Michelle Josef (born March 21, 1953), formerly Bohdan Hluszko, is a Canadian musician and
transgender
A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth.
The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...
activist.
Under her former name, Josef was already established as one of Canada's leading session
drummer
A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums.
Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...
s, and has continued her career in music. She has appeared on albums by
Prairie Oyster
Prairie Oyster was a Canadian country music group from Toronto, Ontario. They were named Country Group or Duo of the year six times by both the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) and the Juno Awards. The band also won the Bud Country Fan ...
,
[Gill, Alexandra (December 4, 1998). "Transsexual bangs the drum loudly in tiff with Prairie Oyster", '']The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...
'', p. C9. Doug Sahm
Douglas Wayne Sahm (November 6, 1941 – November 18, 1999) was an American musician, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from San Antonio, Texas. He is regarded as a key Tejano music, Tex-Mex music and Music of Texas, Texan Music pe ...
,
Jo-El Sonnier
Jo-El Sonnier (; born Joel Sonnier; October 2, 1946 – January 13, 2024) was an American singer-songwriter and accordionist who performed country music and Cajun music. Originally signed to Mercury Nashville Records, Sonnier charted several min ...
,
Wild Strawberries,
Sylvia Tyson
Sylvia Tyson, (''née'' Fricker; born 19 September 1940) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician and broadcaster. She is best known as part of the folk duo Ian & Sylvia, with Ian Tyson. Since 1993, she has been a member of the all-female folk ...
,
Long John Baldry
John William "Long John" Baldry (12 January 1941 – 21 July 2005) was an English musician and actor. In the 1960s, he was one of the first British vocalists to sing the blues in clubs and shared the stage with many British musicians including ...
,
Scott B. Sympathy,
["Unfinished Sympathy". '']Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division.
...
'', February 13, 1999. Big Rude Jake
Andrew Jacob Hiebert (1 March 1963 – 16 June 2022), known professionally as Big Rude Jake, was a Canadian songwriter, singer, musician, and bandleader based in Toronto. The original "Swing Punk", he was associated with the neo-swing trend of ...
,
Sharon, Lois and Bram, and David Wilcox. She is a member of Canadian roots super group Hey Stella!
In 1998, she received a
Canadian Country Music Award for drummer of the year.
References
External links
Michelle Josef
1953 births
Living people
Canadian country drummers
Canadian transgender musicians
Canadian women drummers
20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people
21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people
Transgender women singers
{{Canada-musician-stub