Alice Bag in Merced

As the Visiting Artist with the University of California Merced's Center for the Humanities this month, I had a chance to catch Alice Bag in concert in Merced at the Multicultural Arts Center where she put on an exceptional performance and demonstrating what's still possible even at 58.

She is "an acclaimed punk rock singer, musician, author, educator and feminist archivist. She is the lead singer and co-founder of the Bags, one of the first wave of punk bands to form in the mid-1970s in LA. Her first book Violence Girl, From East LA Rage to Hollywood Stage is the story of her upbringing in East Los Angeles, her eventual migration to Hollywood and the euphoria and aftermath of the first punk wave. This former bilingual elementary school teacher continues as an author, outspoken activist, feminist and a self-proclaimed troublemaker. Bag has remained active in music since the late 1970s and will release her second book in 2015. Bag released Alice Bag, her debut solo album on Don Giovanni Records in June, 2016"

I'm particularly drawn to the way she incoporated elements of punk performances and ranchera ones, creating the “punk-chera,” genre. There's much Lao Americans and others in diaspora might consider as we continue to go forward musically. She'll be coming to UC Merced on the 25th to do a book signing and to discuss her work in greater detail. Be sure to catch it!