering hobo and lovable scamp. Sammy came to St. Louis by way of Chicago where she started doing silent film inspired physical performances 7 years ago. She’s been in St. Louis since 2010 and has managed to make quite a mark with her unique brand of silent slapstick vaudevillian comedy. After teaming up with burlesque star and producer Lola van Ella, Sammy began creating and directing shows, including the beloved and ever popular Beggar’s Carnivale, wherein she also directs her own troupe, The Knockabouts.

Sammy is also one of the co-producers of The Show-Me Burlesque Festival. Sammich the Tramp travels often and tours regularly. Sammy is particularly passionate about vaudevillian stage spectacles, silent films, live music and Charlie Chaplin and hopes to bring back the art and nuance of these passions to a modern audience, and to give them a show they never realized they needed so badly.

Together, Sammy and Lola perform all over the world together, headlining shows and festivals, directing and producing shows, running their company and opening their very own theater together. This fall, they’ll be traveling to New Zealand and Australia to headline the New Zealand Burlesque Festival and they have plans to tour Europe this winter.

Steff Mahan

Steff Mahan

Sunday, June 30 – 1:25 p.m.

Sweet and soulful is the sound of Nashville based singer/songwriter Steff Mahan. With a voice that is pure and powerful and lyrics that are heart-crafted and rock-solid, it’s hard to not get hooked on the emotional truth that comes out of this born songwriter’s mouth. With a deft touch and vivid writing that reflects Mary Chapin Carpenter’s ‘Stones In The Road,’ Mahan balances the characteristics of an ‘everywoman,’ while remaining raw and personal.

Mahan’s entertaining Americana mix of rock, roots, folk and country has generated three albums, including her most recent release, Never a Long Way Home. Mahan signed a recording contract with Nashville record label, Century Music Group (CMG) in early 2013 and is in the process of working on her 4th and most anticipated album to date which is expected to be released mid-2013.

Performing approximately 200 hundred dates a year, Mahan has graced the stages of such notable venues as Atlanta’s Eddie’s Attic, Nashville’s The Bluebird Cafe, NYC’s The Bitter End, Charlotte’s The Evening Muse, and Birmingham’s Workplay Theater. She has shared the stage with such powerhouse artists as Patty Griffin, The Indigo Girls, Tift Merritt, 10,000 Maniacs, Blame Sally, Holly Williams and Antigone Rising. Her captivating live show led Billboard’s Mike Gionet’s to proclaim her “an entertaining, can’t-miss performance” and the Nashville City Paper deems her “simply a wicked cool singer-songwriter.”

Equally at home performing on a festival stage in front of thousands of people or tucked into the corner of an intimate living room private house concert, Mahan plays music because she loves it and because she wants to share this love with others. It is exactly this desire that allows her to
captivate an audience; to take them on an intimate tour of her music; to stay long after her shows talking to everyone and to call nearly every person she meets a friend.

Kevin Dodson

Kevin Dodson

Saturday, June 29 – 3:30 p.m.

Kevin Dodson, a 26-year-old native of southern Illinois, was introduced to music through his family, comprised of singers, including Bluegrass and Gospel singers, guitar players and piano players. Kevin started singing in junior high at a small Baptist church. He took piano lessons as a child, and picked up the guitar in high school.

As a singer/song writer Kevin has written numerous amounts of original songs. For the past few years, he has mainly focused on honing a unique blend by covering mainstream songs. Kevin has performed in several churches and weddings across the region, and made his debut performance in St. Louis in June 2012, on the main stage at Pride St. Louis Festival.

Summer Osborne

Summer Osborne

Sponsored by Just John Nightclub

Sunday, June 30 – 2:50 p.m.

Summer Osborne is a lyric-driven singer/songwriter from St. Louis, MO. You can describe her music as folk soul, acoustic rock, and piano pop… with glimpses of jazz, blues, and roots music. You can reveal that she has power vocals and is an artful storyteller. However, you cannot confine her to a genre. You will laugh, you will cry, you will feel, you will enjoy yourself. Come join the adventure to feel better!! It is the evolution of the soul – one song at a time.

Summer Osborne has been on stage since four, but has been performing her original tunes for fans since 2005. During that time, lyrics and melodies have been continuously flowing through her, resulting in six full albums and an EP. Her much-anticipated newest album, As I Am, is set for release in June of 2013.

