Camp counselors, right up there with gym teachers......I remember hearing Meg in DC but I can't remember the name of the bar......It was down the road from Galludet I believe, small place.  But I met my first lover at a Girl Scout camp in Maryland (1974).  Any other counselors out there?

Sometimes I think back on all the great music that helped me feel good about myself and my life and smile.  Was there anything more empowering than sitting in a church basement with 100s of women and singing our songs, OUR songs?  I thought it was amazing when and I forget (again) who was performing...I think Meg and Chris but it was at DAR hall and I thought, wow we have really arrived, what's next Carnegie Hall?  It was all so empowering.  I'm hoping to recapture some of the good feelings and memories on the Caribbean Dreams cruise.  I can't wait.  Thanks Judy for making it happen.

 Bridget

It was 1978. I was hired to be a Unit Leader at a Girl Scout Camp. I learned to play the "G-Progression" on a guitar, and suddenly found myself singing and playing songs like "The Unicorn Song" and "Filling up and Spilling Over" . . .I had no idea they were "lesbian" songs . . . until someone introduced me to Meg Chirstian and Cris Williamson's albums. . . I suddenly found myself in love with a fellow staff, and well, the rest is history.

I remember my first concert was Meg Christian at a small community center in Long Beach in 1980. The PE teacher song became one of my favorites. I could not believe there were so many lesbians in one place!  The sense of community was amazing.

I also lived in Long Beach, and went to the Que Sera - a local bar from 1979-1981. We played pool, and every Thursday night a signer named Melissa Etheridge came and played in this very small venue. In all honestly, her sound was too big for such a small space, so and it was hard to enjoy and play pool at the same time!  Little did we know . . . 

Who would have thought I would be working with Olivia as a career. :-)  But, am I glad this was where my path lead!

Jill

1977 - I was 19 and I had worn ruts into my "I know you know" album. There was a concert at the YWCA in Syracuse, NY with Meg Christian and Teresa Trull. It was like magic. I met the woman who has been my best friend for the past 30 years and we entered a group of lesbians filling the YWCA that made my heart almost burst. I finally knew where I belonged. The YWCA was full to capacity and for some reason, they couldn't turn the heat off in this little auditorium that was full of young, sweaty, idealistic, feminist women.....they asked if they should let the women waiting in line in, since it was already too crowded inside. A resounding "YES" echoed in the room.

The image I hold is of a room full of women, arms around each other, swaying and singing...."can we be like rocks of water, falling on a stone....splashing, breaking, dispersing in air, weaker than the stone by far, but be aware, that as time goes by, the rock will wear away"...

And 30 years later, look where we are, and hasn't the rock worn away substantially? We have a long way to go, but I will always be grateful and honored to have been part of the early Olivia/lesbian/feminist movement, and I am eternally grateful to all the early women of Olivia for showing me that the "way back home to me was the road I took to you".

Anyone out there remember "Lesbian Concentrate"?  It is so wonderful to see how far women artists have come in the last 35 years.  I was part of a women's collective that produced women's concerts on the Monterey Peninsula.  We had concerts featuring Meg Christian, June Millington, Holly Near and quite a number of others.  With so few venues for these artists, we created a place by stripping our bank accounts, stipping our houses to set the stage with plants, etc. and bringing the music to the women!  I was also part of a radio collective that featured only women artists for public radio; another way to create exposure to all the fabulous music women were making that had no airplay otherwise.  It is wonderful to see that women  now command large venues and women artists are making it in the industry in the mainstream.

I also have fond memories of the West Coast Women's Music Festivals in the woods near Yosemite.  Women making a "free" place on the land, sharing music, food, creativity and community had a huge impact on so many women.  Thanks, Robin Tyler.

And now Olivia spreads her wings and creates an even larger travel community.  I must admit, I like the new digs.  The camping was great and we all loved being out on the land, but I'm enjoying our upward mobility and the fact that the music can now be heard on gorgeous cruise ships where we enjoy luxury and comfort as we travel the world.

To the music!

I  was about 18, and our cadre of newly out lesbians ventured from our small liberal arts college campus (Beloit in Wisconsin) to Madison for a Chris Williamson/Meg Christian concert.  We were beside ourselves with joy to see hundreds of dykes swaying and singing of "endless waterfalls."   Olivia was just getting started.  And the music was a terrific catalyst for our community.

What followed was the first Women's music festival in Champaign, Illinois, then the first Womyn's Music festival in Michigan.  Our group of lesbians grew in number, as we attended these events, returning to our campus energized, empowered, and brazenly "out."  

I thank Olivia for helping all of us establish and celebrate our identity back then, and for continuing to expand everyone's world now.