Penelope Houston (born December 17, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter best known as the singer for the San Francisco-based

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 the Avengers. She was raised in Seattle. In the mid-1970s she attended

Fairhaven College Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies is an interdisciplinary liberal arts college at Western Washington University. Instead of completing the general education requirements at Western, students take interdisciplinary classes at Fairhave ...

in Bellingham, Washington. In 1977, Houston moved to San Francisco, attended the

San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a Private college, private art school, college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mis ...

, and shortly after became the lead singer and songwriter for the Avengers. That band released one album, their eponymous debut in 1983. Following the group's demise in 1979, Houston moved first to Los Angeles to work in film and video with The Screamers and director

Rene Daalder Rene Daalder (born René Daalder 3 March 1944 in Texel, North Holland; died 31 December 2019, sometimes credited as Renee Daalder) was a Dutch writer and director. He lived in Los Angeles. Originally a protégé of Russ Meyer, Daalder has worked w ...

, then to England where she collaborated with

Howard Devoto Howard Devoto (born Howard Andrew Trafford, 15 March 1952) is an English singer and songwriter, who began his career as the frontman for punk rock band Buzzcocks, but then left to form Magazine, an early post-punk band. After Magazine, he went ...

on his post-Magazine projects. In the mid-1980s, she returned to San Francisco and helped originate the West Coast neo-folk movement. In 1986, she was featured alongside Tomata du Plenty of The Screamers in the punk rock musical Population: 1. By 1996 she had toured Europe extensively, signed with WEA Germany (Warner Brothers) and earned numerous awards with the dozen albums, which blended influences of punk, folk, rock, blues and Americana into her dark unique acoustic sound. Her first full-length album was ''Birdboys'' which came out in 1987. Her most recent album is 2012's ''On Market Street''. Shortly after the release of ''Pale Green Girl'', Houston and original guitarist Greg Ingraham recreated the Avengers, adding bassist Joel Reader (formerly of

The Mr. T Experience The Mr. T Experience (sometimes abbreviated MTX) is an American punk rock band formed in 1985 in Berkeley, California, United States. They have released eleven full-length albums along with numerous EPs and singles and have toured internationall ...

, and The Plus Ones) and drummer Luis Illades (of

Pansy Division Pansy Division is an American queercore band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1991 by guitarist/singer/songwriter Jon Ginoli along with bassist Chris Freeman. Conceived as the first openly gay rock band featuring predominantly gay mus ...

, formerly also of The Plus Ones) to round out the lineup. Since the spring of 2004 she has toured the U.S. and Europe with this lineup. She continues to play her solo material, mainly in the San Francisco Bay Area. In August 2012, Houston conducted an audio interview with Music Life Radio.

Discography

References

External links

official Penelope Houston/Avengers sitePenelope Houston Myspace pagePenelope Houston discographyPopulation: 1 official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Houston, Penelope 1958 births Living people American women singer-songwriters American women punk rock singers San Francisco Art Institute alumni Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area Singer-songwriters from California Avengers (band) members Glitterhouse Records artists 21st-century American women