Pride Guide 1999–

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE B-

Crystal Waters:'I don't see limits on what rhythm can do'

Cleveland Crystal Waters, who will appear on the Cleveland Pride main stage this year, has been adding her own style to things since she first entered the music busi-

ness.

As befitting an artist whose lyrics have

enjoyed as much attention as her melodies, Waters first put pen to paper when she was a young girl. It was an interest spurred on by some healthy sibling rivalry.

"My older sister used to write, so I began by imitating her." Waters said.

At 14, she became the youngest inductee into the American Poetry Society, and she

continued writing throughout high school. But by the time Waters entered college, she started to lose her creative drive.

"I studied business and sort of fell out of writing," she said. "But I realized that my heart really wasn't into business. I knew I could write. I knew I could do that well. So I just started looking for someone to write with."

Waters's search for inspiration took an unusual route. A chance visit to a psychic planed the notion in Waters's mind that perhaps it was not a new writ-

ing partner she needed, but rather that she needed to be singing her own words.

"Coincidentally, the day I went to the psychic, I had lost

my voice," she said. "The psychic told me that there's something that you're not doing with your voice that you really want to."

The day after that, Waters began calling around her native Washington, D.C. to see if she could do some backup singing. She hooked up with a local production team, the Basement Boys.

Hard work by Pride board makes event happen

Cleveland-Every year, the volunteer Cleveland Pride Board spends hundreds of hours planning, raising money, searching for entertainment, and-running the Pride Festival and Parade.

This ten-member board recruits the hundreds of volunteers who make Cleveland Pride a reality.

Members of the board include President Rick Lee, Vice President Bob Krabbe, Treasurer Tom Isabel, and members Alex Leopold, Walt Waskawicz, Michael Flickinger, Ron Grey, Stephen Lux and Gary Tame.

The board is assisted by Pride Coordinator Brynna Fish, Legal Counsel Rose Fini and Parade Coordinator Brooke Willis.

Board president Lee is always on the lookout for new volunteers and board members. Anyone interested in helping with Cleveland Pride is invited to the once a week Wednesday meetings held in May and June and the monthly meetings held during the year.

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Now in its 11th year, Cleveland Pride has grown from a small street festival in 1989 to the largest GLBT event in northern Ohio, with over 1,500 parade participants and 7,500 festival attendees.

Cleveland Pride 1999 includes 24 corporate sponsors, representing international, national and local firms supporting the community. Cleveland Pride was also the recipient of the 1998 Lesbian Gay Community Service Center Community Award.

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Soon, Waters was writing songs with the Basement Boys. In fact, "Gypsy Woman," which would become Waters's signature song, was originally slated for Ultra Nate. But Waters's vocals on the demo were so distinctive that soon she landed herself a record deal. Overnight, she went from computer programmer in D.C. to burgeoning pop diva.

The rest, as the cliché goes, is history. "Gypsy Woman" emerged as the club anthem of 1991 and was cited by no less than the New York Times as à defining song for that summer. Three years later, Storyteller's success proved that "Gypsy Woman" was no mere novelty song.

In between touring, making videos and writing, Waters lent her voice to the fight against AIDS. In 1996, she recorded a languid remake of Antonio Carlos Jobim's bossa

nova standard “The Boy From Ipanema" for the Red, Hot and Rio collection. Once again, she proved that her vocal talents had no limitations.

As she has always done throughout her career, Crystal Waters takes dance music to new heights on her third Mercury Records CD, Crystal Waters. Funky, fluid and filled with knowing joy, Crystal Waters, much like the woman behind the music, is not what you'd expect a dance album to be. It is quintessentially Crystal.

Giving folks an idea of what to expect from her performance at Cleveland Pride this year, the pop diva says, "I don't see limits on what rhythm can do.

Compiled by Michelle Nichols from Mercury Records press materials.

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An Early Intervention Program, with medical & mental health servicES, for people who are HIV+;

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Celebrate Gay Pride Month at

Borders Books & Music

Meet the author!

Imagine That: Letters From Russell Sunday, June 13 at 4 p.m.

In honor of Gay Pride Month, Borders Books and Music, along with the Gay & Lesbian Book Group, is proud to host Lydia Stux, author of *Imagine That: Letters From Russell for a discussion and book signing.

Lydia Stux and Russell Denver Harold met as young adults in Akron in 1975. Time may have created physical distance between them but letters were their way of staying together. As an openly gay man, Russell related his life stories to his open minded friend, whether they were witty observations about a recent date, or painful stories about his most recent bout with AIDS-related illnesses. Lydia, in turn, provided Russell with an open ear and heart, and related all of the changes in her life, her marriage, and her move to Chicago. Russell's letters represent twenty years of a unique and powerful bond between a straight woman and a gay man, documenting the similarities and differences we all have in common.

Upcoming Gay & Lesbian Book Group Selections: *July: Mongrel by Justin Chin

*August: Bending the Landscape by N. Griffith & S. Pagel

*Discussion Group titles receive a 20% discount the month they are discussed, discount taken at the registers

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