Music & Concerts
An ‘Icon’ returns
Sheila E. still growing, singing, touring


Sheila E. says she feels energy on stage no matter how large or small the crowd. (Photo courtesy Howard Theatre)
Sheila E.
Thursday, April 30
8 p.m. (doors 6)
$37.50-75
620 T St., N.W.
In the mid-’80s, singer and percussionist Sheila E. defined cool for a generation of women musicians, first by collaborating with Prince on the classic “Purple Rain” album, lending vocals to the album’s “Erotic City,” and also by recording her own bestselling solo album, “The Glamorous Life,” which had a top 10 hit in its title track and another top single with “The Belle of St. Mark.”
“It was more than I ever expected but I worked really hard, I didn’t sit back and wait for something to happen,” Sheila E. says. “I went out and toured and did all types of publicity and released a record in Europe first, and pushed my record even before ‘Purple Rain.’ By the time I got to the states, ‘The Glamorous Life’ was already a hit.”
Now 57, the musician has released seven albums with several hit songs since her heyday, and is still a force to be reckoned with on stage.
“If the day ever comes when I don’t feel inspired and the butterflies are not there, that’s the day I’ll stop,” she says. “I get even more of a thrill today than I used to and it doesn’t matter if I’m playing for 10 people or 20,000.”
On April 30, Sheila E. will be appearing at the Howard Theater in what promises to be a night full of high-octane energy.
“What they can expect is a great show; great musicianship, a lot of fun, a big party, some old music, new music and Sheila E. at her best,” she says. “Howard Theater and the people of D.C. are some of my favorite people to play for. I totally appreciate the vibe they bring and I really look forward to being back.”
True fans know that her real name is Sheila Escovedo, and she learned her drum skills from her legendary father, percussionist Pete Escovedo. Still, following her dad’s musical footsteps wasn’t always in the cards.
“I wanted to be the first girl astronaut on the moon or win a gold medal in track and field,” she says. “I played a show with my dad when I was 15 because one of the musicians got sick, and to play with that type of musicianship at that level brought me to a place I had never experienced before. After that show, I knew that’s what I wanted to do the rest of my life.”
Fame came quickly as Sheila E. performed with artists such as Diana Ross, Lionel Richie and Marvin Gaye, and it was a chance encounter with Prince at one of her concerts that would lead to more than two decades of musical collaboration.
“I had a huge career even before I started working with Prince,” Sheila E. says. “Prince had followed my career and told me he was very excited to meet me the first time we met.”
In more recent years, Shelia E. has worked with Beyoncé and other music stars behind the scenes, but she never stopped making her own music. Last year, she released the aptly titled “Icon,” her first new album in 13 years, and it was viewed positively throughout the industry.
“If I didn’t continue to write new music and venture out to play with different artists and listen to different genres of music, I would be stuck in a place of not growing at all,” she says. “Inspiration comes from all the music I grew up listening to, as well as new music and just wanting to grow and learn more and do more and be a student for life.”
The 13-track recording includes colorful fusions of the Latin, jazz, R&B, pop, funk and rock influences that shaped her style over the last 30 years.
In addition to the new music, last year also saw the release of her autobiography, entitled, “And the Beat Goes On.” It was while writing the book, that she started hearing songs behind some of the stories she was telling, and that led to a number of songs on “Icon.”
“I looked back in my archives and found some things I had worked on five years before, and I wrote some songs telling my life story and I knew these songs needed to be in the book, so out came the CD,” she says.
Looking ahead, Shelia E. says she has a lot on her plate. She just opened a new club in Los Angeles and she has more music in the works.
“First of all, I just let God do what he does with me and knowing he has given me this gift and allowing me to go all over the world to share that, I am blessed by that,” she says. “I love that this is something I get to do and I don’t take it for granted. I’m inspired by the people who come out and support us and love us. Because of those fans, I come back more excited than ever.”
Music & Concerts
Underdog glorious: a personal remembrance of Jill Sobule
Talented singer, songwriter died in house fire on May 1

