Alice Di Micele is a

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

ian and

environmental A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

singer and songwriter from

Ashland, Oregon Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. It lies along Interstate 5 approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of the California border and near the south end of the Rogue Valley. The city's population was 21,360 at the 2020 cen ...

Early life

Alice Di Micele grew up in New Jersey to a pianist mother and a school teacher father, and received her initial formal musical training in voice and on the recorder, flute, and guitar in

Linden Public Schools The Linden Public Schools are a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from Linden, in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020–21 school year, the distri ...

and

SUNY New Paltz The State University of New York at New Paltz (SUNY New Paltz or New Paltz) is a public university in New Paltz, New York. It traces its origins to the New Paltz Classical School, a secondary institution founded in 1828 and reorganized as an ac ...

. Throughout these early years she was active in several popular, short-lived, local bands; but began seriously focusing on acoustic guitar as an accomplished musician and cultural activist while moving to Southern Oregon.

Career

In Oregon, Di Micele founded her own

Independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

, Alice Otter Music, to promote not only her own music but also that of other marginalized folk artists. The label released her first album in 1988, which included a song she wrote when she was 11 years old called "Celebrate the Rain". Di Micele has received rave reviews and has performed at many festivals, benefits, and venues. She has released 16 albums on her own label and is a part of 5 compilations. Many of the themes of her recordings reflect her environmental,

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

, and anti-war interests. Her work has been analyzed to advance music therapy, outdoor education, and ethnomusicology. Di Micele also released a children's album ''If I Were an Otter: Songs for Kids of All Ages'' to critical acclaim. Called "a pure delight" by the roots music journal '' No Depression'', the recording features 13 original and classic folk songs including "City Mouse/Country Mouse", a duet with Vince Herman. Her song "Chinook Blues" on her ''Alice Live'' album provided the backdrop to the video ''Source to Sea: the Columbia River Swim'' about the declining native salmon population in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

. Her fundraising activities throughout her career have involved

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and

Copyleft Copyleft is the legal technique of granting certain freedoms over copies of copyrighted works with the requirement that the same rights be preserved in derivative works. In this sense, ''freedoms'' refers to the use of the work for any purpose, ...

underground access to her digitized audio concerts and other works. She remains a composer and activist using the arts to inform audiences of issues related to climate change, including the wild fires devastating the Anglo and Latinx residents on the west coast. She has been involved in fundraising efforts for some of the hardest hit communities. Before the fires, she worked for decades to organize local, national, and international concerts and other community efforts bringing together artistic, cultural, financial, and other resources to help those in need.

Discography

Solo recordings

*''Make a Change'' (1988) *''It's a Miracle'' (1989) *''Too Controversial'' (1990) *''Searching'' (1992) *''Naked'' (1994) *''Demons & Angels'' (1998) *''Alice Live'' (2000) *''Live at the Strawberry Music Festival'' (2001) *''RAW, UNFILTERED, ORGANIC'' (2006) *''by ebb & by flow'' (2007) *''Lucky Dogs'' (2011) *''If I Were an Otter: Songs for Kids of All Ages'' (2013) *Swim (2015) *''One With the Tide'' (2018) *''Live at Studio'' E (2019) *''Every Seed We Plant'' (2022)

Compilations

*''In the Spirit of Crazy Horse: Songs for Leonard Peltier'' (1989) *''If A Tree Falls'' (1994, EarthBeat!) *''Circle of Life'' (1997) *''One Land One Heart'' (1998)

Collaborations

* Petty Thievery *''Circle of Women'' (1997,

Rhino Records A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Di Micele, Alice 1965 births Living people American environmentalists American women environmentalists American women singer-songwriters American folk singers Feminist musicians American lesbian musicians Musicians from Ashland, Oregon People from Elizabeth, New Jersey Writers from Ashland, Oregon Singer-songwriters from New Jersey Singer-songwriters from Oregon Guitarists from Oregon Guitarists from New Jersey 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American women guitarists 20th-century American LGBT people 21st-century American LGBT people 21st-century American women guitarists