By Mike Romero
Les Femmes De Velour is a multi-week celebration of female and female-fronted acts in the Provo music scene. An event dating back to the mid 90’s, Velour Live Music Gallery revived the event in 2010. In the last 12 years it has grown from a one-night event to an eight-night series. This year’s lineup includes some of the Provo music scene’s most successful female musicians. Some of the most notable include Mindy Gledhill, Stephanie Mabey, and Kathleen Frewin – each a pillar of Provo’s female music scene.
One can’t mention Provo music without referencing Mindy Gledhill’s work. Her landmark album Anchor saw explosive success in South Korea in the 2010’s, with “Crazy Love” reaching Number 7 on the GAON music charts. Seven other tracks from this record also charted, granting her international success that few in the scene can claim. She’s been a prominent voice in the scene, advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion. The textbook definition of prolific, she’s released 6 full length records as a solo artist, one LP with brother-in-law and collaborator Dustin Gledhill as Hive Riot, one EP as Madam Bandit, and several notable collaborations with Grammy Award-nominee Kaskade.
Stephanie Mabey’s “Zombie Song” cutely captured the Zombie virus that infected the American zeitgeist in the 2010’s. Warm Bodies in song form, it was a viral success, racking up nearly 10 million YouTube views and an additional 33 million on Spotify. The song was also featured prominently in Netflix’s First Kill. But as true fans know, she’s so much more than that one song. She penned “Glorious,” which would later be covered by David Archuleta; she’s the de facto queen of the Omnichord, a retro electronic instrument that heavily inspired the arrangement of “Clover” by fellow locals Michael Barrow & The Tourists; and her song “Heart Shaped Hologram” has made me cry myself to sleep every night for the better part of seven years.
Kathleen Frewin is perhaps best known for supplying keyboards and guitars for slacker rock tour de force Sego and local supergroup Pinguin Mofex. But her acoustic stylings and rustic voice on “The Worst Weekend Ever” – her cover of the Emily Brown song of the same name – demonstrate that she’s an entirely capable frontwoman in her own right. Her self titled EP (confined to SoundCloud for now) is a highly recommended Provo deep cut.
Les Femmes will take place February 16, 17, 18, 21, 23, 24, 25, and 28. Tickets are on sale via 24tix.com. Get yours before the shows sell out.
Provo Music Magazine 