Celebrate International Women’s Day at The Hook! ‘Power Up! is a celebration of women and gender-expansive MN musicians’ with performances by Spit Takes, MAYDA, Jillian Rae, Atim Opoka, Host Krista Wax of KFAI & more! 2 stages. Multiple artists. Get tickets NOW! Presented by ‘The Hook, MSP Sound, and KFAI.org.
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Atim Opoka (They/She) is a Ugandan-American songwriter, vocalist, composer, producer, and teaching artist who fuses Afro-pop and alternative beats while embracing the power of transformative storytelling.
Jillian Rae is a fiercely unique spirit— a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who cares more about making authentic music than about fitting into a tidy box. A classically trained violinist, she has become a commanding international presence, heading up her own critically acclaimed rock/pop band and creating powerful, genre-bending songs. She also performs regularly with her traditional folk band Corpse Reviver and has toured extensively, backing up Grammy-winning acts like The Okee Dokee Brothers. Lauded as a “triple threat on vocals, fiddle, and composition” (Star Tribune), Jillian Rae has become known for her soaring pop orchestrations and is an in-demand producer and session player. Along with her partner/co-producer Eric Martin, she runs a home studio in Minneapolis. During the pandemic, the studio became the hub for her weekly livestream performances and a space for her to write and record tracks for her next album. Never one to back down or give up, Rae is a natural-born performer who has always found a way to make music.
MAYDA“Her R&B-infused pop is undeniably fresh, as she swings between pared-down acoustic struts, full-band funkadelic blasts, and electronic drumbeats and synth flourishes that would make the Purple One proud…. this prolific young soul singer is just beginning her journey, but it’s hard not to anticipate big things from the petite yet larger-than-life pop songstress.” -Andrea Swensson
Mayda’s music has been featured locally as well as internationally. Numerous of Mayda’s songs have been on Rachael Ray show, Good Morning America, KFC youtube, Reebok Seoul commercials, Jersey Shore, and cable networks such as Showtime and MTV.
Nasimiyu: One-woman-band, Nasimiyu, embodies black girl magic. Her rich and uplifting production style is genre-fluid, but when asked to be more specific she’ll tell you that her sonic palette is a mix of organic, eclectic, ethnic, and worldly. That it draws from the ancestral. Having been a member of widely varied music projects in New York and New Orleans, from fronting trap-pop duo Baeb Rxxth on vocals and keys, to touring as drummer for the experimental Kalbells and punk trio Sharkmuffin, to working as a teaching artist for Carnegie Hall, Nasimiyu has saved her most personal deep dives for her solo work.
Laura Hugo is an Indigenous singer/songwriter from Teec Nos Pos, AZ located in the Navajo Nation. She moved to Minnesota in 2010 to pursue her music and has since played all over the Twin Cities and around the Midwest. She has used her experiences with grief, mental health and general confusion about her place in the world to write honest and relatable songs.
