 Kaia Wilson wrote her first song, "You Make Me Cry That Special Way", at age nine—and it clearly oozed, right out of the starting gate, the emotive openness that would become her signature trademark. In Wilson's 21 years of lugging amps and guitars around the world, writing, recording, and jumping from band to band, she has kept the most vulnerable facets of her music for her solo albums. Wilson's first solo effort, 1996's "Finally, A Dyke Album for the Whole Family", was affecting, profound, and the precursor to four subsequent solo albums. That fourth, newest release, "Two Adult Women In Love" (Jealous Butcher, 5/22/12), is considered by Wilson to be her strongest, bravest work to date—and as others hear the record, they too may very well agree. Wilson came of age in Eugene, Oregon in the grunge heyday. In 1991, she gathered two other women together to form her first politically fierce band, Adickdid. Adickdid toured with Fugazi and Hole and sang songs about feminism, such as their song about Christopher Columbus (with the insightful lyrics--penned by 18 year old Kaia--"Columbus Columbus Fuck you!". Fun fact: at a Los Angeles show at Jabberjaw club in 1993, Beck jumped on stage before Adickdid went on to play a couple of his "folk" songs). When Adickdid split up, Wilson teamed up with Hazel drummer Jody Bleyle and Screaming Trees/Dinosaur Jr. part-time bassist Donna Dresch to form the dykey supergroup Team Dresch. Team Dresch garnered international praise and critical acclaim and released two now-canonized albums, "Personal Best" and "Captain My Captain". They toured the US and Europe with Bikini Kill, and Washington Post writer Chris Richards called their debut album, 1994's Personal Best, "a fiery, all-but-forgotten punk masterpiece." Following Team Dresch, Wilson formed The Butchies with Team Dresch drummer Melissa York. Joined by bassist Alison Martlew, the band released four albums and toured extensively for seven years (at times with Sleater-Kinney and the Gossip) and once opened for Cheap Trick! (Surrender!) Additionally, Wilson worked with longtime collaborator Amy Ray (of Indigo Girls) since 2000, recording guitar and vocals on three of Amy's four solo albums and touring in support of those records as lead guitarist and, often, as an opener as well. Wilson and then partner Tammy Rae Carland ran the legendary feminist record label Mr. Lady Records from 1996-2002 as well, releasing Wilson's own work and work from brilliant artists such as as Le Tigre, Electrelane, Tara Jane O'Neil and Tami Hart. The importance of Wilson's steadfast and continued commitment to creating visible queer-positive art/music could in itself be considered an "It gets better" campaign. In light of the fact that gay youth suicide is still at the same frightening statistic as when Wilson came out in 1988, (one in three teen suicides is gay-related) she considers her art both an act of social protest to her country's insidious homophobia, as well as an organic instinctive process of writing songs that are pertinent to the lyricists direct life experience. Wilson's live performances are characterized by interactive and strange stage conversations high in humor juxtaposed into intense, sad, angsty and troubled lyrical composition in minor keys and dropped D. Yay! When not playing music, Wison's secondary vocational skill sets include Landscaping and Barista-ing. Her hobbies/passions include everything having to do with animals and nature, and her pursuit of getting her Table Tennis rating up to 1800! She won a Gold and Bronze Medal at the Gay Games in Cologne Germany for ping pong! Wilson lives in Portland Oregon with her life-partner and their three cats. "…a subcultural hero like hip-hop's Mos Def or a truly underground artist like Kaia Wilson, who leads the Butchies and runs the women-oriented independent label Mr. Lady. What unites these activists is a realistic attitude, which leads them to consider their own place within the dominant culture and then maximize whatever power that spot affords." |
 
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