MUSIC
Setting the Tone for Queer Music Space Kiddettes give local LGBTQ artists room to grow. By LOURDES ZAVALETA Photo by KARO CANTU
It’s Thursday night on the Washington corridor, and Pearl Bar Houston is enticing guests inside with the aroma of vegan cooking, a vintage clothing pop-up shop, and a DJ set with great bass. Inside, the bar’s dim lounge is lit by brightorange Halloween decorations, and three microphones stand in the center of the dance floor. People from all walks of life mingle and enjoy the ambiance, waiting for the show to begin. It’s nearly time for Abundantly Queer, a monthly LGBTQ artist showcase hosted by Space Kiddettes and Stoo. After returning from San Francisco Pride and all of its bar-hopping in June, Julie Mabry, owner of Space City’s only lesbian bar, grew inspired to expose her predominately queer female patrons to a wider range of LGBTQ entertainment. “Older generations in our community only had men’s and women’s bars,” Mabry recalls. “But this is changing. The new queer perspective is much more encompassing to all types of people. It’s amazing to see that, and to be able to share that with Houston’s lesbian community.” Mabry called the folks who she knew could create the perfect solution, and in September Abundantly Queer was born.
The Making of an LGBTQ Artist Showcase
Queer creatives Trent Lira and Devin Will, also known as the Houston synth-pop duo Space Kiddettes, met queer-femme performer 70 NOVEMBER 2019 | OutSmartMagazine.com
Trent Lira (l) and Devin Will Stoo nearly three years ago. Early in each of their musical careers, the artists joined forces to host Adventures of Space City, a recurring concert series at Leon’s Lounge. When Mabry contacted Space Kiddettes (who had organized several successful concerts at Pearl) about hosting their own monthly show at her bar, the duo again partnered with Stoo to make Abundantly Queer happen. For this showcase, Space Kiddettes and Stoo give other LGBTQ artists a space to promote their work every second Thursday of the month. “We perform our own work here and there,”
Stoo says, “but the mission for Abundantly Queer is for artists that don’t normally get showcased in the city to have a space to share their magic.” Will says the idea for the showcase stemmed from the difficulties that new musicians had in finding opportunities to perform. “When we were first starting out, people were not checking for us,” she recalls. “We had to consistently put ourselves out there, and it wasn’t easy. Now that we have these spaces, we want to uplift other queer artists.” It’s difficult for local queer artists to gain popularity in Houston, Lira admits, because
