BY CANDY PARKER

Spring is in the air and so begins the season of love. What better time to unveil our love-themed lesbian playlist?

These five tunes are must-haves for a weekend road trip out of town with that special someone.

Be sure to tell us your favorite love songs in the “Leave a Reply” section below. And don’t forget to check out our passion and break-up playlists, too!

“Can’t Help Falling in Love” — Ingrid Michaelson

“Radical” — Catie Curtis

“Falling is Like This” — Ani DiFranco

“Power of Two” — Indigo Girls

“The Weakness in Me” — Joan Armatrading

The post Lesbian love playlist: 5 songs to set your heart aflutter first appeared on Lesbian.com.

We launched our lesbian playlist series with “passion.” Now it’s time to move on to the opposite end of the spectrum with our essential “break-up” playlist. These five tunes serve as the perfect soundtrack for getting from” angry” to “over it.”

Be sure to tell us your favorite break-up songs in the “Leave a Reply” section below!

“Untouchable Face” — Ani DiFranco

We’re hopping into our way back machine for this one, heading to 1996 when DiFranco made this the first cut on her “Dilate” CD. The lyrics are most certainly NSFW, but when the woman you want now wants someone else, well, it’s not always pretty now is it?

“Creep” — Brandi Carlile

Carlile’s cover of this Radiohead classic is pure you-think-you’re-too-good-for-me gold. “You’re so %#$*! special. I wish I was special.” Crank it up, sing along and let go of that anger.

“Some Kinda Nerve” — Melissa Ferrick

This tune is off Ferrick’s “Freedom” release and offers the ideal retort to the former lover now experiencing second thoughts. “You’ve got some kind of nerve/coming back here for more/like i’m just going drop everything i’m doing/so you can humiliate me a little more.” And that’s just the first couple of lines.

“Gravity” — Sara Bareilles

So you’re past the anger stage and just begging the universe to help you let go and move on. Put Bareilles on repeat and feel the weight being lifted every time she hits that high note near the end. The song is even better than the Oscar-nominated film of the same name and definitely more healing after a painful break-up.

“Heal Me” — Melissa Etheridge

Congratulations! You made it. You realized that a broken heart doesn’t mean the world has ended. Etheridge had that same epiphany in this song from “Skin,” arguably one of her best CDs.

The post Lesbian break-up playlist: 5 songs to get you from ‘angry’ to ‘over it’ first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Ani DiFranco ruffled quite a few feathers over the weekend when she announced her plans to host a “Righteous Retreat” where lovers of songwriting, poetry and performance could indulge in days of relaxation and creativity. Critics were outraged after learning the event would be hosted on a former slave plantation in Louisiana — whose website boasts about the historic bell still present on the premises that “was rung by the overseer to announce the time for [slaves’] rising, meals and retiring” — causing DiFranco to cancel the retreat.

Some people felt the venue alienated women, queer women and feminists of color. Debate on the event’s, now removed, Facebook page turned ugly. After some women on the social network site dismissed black commenters’ critiques of the venue, one user created a fake account pretending to be a black woman named LaQueeta Jones. Not only did the woman create an imaginary person, she went on to comment as Jones using urban vernacular.

You can view Ani’s full statement regarding the cancellation.

Read more at Huffington Post Gay Voices

The post Ani DiFranco cancels retreat after venue choice sparks outrage first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Ani DiFranco and Cake are among the acts set to headline at the 16th California WorldFest music festical in Grass Valley.  The event will feature eight stages of music and dance from around the world, camping, workshops, international food and fine crafts.

The California WorldFest began in 1997 as a showcase for some of the world’s finest artists performing music and dance from the United States and around the world and is set amidst the cool, tall pines of the Sierra foothills.

Tickets for the July 12-15  festival are available through California WorldFest.

The post News: Ani DiFranco to headline California music festival first appeared on Lesbian.com.