Kaia Lynn Wilson (born 1974) is an American musician from

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...

, best known as a founding member of both Team Dresch, a revered 1990s

queercore Queercore (or homocore) is a cultural/social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of the punk subculture and a music genre that comes from punk rock. It is distinguished by its discontent with society in general, and specifical ...

punk band, and The Butchies, a

pop-rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, ear ...

spin-off from her solo work. In addition to singing, songwriting and guitar, Wilson co-established and operated

Mr. Lady Records Mr. Lady Records (or Mr. Lady Records and Video) was a San Francisco-based lesbian-feminist independent record label and video art distributor. (Press release of a 2001 art show at the Weisman Art Museum) Artists on the label included Le Tigre an ...

from 1996 to 2004.

Career

Musician

Wilson, born in 1974, was raised in the small town of

Jasper, Oregon Jasper is an unincorporated community in Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is southeast of Springfield on Oregon Route 222, at the confluence of Hills Creek and the Middle Fork Willamette River. Jasper was the site of a siding Siding m ...

. As a teenager, Wilson was a member of the band Adickdid, which was distributed by several labels including

Yoyo Records A yo-yo (also spelled yoyo) is a toy consisting of an axle connected to two disks, and a string looped around the axle, similar to a spool. It is an ancient toy with proof of existence since 500 BCE. The yo-yo was also called a bandalore in ...

and

Kill Rock Stars Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but was originally kn ...

. From there, she went on to Team Dresch, in which she shared singing and songwriting duties with Jody Bleyle. Shortly after Team Dresch released their second album, ''

Captain My Captain ''Captain My Captain'' is the second and final studio album by the pioneering American queercore band Team Dresch. The album was released on June 4, 1996, by Chainsaw Records and Candy Ass Records. It was reissued in 2019 by Jealous Butcher Recor ...

'', in 1996, Wilson left the group and released a solo acoustic album entitled ''Kaia''. Her second solo album, ''Ladyman'', featured Team Dresch drummer

Melissa York Melissa York is a rock drummer noted for her work with iconic lesbian bands such as Team Dresch, The Butchies, and Amy Ray. She lives in Durham, North Carolina. Biography York first began drumming with the New York-based hardcore punk band ...

, who would later join Wilson in The Butchies. In 1998, several songs from ''Kaia'' were rerecorded and appeared on the debut album of her newest band, The Butchies. The Butchies boasted a more pop-oriented rock sound, occasionally delving into acoustic music and even electronic dance tracks. The group recorded four albums before their break-up in early 2005, when they announced an indefinite "hiatus" on their website and thanked their fans. The Butchies reunited for a single show that November when all three group members happened to be back in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County and Wake County. With a population of 283,506 in the 2020 Census, Durham is the 4th- ...

, at the same time. Wilson has continued to release solo work. She reunited with Team Dresch for several live shows since 2004. She occasionally performs as a guitarist in

Amy Ray Amy Elizabeth Ray (born April 12, 1964) is an American alto singer-songwriter and member of the contemporary folk duo Indigo Girls. She also pursues a solo career and has released six albums under her own name, and founded a record company, Daemo ...

's live band. Wilson contributed an essay, ''To All You Genius Future Songwriters'', to the 2008 book ''Rock N' Roll Camp for Girls'', which provided advice to aspiring female rock musicians.

Business

In 1996, she founded

along with then-girlfriend Tammy Rae Carland. The label housed a variety of Pacific-Northwestern bands, including

Le Tigre Le Tigre (, ; French for "The Tiger") is an American electronic rock band formed by Kathleen Hanna (of Bikini Kill), Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning in 1998 in New York City. Benning left in 2000 and was replaced by JD Samson for the rest ...

, Sarah Dougher, The Haggard, and

Electrelane Electrelane were an English indie rock band, formed in Brighton in 1998 by Verity Susman and Emma Gaze. The band comprised Susman, Gaze, Mia Clarke, and Ros Murray. Their music drew from a wide range of influences including Neu!, Stereolab, So ...

. The record label was officially dissolved in 2004.

Athletics

Wilson competed in the sport of table tennis at the Summer 2010 Gay Games in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

, Germany.

Personal life

On October 2, 2020, Wilson married Nicole J Georges. Their relationship and wedding were covered by the New York Times.

Discography

Solo (as Kaia)

*''Kopi'' 7-inch EP (1993, Little Brother Records] *''Kaia'' or ''Finally A Dyke Album for the Whole Family'' LP (1996,

Chainsaw Records Chainsaw Records is an independent record label run by Donna Dresch that is devoted to Queercore bands. The label is in Portland, Oregon. History ''Chainsaw'' began life as a zine published by Donna Dresch in the late 1980s. Musicians and writ ...

) *''Ladyman'' LP (1998,

) *''The World's Greatest Haircut'' split 7-inch single with Sarah Dougher (1999, Heartcore Records /

) *''Oregon'' LP (2002,

) *''Godmakesmonkeys'' LP (2008, Jealous Butcher Records) *''Two Adult Women in Love'' LP (2012, Jealous Butcher Records)

References

External links

Kaia Wilson
on Myspace (official)
Mr. Lady website
on the

Web Archive The Web ARChive (WARC) archive format specifies a method for combining multiple digital resources into an aggregate archive file together with related information. The WARC format is a revision of the Internet Archive's ARC_IA File Format that ...

(site has been defunct since January 2005 and is now owned by someone else) {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Kaia Living people American women guitarists American punk rock singers Women punk rock singers Feminist musicians Queercore musicians Riot grrrl musicians American lesbian musicians LGBT people from Oregon Musicians from Portland, Oregon Singers from Oregon Guitarists from Oregon Team Dresch members The Butchies members 1974 births 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people 21st-century American women