VALERIE TROUTT

In the East Bay, vocalist Valerie Troutt established herself as more than an artist, but as a leader in the area’s famed creative community. Partnering on Bay Area projects with Oakland’s Zoolab, Queer Cultural Center SF, and Yerba Buena Gardens Festival. Over the course of the pandemic, Valerie has composed music for and performed in collaboration with Eastbay Center, and The SF Reproductive Justice Center Collectively, these varied and disparate influences informs her recordings as much as Dianne Reeves, Bjork, Carmen McRae, Sweet Honey in the rock, and Meshell Ndegeocello. The keeper and expander of a rich cultural legacy in music and consciousness‐raising, Troutt’s latest project, The Oakland Girl, borrows from the past and gives to the future, exploring marginalization, love, and hope.