In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re celebrating the music and artwork of some very talented ladies. Local graphic artist and musician Melissa Tarter channeled her passions for flora and fauna to create a cover evocative of feminine movement and expression. Yonatan Schultz contributed a female-driven mix that’s full of tropical-leaning Jamaican music from past and present that’ll take you to a sunnier place (if only in your mind). We can’t think of a better soundtrack to welcome Spring.
Cover art by Melissa Tarter.
This is the 26th volume of our monthly Beats & Burn series, a collaboration with Portland's local, independent radio station XRAY.fm.
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Playlist by Yonatan Schultz aka The Grand Yoni / Host of The IMPACT! Sound
About the mix:
“The theme of this mix (titled “Falling Back Through Time”) is Women’s History Month within the context of Jamaican music. We begin with a few big hits from some of the most talented women from Jamaica and beyond. The sweet sounds of rocksteady are put on full display by the songbirds of Jamaica. From Jennifer Lara’s timeless (any heavily sampled) No No No to the Queen of Reggae herself, Marcia Griffiths, we get to hear the sweet sounds that dominated the island.
I hope you enjoy this mix as much as I enjoyed putting it together for you. I also hope that this inspires you to investigate the music of Jamaica, a tiny island whose sounds have never stopped (and will never stop) capturing the hearts of people around the world.”
More about The Grand Yoni:
Local DJ The Grand Yoni hosts The IMPACT! Sound on XRAY.fm on Sundays from 9am-10am. You’ll hear Jamaican oldies, sweet ska, dancehall favorites from the eighties, and more.
Learn more about The IMPACT! Sound and follow along on Facebook.
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Cover art by Melissa Tarter / thosewillows.com / @show.ster
About the art:
“I created this piece while listening to the March playlist. The song choices by Yonatan were themed for Women's History Month and had a very tropical vibe, so I tried to pull that into the artwork. I love to incorporate strong, free females into my digital designs, so this was a great month for me to get involved.”
More about Melissa:
“As a Portland-based musician, I use my design background most often to create posters for local shows through a project I call show.ster. Poster design is a lot of fun because there are no rules to follow. I have an obsession with fruits, florals and fauna and love to collage them together in eye-catching and unexpected ways. In the end, what I do is play.
Right now I am taking a short break from my digital art to focus on performance and music. I will be touring Germany, Austria and Switzerland with my band, Those Willows, for all of April. Hopefully this traveling will give me new inspiration for artwork when I return home.”
Check out Melissa’s show.ster posters, then give Those Willows a listen on Soundcloud and follow along with the band on Facebook.
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Click to stream past Beats & Burn playlists on Mixcloud.