Kathleen Hanna

Kathleen Hanna
24" x 12"
oil on luan, 2013

I can't remember the precise circumstances but Kathleen Hanna appeared in a dream I had on New Year's. The only other time that I remember a musician appearing in a dream was about twenty years ago when the Belgian-French composer Cesar Franck took me for a ride on a moped. All I remember about the Hanna dream was that it was situated at a party and she offered me something to eat, but I grabbed a beer instead. Kathleen Hanna came to the forefront in my 2012 music year several times. She was an outspoken supporter of the Russian group Pussy Riot in their controversial trial versus the state, and lauded their music in the process. Earlier in the year I had watched a La Tigre documentary film and earlier yet I brought the CD The Singles by Bikini Kill with me on a long drive traversing the country. I don't play that CD too often anymore but on the rare occasions that I do I play it loud and enjoy every second of it. New Radio, a single from 1993, produced by Joan Jett, was the song that stood out most on the occasion. It was in the top 100 before but that was 12 years ago. Tobi Vail, Billy Karen, and Kathy Wilcox, were besides Hanna the other musicians on this recording. Bikini Kill was a pioneer of the riot grrrl movement. The band is from from Olympia, Washington, where they formed in 1990.