I’ve always prided myself on being the kind of music consumer who purchased music on impulse. When I stumbled across “Things Here Are Different,” Jill Sobule’s 1990 MCA Records debut album on vinyl in a favorite Chicago record store, I bought it without knowing anything about her. This was at a time when we didn’t have our phones in our pockets to search for information about the artist on the internet. The LP stayed in my collection until, as vinyl was falling out of fashion, I replaced it with a CD a few years later.
Early in my career as an entertainment journalist, I received a promo copy of Jill’s eponymous 1995 Atlantic Records album. That year, Atlantic Records was one of the labels at the forefront of signing and heavily promoting queer artists, including Melissa Ferrick and Extra Fancy, and its roster included the self-titled album by Jill. It was a smart move, as the single “I Kissed A Girl” became a hit on radio and its accompanying video (featuring Fabio!) was in heavy rotation on MTV (when they still played videos).
Unfortunately for Jill, she was a victim of record label missteps. When 1997’s wonderful “Happy Town” failed to repeat the success, Atlantic dumped her. That was Atlantic’s loss, because her next album, the superb “Pink Pearl” contained “Heroes” and “Mexican Wrestler,” two of her most beloved songs. Sadly, Beyond Music, the label that released that album ceased to exist after just a few years. To her credit, the savvy Jill had also started independently releasing music (2004’s “The Folk Years”). That was a smart move because her next major-label release, the brilliant “Underdog Victorious” on Artemis Records, met a similar fate when that label folded.
With her 2009 album “California Years,” Jill launched her own indie label, Pinko Records, on which she would release two more outstanding full-length discs, 2014’s “Dottie’s Charms” (on which she collaborated with some of her favorite writers, including David Hadju, Rick Moody, Mary Jo Salter, and Jonathan Lethem), and 2018’s stunning “Nostalgia Kills.” Jill’s cover of the late Warren Zevon’s “Don’t Let Us Get Sick” on “Nostalgia Kills” was particularly poignant as she had toured with him as an opening act.
Jill was a road warrior, constantly on tour, and her live shows were something to behold. My first interview with Jill took place at the Double Door in Chicago in early August of 1995, when she was the opening act for legendary punk band X. She had thrown her back out the previous day and was diagnosed with a herniated disc. To be comfortable, she was lying down on a fabulous-‘50s sofa. “I feel like I’m at my shrink’s,” she said to me, “Do you want me to talk about my mother?”
That sense of humor, which permeated and enriched her music, was one of many reasons to love Jill. I was privileged to interview her for seven of her albums. Everything you would want to know about her was right there in her honest lyrics, in which she balanced her distinctive brand of humor with serious subject matter. Drawing on her life experiences in songs such as “Bitter,” “Underachiever,” “One of These Days,” “Freshman,” “Jetpack,” “Nothing To Prove,” “Forbidden Thoughts of Youth,” “Island of Lost Things,” “Where Do I Begin,” “Almost Great,” and “Big Shoes,” made her songs as personal as they were universal, elicited genuine affection and concern from her devoted fans.
While she was a consummate songwriter, Jill also felt equally comfortable covering songs made famous by others, including “Just A Little Lovin’” (on the 2000 Dusty Springfield tribute album “Forever Dusty”) and “Stoned Soul Picnic” (from the 1997 Laura Nyro tribute album “Time and Love”). Jill also didn’t shy away from political subject matter in her music with “Resistance Song,” “Soldiers of Christ,” “Attic,” “Heroes,” “Under the Disco Ball,” and the incredible “America Back” as prime examples.
Here’s something else worth mentioning about Jill. She was known for collaboration skills. As a songwriter, she maintained a multi-year creative partnership with Robin Eaton (“I Kissed A Girl” and many others), as well as Richard Barone, the gay frontman of the renowned band The Bongos. Jill’s history with Barone includes performing together at a queer Octoberfest event in Chicago in 1996. Writer and comedian Julie Sweeney, of “SNL” and “Work in Progress” fame was another Chicago collaborator with Sobule (Sweeney lives in a Chicago suburb), where they frequently performed their delightful “The Jill and Julia Show.” John Doe, of the aforementioned band X, also collaborated with Jill in the studio (“Tomorrow Is Breaking” from “Nostalgia Kills”), as well as in live performances.
On a very personal note, in 2019, when I was in the process of arranging a reading at the fabulous NYC gay bookstore Bureau of General Services – Queer Division, I reached out to Jill and asked her if she would like to be on the bill with me. We alternated performing; I would read a couple of poems, and Jill would sing a couple of songs. She even set one of my poems to music, on the spot.
Jill had an abundance of talent, and when she turned her attention to musical theater, it paid off in a big way. Her stage musical “F*ck 7th Grade,” a theatrical piece that seemed like the next logical step in her career, had its premiere at Pittsburgh’s City Theatre in the fall of 2020, during the height of the pandemic. The unique staging (an outdoor drive-in stage at which audience members watched from their cars) was truly inspired. “F*ck 7th Grade” went on to become a New York Times Critic’s pick, as well as earning a Drama Desk nomination.
In honor of the 30th anniversary of Jill’s eponymous 1995 album, reissue label Rhino Records is re-releasing it on red vinyl. Jill and I had been emailing each other to arrange a time for an interview. We even had a date on the books for the third week of May.
When she died in a house fire in Minnesota on May 1 at age 66, Jill received mentions on network and cable news shows. She was showered with attention from major news outlets, including obits in the New York Times and Rolling Stone (but not Pitchfork, who couldn’t be bothered to review her music when she was alive). Is it wrong to think that if she’d gotten this much attention when she was alive she could have been as big as Taylor Swift? I don’t think so.
Music & Concerts
Tom Goss returns with ‘Bear Friends Furever Tour’
Out singer/songwriter to perform at Red Bear Brewing Co.

Singer Tom Goss will bring his “Bear Friends Furever Tour” to D.C. on Sunday, June 8 at 8 p.m. at Red Bear Brewing Co.
Among the songs he will perform will be “Bear Soup,” the fourth installment in his beloved bear song anthology series. Following fan favorites like “Bears,” “Round in All the Right Places,” and “Nerdy Bear,” this high-energy, bass-thumping banger celebrates body positivity, joyful indulgence, and the vibrant spirit of the bear subculture.
For more details, visit Tom Goss’s website.

Aussie pop icon Kylie Minogue brings her acclaimed “Tension” world tour to D.C. next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Capital One Arena. Tickets are still available at Ticketmaster.
The show features songs spanning her long career, from 1987 debut single, “The Loco-Motion,” to “Padam, Padam” from her album, “Tension.”