Penelope is honored to have many great musicians playing in her bands and on her recordings
currently:
Pat Johnson - guitar, keyboards, vox
Mike Therieau - guitar, vox
Ned Doherty - bass
John Hofer - drums
Dave Leonard - drums
Jeffrey Luck Lucas - cello
and previously:
Steven Strauss bass and vox
Mel Peppas - mandolin and guitar
Eliot Nemzer - guitar
Kevin Mummey - drums and percussion
Katharine Chase - bass and vox
Dawn Ricardson - drums
Michael Pappenberg - guitar
Chuck Prophet - guitar
Stephanie Finch - keyboards
Tim Mooney - drums
Steve Bowman - drums
Marc Capelle - horns and keys
Ralph Carney - horns
Beth Custer - clarinet
Julian Smedley - violin and viola
Jane Weidlen - vox and guitar
Charlotte Caffey - vox and guitar
Jeffrey Wood - organ
Kevin Donahue - accordian and piano
Eric Lefcowitz - guitar and vox
Avengers circa 2006!
----
Joel Reader - bass and vox
Luis Illades - drums
Greg Ingraham - guitar
And 1977-1979----
Danny Furious - drums and vox
Jimmy Wilsey - bass and vox
Greg Ingraham - guitar
Brad Kent - guitar in 1979
Influences
mushrooms, lynda barry, slipping in between the moments, dark chocolate, leonard cohen, mom, the ones whose lives I saved, DeVoteD-ruins, incredible string band, heartbreak, seriously faded people, nabakov, patti smith, john singer sargent, seattle winters, the taste of socca, violent femmes, the crack in everything, dragon, traveling to foreign shores, the stone-eaters of cleveland, luis gabriel illades...
Punk Folkie Popstar
Penelope Houston has been called alot of things. In the New York Trouser Press Record Guide, Ira Robbins proclaimed her, at 19, as "...the archetypal indomitable rock'n'roll woman, her strength and aggression are what elevates these tracks from energetic but typical punk to remarkable personal statements... the Avengers (her first band) were a major national asset." In The Unknown Legends Of Rock And Roll, she's marked as "the soul-sister to Nick Drake and Sandy Denny." The All Music Guide states that she "helped pioneer the melodic-yet-hard-hitting alternative rock... mined by such performers as Liz Phair and Aimee Mann."
Born in Los Angeles and raised in Seattle, Penelope Houston has spent her life surrounded by music. In 1977, opting for a career of a different nature, Houston headed south to attend San Francisco's Art Institute. In a short time, the teenage student found herself at a point where art, culture and music collided - as the lead singer and songwriter for The Avengers, a foursome that critic Greil Marcus described as "San Francisco's best punk band - in their moments, they were, you knew, better than any other band playing that night anywhere in the world."
The Avengers (punk)
"pink album"
Do you need this out of print music?
Get it from me. $9.99 14 tracks from 1977-79
In the two short years of their existence, The Avengers appeared with the Sex Pistols at Winterland - that group's legendary last show, recorded with Pistols guitarist Steve Jones and headlined dates with the Go-Go's, X and the Dead Kennedys. When it was over, Penelope explored other worlds, moving first to Los Angeles to work in film and video, then on to England where she contributed to Howard Devoto's post-Magazine projects. Eventually, she returned to San Francisco and, listening to artists like Tom Waits and the Violent Femmes, was drawn to the possibilities inherent in the acoustic approach. She formed a band, toured the U.S. and Europe and with albums like 1993's critically acclaimed The Whole World, soon found herself front and center in the burgeoning world of neo-folk.
Penelope Houston with Pat Johnson The Pale Green Girl
(2004) 11 song CD (DBK Works) $11.99 CD item PH22
Since then she has blended her influences of punk, folk, rock, blues and americana, in both acoustic and electric forms, on another 6 records...
uh more later... All Penelope Houston and Avengers CDs and vinyl are available on the penelope.net Just click the pics...
Wow! I can't believe I missed you at the De Young as part of the Gilbert and George event. How cool was that? Mark @ Earthwise Palo Alto (Cubberley Hall promoter, back in the day, 1999)
Hey friends it's wrong to discriminate against anyone because of race, religion and sexual preference. The answer is plain and simple vote NO n prop 8. I finding it uncomfortable that my local radio station KFOG and myspace has taken money from bigots who want to discriminate because of religious views. Our constitution says separation of church and state.
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