San Francisco, CA (October 4, 2019)—Women’s Audio Mission (WAM) in San Francisco recently hosted a recording session with members of Beyoncé’s all-female band, including guitarist Kat Dyson, a featured member of Prince’s New Power Generation.
Once asked why her 10-piece band was all female, Beyoncé reportedly responded, “I had an idea to have a lot of women on stage playing instruments, so hopefully young girls can see that, and it inspires them to play instruments.” She formed the all-female band following auditions in preparation for the release of her second album, B’Day, in 2006. Beyoncé’s original band has performed together for over a decade, shaping such tours as The Beyoncé Experience, I Am … Sasha Fierce and On the Run with Jay-Z, as well as her Superbowl performance in 2013.
Members of the group are laying down tracks for a forthcoming album by bassist Divinity Roxx, as well as working on a project as a collective. Five members of the band participated in the open session at WAM’s San Francisco studio, including Roxx, Nikki Glaspie (drums), Marcie Chapa (percussion), Kat Rodriguez (saxophone) and Tia Fuller (saxophone), in addition to Dyson. Guests of the experience at WAM shadowed the session and some were even extended the opportunity to sing on a track.
Roxx said, “What better place than WAM to finally bring together this legendary all-female band to record. We recorded a powerful song that will be featured as our first release together. ‘Higher’ sounds incredible and it was really special to work with all women recording engineers and also give the students a peek into the recording process.”
The “Higher” single will be released on digital platforms and the band has partnered with Plug-In Alliance to give people an opportunity to mix and re-mix the record.
For over 16 years, Women’s Audio Mission has been dedicated to advancing women and girls in music production and the recording arts to address the lack of women and gender non-conforming people in music and media. The organization trains over 2,000 underrepresented individuals per year through their recording studios, the only ones in the world built and run entirely by women and gender non-conforming individuals.
Women’s Audio Mission • www.womensaudiomission.org
