Justin Vivian Bond

Dendrophile (Whimsy Music)

http://www.metropulse.com/news/2011/may/25/justin-vivian-bond-dendrophile/

As Kiki, the singing half of the subversive cabaret duo Kiki & Herb, Justin Bond created an indelible character: a boozy, bitchy, batty old nightclub entertainer, full of hilariously obscene tales and given to unexpectedly moving renditions of songs by everyone from Dan Fogelberg to Eminem. Now performing (and living) as Justin Vivian Bond—with a middle name added to reflect a transsexual identity—s/he has released a pretty terrific solo album.

A dendrophile is a lover of trees, and Bond—a fixture of New York and San Francisco over the past few decades—says many of these songs were composed during retreats to a haven in our own Tennessee mountains. There's even some Appalachian musical influence, in the banjo-driven "Equipoise" and in the way the seductive "Salome" lifts part of its melody from "Wayfaring Stranger."