Estonia’s best (albeit the only) feminist vaudeville blues band The Kaisa Ling Thing presents humorous commentary on current events with the help of a collection of 100-year old songs.
After years of investigating classic female blues singers Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Ida Cox, Alberta Hunter, Chippie Hill and many others, the duo have carefully selected the best and most scandalous hits of historical vaudeville blues. Dealing openly and humorously with taboos – sex, violence, suicide, and racism –, classic female blues singers were the pioneers of the record industry and we as a society would be remiss to forget them.
A Plug Ugly Man
The most scandalous hits of female vaudeville blues.
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The 1920s and 30s in the United States was a ruthless and a challenging time of manyfold discrimination but songs on the vaudeville stage allowed women a platform of freedom.
The Kaisa Ling Thing (Kaisa Ling on vocals and percussion, Rene Paul on the piano) present an hour of songs and stories about sex, racism, domestic violence and female emancipation – all through the humorous crooked lens of allegory.
“All in all, an educational and refreshing listen. Among other things, the Kaisa Ling Thing reminds us that blues history is not just a long line of men competing with each other on electric guitars as we tend to imagine. The same is true for the blues of those brilliant women who, in their pursuits, were far ahead of their time and practices.”
Lauri Leis’ review in the Estonian music magazine Muusika (in Estonian)
"If there's a name for a woman who's chic, glamorous, and modernly feminine in Estonia, it's Kaisa Ling. And her Thing. Resistance is futile, I recommend surrendering."
Vilja Kiisler, journalist