Best Local Female Musicians In Baltimore

While the music industry continues to heavily promote male artists over females, Baltimore is fortunate to have a bevvy of first-rate female performers. Some are solo performers, while others have their own bands or are part of other groups. Celebrate Women's History Month by checking out some of the finest female musicians who make Charm City their home. The artists featured run the genre gamut from classical to retro.

Related: Best Female Musicians Of The 2000s

Deanna Bogart Band
Vision International
P.O. Box 201
Highland, Md. 20777
(301) 854-0888
www.deannabogart.com

Deanna Bogart is an award-winning multi-talented musician who began her life-long love affair with musical instruments before she reached the age of 6. An artist who prefers to avoid being genre-typed, the bandleader, singer, songwriter, producer, sax player and pianist mixes the best of contemporary blues, boogie-woogie, jazz and country into a unique sound she christened "blusion." A three-year consecutive winner of the Blues Music Awards' Horn Instrumentalist of the Year, 2008-2010, Bogart has also accumulated more than 20 Wammies in the hotly contested competition in the Washington, D.C.-area. A featured player in Legendary Rhythm and Blues Revue, she jams with Tommy Castro and Magic Dick, founding members of the J. Geils Band. As part of her Blues on the Nile tour, Bogart performed for U.S. troops stationed in Iraq and Kuwait.

Gina DeLuca
Starleigh Entertainment
5022 Campbell Blvd., Suite G
Baltimore, Md. 21236
(410) 933-3710
www.ginadeluca.net

A fiery redhead, Gina DeLuca, was born and raised in Baltimore. At the age of 3, she would listen to the Beatles on her Barbie record player and sing into a vacuum cleaner handle pretend mic. When DeLuca turned 22, she sat in with a local band and an instant passion for performing developed. A vocal soloist, DeLuca was faced with limited performance opportunities, so she got a guitar and within six months, she had mastered about 40 songs and was rewarded with her first gig at Leadbetter's Tavern, Fells Point. For the next eight years, every Friday evening, she took to the stage of Leadbetter's. In 2006, she released "Angels with Dirty Wings." And in 2009, her CD, "Blue Eyed Soul" was released.

Related: 2012 Sounded Good: The Best Breakout Music Acts In Baltimore

Iris Hirsch &The Retro-Rockets
P.O. Box 24
Simpsonville, Md. 21150
(301) 596-2017
www.retro-rockets.net

Iris Hirsch has been singing for more than 40 years. Performing with groups that included Partners in Song and the Baby Boomers, Hirsch, for the past six years, has been the featured vocalist for the Retro-Rockets — as the name implies, an oldies band. Performing classic ballads, rock and roll, R&B and even some country music, the band is well-known throughout the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. area. Their music is influenced by Little Eva, the Beatles, Del Shannon, Chuck Berry and the Drifters. She has opened for David Wilcox, Dave Nachmannoff and Greg Yost. An article in Music Monthly said Hirsch is such a gifted vocalist, she could sing the phone book and fans would come. Hirsch also wrote the song "Yes, She Can" for the Girl Scouts, which has been published numerous times and is sung by girls around the globe. She also is part of a recently formed duo called the Rearview Mirror.

Joanne Juskus
Sound Foundation
3134 Eastern Avenue
Baltimore, Md. 21224
(410) 276-1651
www.joannejuskusmusic.com

Joanne Juskus, vocalist, pianist and songwriter, originally from New York, now calls Charm City her home. Chosen as one of the six Best Unsigned Bands, in 2006, by Amtrak's Arrive Magazine, she has a loyal following on the Baltimore music scene. In 2001, her debut album was released to critical acclaim. She was also named a Top 10 Favorite by The Washington Post. In the past, she has performed at the Merriweather Post Pavillion, the Columbia Festival of the Arts, the Bitter End, the Bethlehem Musikfest and NYC's Knitting Factor. In 2006, collaborating with guitarist and electronic musician Adrian Bond, Juskus produced the CD "See Your Face." Her song, "Never Be the Same" was chosen as a finalist in the Women of MP3.com's Song of the Year competition and she was also selected by A&E TV Random 1 series as a soundtrack. She has won numerous music awards for folk music and has been featured on Maryland Public Television and WJZ-TV.

Sarah Fuller
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
1212 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, Md. 21201
(267) 847-4601
www.sarahfullerharp.com

Sarah Fuller joined the Delaware Symphony as a principal harpist in 2006 and has also performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra since 2007. At age 8, she began her study of the harp at the Settlement Music School, Philadelphia. Later, during high school, she attended the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, studying with Joan Raeburn Holland. Fuller obtained a bachelor's degree at the Royal Conservatory of Music's Glenn Gould School and also attended the New England Conservatory. She graduated with a master's degree in music from Indiana University. When not performing with the orchestras, Fuller collaborates with other musicians performing chamber music. A member of the Trio Cloisonne along with Marcia Kamper, flutist and Karin Brown, violist, Fuller has performed at Chamber Music by Candlelight in Baltimore and Baltimore Symphony's chamber music series in Frederick, Md., among others.