BIO

“Shawna Virago’s album ‘Objectified’ is a journey of roots, punk and glitter twang…fierce, whip-smart and all kinds of profound. Each song is a masterpiece”
- Genderfork
“elegant, edgy and elegiac”
- San Francisco Bay Guardian
“sexy, sassy, smart, genuine”
- The Daily Californian
“Virago’s album ‘Objectified’ isn’t your mother’s protest music. Virago’s ‘folk punk’ is definitely twenty-first century stuff”
- Tranifesto
Shawna Virago is a celebrated transgender San Francisco based musician and activist. Miss Virago is a singer/songwriter whose music twists together folk punk and roots music, creating anthems for a new generation. Her songs are raw observations about survival in a predatory world, sticking up for the underdog, queer love and gender outlaws. Her performances are celebrated for their compelling mix of original songs, storytelling and standup.
A longtime favorite in San Francisco’s underground transgender and queer music scene, Virago’s songs are known for her irony-laced lyrics that range from sexy to sarcastic, polemic to political, haunting to heartfelt. Her songs dig deep into police brutality, the marginalization of transpeople and living and loving on the sweet continuum of being transgender.
Virago has toured extensively to theaters, clubs, Festivals, Pride stages, colleges and universities. Recent appearances have included the Fresh Meat Festival, National Queer Arts Festival, San Francisco Trans March Stage, the Femme Conference, The Tranny Roadshow, the San Francisco Transgender Film Festival, HomoAGoGo, Sex Workers Art Show, Los Angeles Pride, Long Beach Pride, San Francisco Pride, and more.
Virago is the Artistic Director of the San Francisco Transgender Film Festival and her own films have screened throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. Virago is also a published writer and her work appears in Gender Outlaws: Next Generation andin the anthologies Trans/Love: Radical Sex, Love & Relationships Beyond the Gender Binary and Take Me There: Trans and Genderqueer Erotica. She has been featured in documentary works on PBS and NPR. Miss Virago also composed original music for choreographer Sean Dorsey’s acclaimed dance theater work Uncovered: The Diary Project, about pioneering transman Lou Sullivan.
for booking information and promotional materials: www.shawnavirago.com


