Every March 8th is International Women’s Day, a wonderful opportunity to gather together with women in music 2025 to share songs, stories, laughter, and libations.
For the third year, the International Women’s Day concert was held at The Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles. 18//88 Productions welcomed back three-time host Gena B. Jones, a Syrian-Mexican-American comedian, writer, and show producer who co-produces Hilarious Habibis, a quarterly standup showcase at the Hollywood Improv that exclusively features Middle Eastern talent. Jones delighted the crowd with some hilarious insights on life while also being the evening’s emcee.
On the musical front for this female musicians live show for the first half of the evening, fans were treated to resplendently intimate fare from songwriters MYKEL, who offered the heart-wrenching true story of “Brace for Impact” (from her upcoming EP, Hometown Runaway), Leeann Skoda, who regaled the audience with the free-flowing indie rock gem “Easy,” the lead single from her forthcoming album, Now I See Everything, Alex Beck, who offered previews of “Her Perfume” and “All the Wrong Places” from her debut EP, Never, Always (out March 27) and Maybellene Ryder, Kiana Keane’s latest musical persona, this one channeling type-B glitz and glam, chipped nail polish, cosmic country, and a gaunt-of-fame wherein the cracks, lies the truth. She was joined by guitarist Brittney Carranza, who performs as Benny Jets.
Jumpstarting the second half of the night was Yoyoka Soma, a 15-year-old drum prodigy born and raised in Hokkaido, Japan where she started performing at the age of 4, garnering worldwide acclaim four years later with a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times Bad Times,” which resulted in accolades from Robert Plant and Ellen DeGeneres, who had her on her show twice. For this special International Women’s Day set, YOYOKA invited fellow teen phenoms, vocalist/guitarist Ava James and bassist Candy Zhang to rock out on two pop punk originals, including the just released James’ song, “One Last Time” before delivering a raucous, note-perfect rendition of The Breeders classic, “Cannonball.”
From there, Ryann Barnes hit the stage flanked by Summer Roman (guitar), Sofie Foster (vocals), and Maddie Ornest (drums) along with bassist Jed Naranjo. Effusively emulating artists like Imogen Heap, The Japanese House, Danielle Haim, and beabadoobee on the breezy earworm, “Falling Behind,” the electrifying, “Good in You,” inspired by the “Find the good in everybody” Dolly Parton billboards around LA and “Ava Drinks a Bud Light,” Ryann Barnes is a rising star with a bright future.
In the penultimate spot was the effervescent Hannah Avison, the sole artist to perform at all three iterations of the event. She was joined by pianist Sam Bierman on the ultra-catchy love island proclamation, “Molecules,” the mockingly cloy romp, “Drugs,” and her EDM-tinged viral hit, “Monster.”
Dutch-Indonesian songwriter/educator, Kia Knoester, joined by guitarist Carmichael Castaños and keyboardist Bruno Cunha, ended the evening with an engaging set of improvisational leaning jazz, soul and rhythm with a hint of Brazilian on “Okay, Alright” and “Bygones,” from her 2024 Retrospect EP, and her brand new single, “Remote.”
On this day, March 8th, we were not remote but connected by scope. In the other room at The Hotel Cafe was the all-Latina songwriter showcase ‘Raising Voices’ while across the country and around the world, there were hundreds of events more showcasing women artists and creatives.
IWD’s official slogan for 2025 is “Accelerate Action.” Leading up to, and during the course of the event, the following women-led/women-focused organizations were highlighted, VoteRunLead (https://www.voterunlead.org), which helps unleash the political power of women as voters, candidates, and leaders to create and sustain an equitable democracy, The 100 Percenters (https://www.the100percenters.com), whose mission is to empower and uplift music creatives, with a particular focus on BIPOC and marginalized communities, by providing them with essential resources support and education ensuring that they have equal access to opportunities and revenue streams, and Hong Kong-based HER Fund (https://www.herfund.org.hk/en), which mobilizes resources for women’s empowerment, the promotion of social change and gender equality by providing capacity-building, leadership training and small grants to grassroots organizations led by and serving the most disadvantaged.
Also of note is Hyperwknd (https://www.hyperwknd.org), which happened to be hosting an event the same day. Hyperwknd is a 501c3 non-profit organization, music community, and bi-monthly songwriting camp for women and gender non-conforming music producers, songwriters and artists. The founders believe that by providing a space catered to the unique needs of women and gender non-conforming musicians, they can create a more inclusive and diverse music industry that reflects the unique voices that have always contributed to its varied sound.
It’s the only way to help shape a more just landscape.
(Photos by Manny Hebron https://www.instagram.com/picksysticks)
