Meet the Queen

The legendary JUDY HENSKE is the best singer you’ve never heard of.  From 1963 when she confounded audiences with her performance of “God Bless the Child” on the Judy Garland Show, to 1966 when she riffed about whores on her Jack Nietzche-produced live album “The Death Defying Judy Henske”, and even after her psychedelic folk classic “Farewell Aldebaran”, recorded for Frank Zappa’s label in 1969, Judy was too many things to too few people to become the household name her considerable talents merited.  A singer of unparalleled power and versatility, she was large in every sense.  Standing six feet tall with a voice like a midwestern mash up of Etta James and Ethel Merman, she predated deep-throated alto rock divas like Janis Joplin, Grace Slick and Cher.

Vocalist Meredith DiMenna and band perform a tribute to Judy (dubbed “Queen of the Beatniks” by Nietzche) in the form of an overview of Henske’s recorded material, featuring songs like  “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long”, “I Know You, Rider”, “Til the Real Thing Comes Along”, and “High Flyin’ Bird" as well as other great songs by her peers from the era like Dusty Springfield, Grace Slick, and Brenda to contextualize this unfairly obscure artist.