The Butchies were an all-female

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band from

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

, that existed from 1998 to 2005. They reunited from their hiatus to tour with

Amy Ray Amy Elizabeth Ray (born April 12, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the contemporary folk duo Indigo Girls with Emily Saliers. She also pursues a solo career, releasing ten albums under her own name, and founded the independent ...

of the

Indigo Girls Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duet (music), duo from Atlanta, Georgia, United States, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. The two met in Primary school, elementary school and began performing together as Secondary school, hig ...

promoting Ray's new album in 2010. The frequent focus of their lyrical content concerned

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

and

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

themes. Made up of

Team Dresch Team Dresch is an American punk rock band originally formed in 1993 in Olympia, Washington. History In 1993, Donna Dresch formed Team Dresch with herself playing guitar and bass, Jody Bleyle on guitar and vocals, Kaia Wilson on guitar and voc ...

guitarist and frontwoman Kaia Wilson, bassist

Alison Martlew The Butchies were an all-female band, all-female punk rock band from Durham, North Carolina, that existed from 1998 to 2005. They reunited from their Sabbatical, hiatus to tour with Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls promoting Ray's new album in 2010. T ...

, and drummer

Melissa York Melissa York is a rock drummer noted for her work with iconic lesbian bands such as Team Dresch, The Butchies, and Amy Ray. She lives in Durham, North Carolina. Biography York first began drumming with the New York-based hardcore punk band ...

, The Butchies has been referred to as "queercore crusaders". The band has been performing together since the recording of their first

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, ''Are We Not Femme?'' in 1998. Since then, the trio has recorded three subsequent albums, '' Population: 1975'' in 1999, '' 3'' in 2001, and '' Make Yr Life'' in 2004. They have also appeared on a number of compilations of note, including '' Being Out Rocks'', produced by the

Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for L ...

(Centaur Productions, 2002), and '' Fields And Streams'' (

Kill Rock Stars Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in February 1991 by Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but it was orig ...

, 2002). In 2005 the band announced a hiatus. The first three albums were released by the now-defunct Mr. Lady Records, run by Kaia Wilson and Tammy Rae Carland. It was named after Wilson's first solo LP, ''Ladyman'', created after leaving

. The label also released the first two

Le Tigre Le Tigre (, ; French for "The Tiger") is an American art punk and riot grrrl band formed by Kathleen Hanna (of Bikini Kill), Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning in 1998 in New York City. Benning left in 2000 and was replaced by JD Samson. ...

recordings. ''Make Yr Life'' was released by

Yep Roc Yep Roc Records is an American independent record label based in Hillsborough, North Carolina, and owned by Redeye Distribution. Since 1997, the label has released albums from North Carolina and international artists, including Fountains of Wayne ...

. The track "Sex (I'm a Lesbian)" appeared on Mr. Lady's 1999

sampler album A sampler or promotional compilation is a type of compilation album generally offered at a reduced price to showcase an artist or a selection of artists signed to a particular record label. The format became popular in the late 1960s as record labe ...

, '' New Women's Music Sampler''. In 2001, a live rendition of the track "Disco" appeared on another sampler album, '' Calling All Kings & Queens''. Kaia Wilson had previously performed in Adickdid and the

queercore Queercore (or homocore) is a cultural/social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of the punk subculture and a music genre that comes from punk rock. It is distinguished by its discontent with society in general, and specifically ...

band

, appearing on their first two albums, '' Personal Best'' and '' Captain My Captain''; Melissa York was also in Team Dresch, playing drums on the second LP and, prior to that, performing in two

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

bands, Vitapup and Born Against, before the two women joined with

to form The Butchies. The Butchies also played on the 2001

(of the

) album '' Stag'' on

Daemon Records Amy Elizabeth Ray (born April 12, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the contemporary folk duo Indigo Girls with Emily Saliers. She also pursues a solo career, releasing ten albums under her own name, and founded the independent ...

and backed her up on tour. The band's name appears in the lyrics of the

song "

Hot Topic Hot Topic, Inc. is an American fast-fashion company specializing in counterculture-related clothing and accessories, as well as licensed music. The stores are aimed towards an audience interested in rock music and video gaming, and most of the ...

Discography

;Albums *''Are We Not Femme?'' (1998, Mr. Lady Records) *'' Population: 1975'' (1999, Mr. Lady Records) *'' 3'' (2001, Mr. Lady Records) *'' Make Yr Life'' (2004,

Yep Roc Records Yep Roc Records is an American independent record label based in Hillsborough, North Carolina, and owned by Redeye Distribution. Since 1997, the label has released albums from North Carolina and international artists, including Fountains of Wayne ...

) ;Singles *"Freaks***Athletes"/"Where R We", (2001, Mr. Lady Records)

References

External links

The Butchies
on

Myspace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

*https://web.archive.org/web/20130515192503/http://www.nyrock.com/reviews/2001/amyray.asp {{DEFAULTSORT:Butchies, The All-female punk bands Musical groups from North Carolina Queercore groups Riot grrrl bands Yep Roc Records artists American feminist musicians 1998 establishments in North Carolina

Discography

See also

References

External links