WESA Reports: Taking the Mic

Clara Kent is an Afro-Indigenous musician and WYEP DJ who hosts one of Pittsburgh’s most beloved radio shows, “More Bounce.” This year, she launched “Elevate the Underground” — where she highlights Black, queer and women artists rising in Pittsburgh’s music scene.

Melinda Colaizzi is the frontwoman of her Pittsburgh-based blues & rock band, Melinda and the Night Sky. And she’s also the founder of Women Who Rock, an organization that advocates for better women’s health research.

May Wilcher is a Pittsburgh-based sound artist and experimental musician whose practice spans glitch, ambient, noise, and drone. A conversation with May about finding community through Pittsburgh Sound Preserve's Open Improv Lab Sessions.

Casey Hanner is the frontwoman for the Pittsburgh-based band “Donora.” It’s a beloved local band she founded with her brother in 2006, but after she became a mother, the band went on hiatus for years.

Millie Dread is the stage name of Pittsburgh’s cyber gothic anti-pop star Hannah RB, a multidisciplinary artist who welcomes listeners into the macabre. A conversation with Millie Dread about her favorite band, Nine Inch Nails — and about just how rare women producers are in mainstream music.

INEZ is a Pittsburgh-based singer, producer and audio engineer who blends genres from R&B to world music. In 2020, she was named WYEP’s “Pittsburgh Artist of the Year” and now, she’s one of the city’s most visible artists.

Liz Berlin was a founding member of Rusted Root, a Pittsburgh band that rose to international fame in the 1990s, sharing stages with Sheryl Crow and the Dave Matthews Band. But after she left the band, she went on to find her voice as a solo artist and as the owner of Mr. Smalls Theatre in Millvale.

Introducing our new series, Taking the Mic, about the women in Pittsburgh's music scene, the neighborhoods that shaped their sound, and the moments that fueled their musical fires. Behind the series is WESA fellow Laura Fidalgo. She's a jazz vocalist and Ph.D student in Pittsburgh, but she grew up in the Canary Islands of Spain. WESA editor Susan Scott Peterson spoke with Laura about what pushed her to create it. “Taking the Mic” is sponsored in part by the University of Pittsburgh’s “Humanities Engage” program.WESA editor Susan Scott Peterson spoke with Laura about what pushed her to create it.“Taking the Mic” is sponsored in part by the University of Pittsburgh’s “Humanities Engage” program.

Introducing our new series, Taking the Mic, about the women in Pittsburgh's music scene, the neighborhoods that shaped their sound, and the moments that fueled their musical fires.

Part six of Designing Dignity explores how wrapping community around people who are declining cognitively helps to preserve their quality of life — and perhaps enrich everyone else's in the process.