Naomi Westwater and Friends Will Reimagine Lilith Fair at Club Passim

Club Passim’s Folk Collective will present Reimaging Lilith Fair, a tribute to the feminist scene of the 1990s with an intersectional lens for today, September 30th. The evening will celebrate women and gender-expansive artists in the greater Boston music scene, featuring original music and 90’s cover songs as well as a discussion about intersectional feminism in the music scene today. Produced by singer-songwriter Naomi Westwater, the show will feature Melissa Ferrick, Pamela Means, and more. Tickets are on sale now at passim.org. 

Reimagining Lilith Fair is the vision of The Folk Collective’s Naomi Westwater, a queer, Black-multiracial singer-songwriter from Massachusetts whose work combines folk music, poetry, and spirituality. Reimaging Lilith Fair pays tribute to the groundbreaking all-female music festival created by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan in 1997 to provide women the same shot at touring gigs as men and placing women at the music center. Westwater hopes that through ritual and storytelling they can aid nature in the end of capitalism and the return of community, creativity, and collective joy.  

The night will include performances by Melissa Ferrick, an artist and producer, and Pamela Means, a singer-songwriter and jazz musician. Ferrick has released seventeen albums, one documentary, and one cover album and played more than six thousand shows over the last twenty-seven years. Means has received several nominations and music awards in multiple categories, impressing critics with her seven independent releases. 

“I'm delighted to have the opportunity to produce and perform Re-Imagining Lilith fair at Club Passim as part of The Folk Collective,’ said Westwater. “This is an opportunity for us to honor the feminist, music movement of the 90s, but to also critique it and add to it. The show is allowing us to invite Intersectionality into our music and our feminism, while also having a really fun. I’m so honored to share the stage with musicians Melissa Ferrick and Pamala Means, and Sasha Goodfriend (Executive Director of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Organization for Women). This show is an opportunity for us to contribute to the current conversation about feminism in the music industry in the past, present, and where it needs to go next.”

 Last fall, Passim launched The Folk Collective, a cohort of artists, musicians, and cultural thought leaders from the greater Boston area dedicated to exchanging ideas and developing projects to expand and diversify the musical and cultural offerings. Best known for its listening-room music venue, The Folk Collective is an artist-led and artist-forward initiative digging deeper to explore what is folk music with the ultimate goal to curate, produce and present creative ideas and artistic expression on the Passim stage. 

 As part of this work, The Folk Collective has curated a series of events that welcome and invite diverse audiences and artists to Club Passim including Stephanie Mckay’s ‘Women in Song’ on September 23 and Kim Moberg’s record release concert  on October 6 . In addition, The Folk Collective will also be part of the inaugural Raising Voices Festival, A Celebration of Music, Art, & the Power of Protest! on Sunday, September 24th, from 1p-2p in the Old South Meeting House in Downtown Boston.

The Folk Collective: Reimagining Lilith Fair with Naomi Westwater & Friends will take place on September 30, at 8 PM at Club Passim, in Cambridge, MA. Tickets are $20 and can be found at passim.org. Passim is located at 47 Palmer Street in the basement of an historic brick delivery and carriage house. It is on the corner of Church and Palmer Streets.

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