Still! It’s incredible. And it teaches me so much every time I listen to it.”In case you missed it, the singer with the powerhouse vocal cords, who began her career fronting the Grammy-winning rock band Alabama Shakes and has since moved on to an extraordinary — and Grammy-winning — solo career, is a huge Stevie Wonder fan.“I’m a diehard Stevie fan,” she grins. “I listened to Songs in the Key of Life just about every day during 2021, because of COVID.
So he was definitely giving me some rays of sunshine. He’s one of the best we ever got.”Howard is headlining this year’s Out & About Festival at Wolf Trap. This is the second year the venue, tucked away in a ravishing, almost magical enclave of woods in Vienna, Virginia, has played host to an assortment of LGBTQ artists and allies to foster Pride, inclusion, and community.
Last year’s inaugural event, headlined by Brandi Carlile, was a two-day affair. This year’s festival has compressed into a single Saturday, on June 22, with a roster bursting with artists from all facets of the LGBTQ community.In addition to Howard, the venue’s multiple stages — including the massive, spectacular Filene Center — will host Jenny Lewis, Lawrence, Okan, Kim Gordon, Tiny Habits, and Alaskan indie sensation Quinn Christopherson.“I think it’s hugely important,” Howard says of the Out & About Festival. “It can be really difficult as an LGBTQ act going across the country.
Sometimes you’re opening for someone who loves you and is in support of you, but maybe their audience isn’t, right? It’s really scary. And you never know what you’re going to get night-to-night.“So I think it’s huge to have support from [audiences] who can see you and love you for just being a human being, first and foremost. And then actually listen to what you have to say, relate to your experience, and have a connection like that.
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