When Kelsey from the Current emailed me and asked me if I wanted to be the Local Current’s DJ in Residence, I had to read it a few times. I initially thought she was asking me to help her find someone to do it (which would have been cool too). But after re-reading and confirming that yes, she wanted me, I emailed back something like “YES YES YES!!!!!! COOL!”. Inside I was thinking, “Me? Really?” Despite my insecurities, I felt pure joy and honored that I had the chance to be part of such a supportive and unique project.

The Local Current DJ in Residence project is a way for local musicians to support local music, to reach further than ourselves. Being selected to be a part of this group of musicians that I look up to, people who are already established, made me think about how I fit into this. Like someone sent me to stand with the Varsity team but I was just trying to see if I could buy some snacks from concessions. But this project made me feel like it was okay to be there. Maybe we aren’t all on the same team, but we can all be rooting for each other. We can, in fact, cheer really really loudly. I want you to hear me cheering for you. And I want you to cheer for me, too.

I was thrilled to be the DJ in Residence for March because it was International Women’s History Month. In general, I listen to female-fronted music. I think part of it is, as a vocalist, I like to sing along (in the car, walking down the street, in the shower) and often what I am singing along to is a perspective I can relate to; content I understand. The easiest way to say this is: Women inspire me. They are my favorite musicians. They are my favorite artists. I would have played my favorite music during this project regardless of the month but this allowed for the collective celebration of women in local music. And at the same time made me consider my own role as a female in our music scene. Why was I so quick to doubt myself when asked to take on this project? And why can’t we just exist as musicians and not have to be self-aware? We don’t have that privilege. Not yet, anyway.

Okay, here are the top cool things besides doing the job itself:

1. Getting to meet the awesome team at the Current. Thank you for making me feel so welcome. You guys are amazing and work really hard. Like, really really hard. I also learned that you guys have a lot of meetings which seems official and useful.

2. LOW favoriting my tweet (insert heart eyes smile emoji).

3. Getting to LEARN about so much local music, past and present.

4. David Safar giving me a bunch of CDs, including one of my favorite albums ever, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

5. Sitting at Jade’s desk and seeing that she has a rock that is engraved with “Jade, You ROCK!"

6. My sweet chats with Abdi (frontdesk superman).

I’m sad it is over, but ya know, better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all (or whatever). No, really though, what an honor. Thank you to those of you that tuned in, said nice things, said “hi” to me in the hallways. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude and appreciation for the support and generosity in this community. Thank you.

Local Current’s DJ in Residence project is supported by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. You can hear Tess Weinberg's final session at noon on The Local Current stream April 1, 2016.