Two longtime OffBeat favorites, Sean Yseult and DJ Soul Sister, are among the “Top Female Achievers” to be saluted by New Orleans Magazine on Wednesday, July 22. The singer/bassist and the DJ represent music on a list of distinguished educators, journalists, artists and personalities.
Star & Dagger’s Sean Yseult (Photo: Marc Pagani)
Currently leading the flamboyant rock band Star & Dagger, Yseult is well known for her spell in the horror-inspired White Zombie. She’s also an author who publisher her memoir I’m in the Band in 2010; and a visual artist whose concepts have informed her music. “We wanted to create a whole world you walked into,” she told OffBeat in 2013. “It was like, ‘Here’s what we wear, here’s the kind of movies we watch, and here’s the lifestyle.’ The Cramps achieved that, and I think we did with White Zombie.” She fell in love with New Orleans during a tour with that band and became a full time resident after their breakup.
A longtime fixture at local clubs and at Jazz Fest, DJ Soul Sister (real name, Melissa A. Weber) has won OffBeat’s Best of the Beat Award for Best DJ every year since the category was introduced in 2009. Known as the “Queen of Rare Groove,” she takes pride in unearthing great soul and funk vinyl treasures ahead of the crowd. She shares the wealth weekly on WWOZ, where her show “Soul Power” is heard Saturdays from 8-10 p.m. It’s the longest-running radio show devoted to rare grooves.
The complete list of this year’s Top Female Achievers includes: Tulane VP for Student Affairs Carolyn Barber-Pierre; St. Charles Avenue magazine editor Beverly Church; painter Jax Frey; New Orleans Advocate political reporter Stephanie Grace; Fox News sportscaster and French Quarter resident Jennifer Hale; Modern Slavery Research Project founder Dr. Laura T. Murphy; Link Restaurant Group operations director Heather Lolley; and LSUHSC Dept. of Physiology head Dr. Patricia Molina.
The “mix and mingle” event takes place Wednesday, the 22nd at the Board of Trade, 316 Magazine St., from 6-8pm. Tickets are $30 and are available here:
