Anthony Brooks

So Aisha, this is a song from the Ace of Cups 2018 debut album, and the band members are all women.

But this record almost didn't happen.

The band was born in San Francisco in the 1960s, and they played with a lot of really well-known bands, including Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead.

But they never recorded an album.

They never managed to do that.

And as you can imagine, sexism had a lot to do with that.

Denise Kaufman plays guitar for the Ace of Cups, and she said that even landing gigs could be a challenge.

And she told me a story about trying to book a club in the 1960s in San Francisco.

So, well, they didn't play naked.

But by 1972, the band was pretty much done.

You know, some of the members started having kids.

They found other work and eventually they went their separate ways.

And their music was almost lost forever.

Well, decades after they first performed, a record producer heard them and was so impressed that he offered them a recording contract.

So in 2018, more than 50 years after they first played together, the Ace of Cups finally released their first album.

And when that album came out, they like to say on stage, we're in our 60s from the 60s.

Today, they're all in their 70s and have actually released two albums.

I love that.

Keep hope alive.

Aisha, thanks.