Biography
After completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1962, Alix Dobkin relocated immediately to New York City's Greenwich Village and began performing as a folk singer. During the early 1970s, after recognizing her attraction to women, she issued Lavender Jane Loves Women in 1973. The recording stood as an early benchmark through its explicit feminist lyrics, steadfast support for lesbians, independent release on her own Women's Wax Works imprint, and emphasis on collective effort. Dobkin rose to prominence as one of the community's most visible and outspoken lesbian feminists. She differed from many contemporaries by integrating details of her personal life into her performances, remaining accessible to audiences at festivals and events, and leading workshops that examined topics such as the sexism and misogyny found in commercial album art. She also asserted her identity as a Jewish Lesbian in public and wove that perspective into her shows. Alongside Meg Christian, Cris Williamson, and Holly Near, she helped establish the women's music movement of the 1970s. Although the influential Lavender Jane Loves Women from 1975 marked a key achievement, it formed only one of five albums she produced between 1975 and 1990: Living with Lesbians in 1976, XX Alix in 1980, These Women Never Been Better in 1986, and Yahoo Australia! Alix Live from Sydney in 1990. In 1992 she released the retrospective anthology Love & Politics: A 30 Year Saga, which surveyed her decades of activism on behalf of the left and the LGBTQ+ community. Living with Lavender Jane appeared in 1998 as a two-fer CD that paired Lavender Jane Loves Women with Living with Lesbians. Dobkin later reduced her recording activity to concentrate on education and advocacy, yet she sustained live performances and remained an active presence in the lesbian community. She died at her home in Woodstock, New York, on May 19, 2021, at the age of 80, following a brain aneurysm and stroke.
Albums
