The Boston Years: In the late 1980s/early 1990s, Miss Xanna Don't was unequivocally considered Boston's premiere original trail-blazing, alternative-country musical act. In 1992, she performed opening night at Silverado, Boston's first country & western nightclub in over a decade. As a result, she was photographed for the cover of the Boston Sunday Herald Magazine. But it was by establishing herself in rock'n'roll nightclubs, art museums, galleries, and other unconventional venues, that Miss Xanna Don't is credited with bringing the alternative-country genre to Boston audiences. More info on her Boston years can be found at The New England Music Scrapbook. Everything's Big In Texas: In 1994, Xanna moved to Austin, Texas, where she was soon chosen to represent the city of Austin at the South by Southwest Music Conference. Following her South by Southwest debut, Xanna performed at Austin's highest-profile venues, including Liberty Lunch, Emo's, Hole In The Wall, Austin Music Hall, La Zona Rosa, and The Electric Lounge, and regionally throughout Texas. She was selected for South By Southwest again in 1997 and was chosen to perform at the launch of Oprah Winfrey's Oxygen Network in San Antonio 2000. The A-List: Miss Xanna has performed at such prestigous venues as CBGB's and The Bitter End in New York City, and throughout New England and Texas. She's opened for and performed with national acts including: Lucinda Williams, Southern Culture on The Skids, Kentucky Headhunters, Jerry Jeff Walker, Mojo Nixon, The Bottle Rockets, The Old '97's, Cherry Poppin' Daddies, Doug Stone, The Del Fuegos, Kinky Friedman, The Beat Farmers, Rick Danko, Don Walser, Killbilly, David Bromberg, The Oak Ridge Boys, Dave Mason, Trout Fishing In America, Kennedy-Rose, Phoebe Legere, Treat Her Right, Morphine, Wayne "The Train" Hancock, Don Walser, The Derailers, The Ex-Husbands, Scud Mountain Boys, The Impotent Sea Snakes, El Vez, The Damnations, The Gourds, Lou Ann Barton, Pansy Division, and Devo. The Pen Is Mightier Than Bar Chat: Starting as a features writer for The Fine Print in Cambridge, MA, Xanna has been published several times by TechnoDyke.com. Some of her features include a review of the lesbian love flick "But I'm A Cheerleader", a two-part extensive review of The Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival 2000, and a feature on the performance series "Throws Like A Girl". A short stint in Raleigh, North Carolina in 2002/2003 resuming her writing and publication of her celebrated newsletter, Don't Label It!, led to a career as a recap writer for "One Life To Live" (Emmy Winner, Best Daytime Drama 2002) for SoapCentral.com. She composed the site's monthly Whaddya Think? poll for OLTL in 2003 as well. The Envelope, Please: Five consecutive nominations in her hometown gave her the title of The Susan Lucci of The Boston Music Awards, although The Boston Phoenix awarded her Best Country Act in 1990. She also won Best Female Vocalist and Best Female Personality in Boston's local underground music rag, The Noise. In The Austin Chronicle, Miss Xanna's band made Fall 1995's Critics Picks and, in 1996, received a specially created "Best Tease" award for her infamous beehive hairdo in their annual Best Of issue. (Xanna's famous hairdo is constructed of her own natural hair, and she styles it herself in only about 30 minutes.) Miss Xanna debuted the "Fresh Blood" column in the Austin American-Statesman's XLent supplement. In the Texas-wide gay publication The Fag Rag, Xanna was chosen as a "Best of 1996" pick in their year-end issue. She was the first to co-host the popular Flashback Lunch radio show at the invitation of 101.X-Austin's program director (subsequent co-hosts included Howard Jones and IggyPop). Her full press kit is over 100 favorable pages of true published articles from well-established, respected print media. We Are Family, I've Got All My Sisters With Me: In 1997, Miss Xanna created a live music series for female performers at Austin's only lesbian nightclub, Sister's Edge, garnering the club a favorable review in The Austin American-Statesman. She worked for the Lesbian & Gay Rights Lobby of Texas booking and promoting their annual events, including Gay Pride 1995, 1996, and 1997. She even performed for Gay Pride in Waco, Texas (really!). She has also done volunteer work, including performing, for The Sims Foundation, an Austin-based entity providing low cost mental health referrals to musicians. In June, 2000, Xanna booked and produced the live music event portion of the KOOP Stonewall Media Festival. With nine performing acts from Chicago, Kansas, Connecticut, Los Angeles, Houston, and Austin, it is thought to be the first national showcase of all-gay bands ever held in Austin, Texas. Xanna's proudest accomplishment for her community was the creation and co-production of South By Southwest's first-ever official gay music showcase, featuring Amy Ray of The Indigo Girls, The Butchies, and Melissa Ferrick in March, 2001. The show sold-out-to-capacity Austin's largest gay nightclub, Rainbow Cattle Company, and was mentioned in The New York Times. She continues to strive for the acceptance of openly gay artists. And, Action!: In 1998, Xanna tapped into central Texas' blossoming feature film industry. She performed as a movie extra for the Mike Judge cult film "Office Space", and as a featured extra with Lili Taylor in the Toni Kalem film "A Slipping Down Life" (SDL), which debuted at Sundance, and was released theatrically nationwide in 2004. SDL can now be seen on several cable channels. Always one for a good laugh, Xanna appeared on the Jenny Jones Show in 1999--the topic: Most Outrageous Hair, of course. She is also the only white cast member in a 30-minute PSA written and directed by noted author and TV personality Angela Shelf-Medearis on the rise of HIV in the African-American community. She garnered a principal role and a featured musical performance in the indie feature film, "Rowdy Round-Up: Night of The Killer Pinatas" (RRNKP), currently in post-production. Notes (As in the Musical Variety): Miss Xanna Don't performs with acoustic accompaniment and with a full band. Her musical repertoire includes original material composed by notable published songwriters such as Dan Zanes (The Del Fuegos), Alan Estes, Tom Russell & Katy Moffat, Phil Milstein, Asa Brebner (Johnathan Richman/Robin Lane & The Chartbusters), Frank Pugliese (The Sons of Hercules), and John Felice (The Real Kids). Xanna's seven-inch vinyl release called "The Ode To Punk Single" on At-A-Glance Records met with favorable reviews, including praises from No Depression magazine. Xanna also appears on four compilation CD's: "Boston Gets Stoned", a Rolling Stones tribute produced by Jimmy Miller; "L'Austin, Space ", a compilation CD of Austin-based acts from the Triggerfish label (Germany); "North By Northeast", a record chosen by The Boston Globe as one of the Top 10 Records of 1991, holding lofty company with national releases for that year by REM, U2, and Bonnie Raitt); her last compilation CD appearance is entitled, Dropped on The Head, Volume 1 (2003), on Illbilly Records based in Blue Ridge, Georgia (she's the only female artist on the disc). Xanna's most ambitious solo release, a self produced CD-EP called "The Cowboy Chronicles" (2001) is sold out. Coming Soon: SATANVILLE REVISITED, a retrospective of her early work in Boston, including six tracks produced by Sean Slade (Radiohead, Hole); Xanna's fictional movie band, The Satellite Ponies, will appear on the soundtrack to RRNKP; and a gay pride compilation CD called Loud and Proud, to be distributed by MusicZombie.com, will emerge later in 2009. And finally, after retiring from an active performance schedule to teach voice to rappers in her new home base of Atlanta, GA, in 2008 Xanna resumed live performing, participating in Blake's on The Park weekly GLBT music series, Southern Exposure. Her commitment to the collaboration and promotion of GLBT artists continues to be her driving force. |