Summer Osborne’s only goal:  to change the world by changing people’s minds about themselves… she needs LOVE, MUSIC, and YOU.

Jen Norman

Jen Norman

Sponsored by Halfway Haus

Sunday, June 30 – 4:25 p.m.

With guitar in hand, singer/songwriter Jennifer Norman paints the soundtrack of her life with music notes. Her lyrics have common threads that apply to anyone, whether they are dealing with good times or bad. Jennifer’s folk rock / country pop style, often compared to Lucinda Williams & Brandi Carlile, has continued to evolve since she first stepped on stage in 2001.

“Learning As I Go,” released in 2011, recorded at slo*burn productions in Vandalia, IL, marks Jen’s debut into songwriting as the sole writer.

As well as a 2003 release “Leavin’ On The Next Thing Smokin’,” recorded at Chelsea Studio in Nashville, TN, with executive producer Robert Metzgar ( Kenny Rogers, Diana Ross, Lionel Richie, Billy Joel, Sawyer Brown, Johnny Paycheck).

Influences include: Brandi Carlile, Lucinda Williams, Jack White, Kasey Chambers, Ed Sheeran, BoDeans, Alanis Morissette, Jason Mraz, Ingrid Michaelson, Indigo Girls…and so many more.

Josie Lowder

Josie Lowder

Saturday, June 29 – 5:10 p.m.

Josie Lowder is the guitar-picking, songwriting, melody singin’ love-child of two musicians. Josie and her brother, Bo, grew up in a house saturated with guitars, recording gear, and frequent songwriting sessions by the fireplace with mom. The seeds planted early on in their lives by their father (Jaigh, guitarist) and mother (Peggy, singer/songwriter) have recently started to blossom.

After a few years of gigging as a mainly solo-acoustic artist, and getting a solid fan-base foundation set in Central Illinois, Josie knew coming together with her brother was only a matter of time. Destiny has called for the Lowder children to expand their wings and come together as seasoned guitar players, singers, and writers in a mesh of jazz, R&B, funk, and psychedelic groove-rock that will vibrate the deepest part of your soul. Josie and Bo are joined by AJ “Baby Goose Feathers” Good (trumpet/flugelhorn), a Springfield legend, known for his buttery tone.

Adding life to the low-end, Jeff Cunningham is rumored to not only be the baddest bass player in all the land, but possibly the coolest bass player in the entire galaxy. He has been a teacher at the Rock Shop in Springfield for over 10 years and has been a guru to not only the Lowder children, but to many aspiring players across Central Illinois. Rounding out the rhythm section is Shalan Walker of Decatur,Illinois. Shalan and his drum set function as one entity, completely aligning the rhythm inside the entire bands soul. You will leave the show feeling awakened, alive, and inspire.

Middle Class Fashion

Middle Class Fashion

Saturday, June 29 – 4:15 p.m.

Middle Class Fashion is a minor-key pop band that could best be described as Tegan and Sara scoring a Tim Burton film with Danny Elfman. Formed in 2010, MCF was awarded Best Pop Band as well as Best Local Album in the recent Riverfront Times poll. The band’s full-length album, Girl Talk, was the second most played album on KDHX in 2012.

The band has had the pleasure of opening for national acts such as Jill Sobule, An Horse, and Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr. Members Jenn Malzone, Brian McClelland, Brad Vaughn, and Katie Lindhorst are putting the finishing touches on their follow-up album, entitled Jungle, which will be released in 2013.

St. Lou Fringe

St. Lou Fringe Presents

June 29 & 30

St Lou Fringe builds community, connecting uncensored, unjuried Arts with affordable presentations for audiences. St Lou Fringe achieves this mission by:

• Producing the St Lou Fringe Festival, a mutli-day, multi-venue immersion in uncensored, unjuried, and accessible performing arts connecting brave artists and bold audiences.
• Offering workshops for hte public and local artists that promotes Arts a business
• Establishing a network of artists, audiences, and businesses committed to local cultural and economic group
• Supporting estbalished and emerging artists by providing a professional setting ot showcase their work, and seeking to promote developing neighborhoods as opportune spaces for cultural and economic vitality.

Saturday, June 29 – 3:55 p.m.

Beggars Carnivale