What an amazing night to be a part of: Music, Comedy, Drinks, and Friends—new ones and old ones. When I heard that my friend Candy Zhang, a Musicians Institute student who came to America from China to pursue her dreams and passion and a career in music (also plays bass for another musician I have worked with for all her EPKs, Alex Springs) that she was playing with the great young phenom drummer originally from Japan, Yoyoka Soma, whom I have photographed several of her live sets since her first appearance at The World Famous Whisky A Go Go and have met countless times in Los Angeles including her family, I made sure, that somehow I would make it to this great event and cover this showcase for my media outlet, SLR MAGAZINE. And so I did.
Written by Don Marcelo
On this evening, I introduced myself to the host/promoter of this showcase, Robert Evanoff, who was very gracious to let me photograph and cover some amazing women artists. Unfortunately I was only able to cover and photograph the first part of the evening until Yoyoka’s set and then had to leave for another engagement that I had to be in.
Before the festivities, I asked Robert what inspired him to start this showcase from 3 years ago and he said, “[We] feel that community based events are opportunities to give back but also gather friends and associates to enjoy an evening together, songs and stories are always at the root of that. We see that as our relationship with the public, along the way, we’ve been fortunate that writers and photojournalists have helped amplify our mission. It’s like a big extended family.”
Robert who owns 18//88 PRODUCTIONS also said to me that he has “been in PR for several decades, hosting events since 2019, not only in LA but Anaheim, Austin, Nashville, Kansas City and NYC.”
https://1888media.wordpress.com
After getting to know Robert a little bit and his crew, I set myself and my camera up in an area in the back part of the venue with my long lens while his house photographer, Mannie Hebron, https://www.instagram.com/picksysticks/ sat in the front for more up close and intimate shots.
GENA B JONES
Initiating the evening was emcee Gena B Jones, who gave us a glimpse of life as a female Syrian-Mexican-American Comedian. She delighted the audience throughout the night with her comedic talent while introducing the musicians in the beginning of each set for this International Women’s Day Showcase. “She’s currently a regular at the Hollywood Improv, the Westside Comedy Theater, The Crow, and a plethora of indie venues around LA. At the Improv, she co-produces Hilarious Habibis, a quarterly standup showcase that exclusively features Middle Eastern talent.”
https://www.genabjones.com/
https://www.instagram.com/juicygena/
Photo Gallery of the performance by © Don Marcelo Photography 2025
MYKEL
The first of the musicians was MYKEL whom I’ve had the pleasure of working with in the past and photographing her LIVE show as well as some BTS while rehearsing with her band for all of her EPK needs. “Mykel is a dynamic vocalist and songwriter, with diverse music featuring anthemic and power ballad pop with an R&B influence. Mykel has performed at iconic venues including Staples Center, Peppermint Club, and Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.” https://www.mykelverse.com/
On this night, and in the past, MYKEL delivered an astounding performance with her powerful vocals, singing and telling us stories about her trials and tribulations in the music world. She also gave a very emotional performance (and true to life story) of her new single that she sang for us titled “Brace for Impact” from her soon to be released new EP HOMETOWN RUNAWAY.
https://www.instagram.com/mykelverse/
LEEANN SKODA
Next up was LEEANN SKODA who entertained us with her soft and beautiful vocals and acoustic guitar. Based in Los Angeles, “Singer/Guitarist Leeann Skoda is in demand for her directing of lush harmonies and emotive guitar work. You might have seen her on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Backing up Noah Cyrus, touring and singing with Psychic Temple or harmonizing with Brian Bell of Weezer. When not on the road with heavy hitters, she’s an integral part of Los Angeles’s Familial Americana Scene.”
https://www.leeannskoda.net/
https://www.instagram.com/lskoda/
ALEX BECK
After Leeann’s set, we were embraced with another independent singer-songwriter named ALEX BECK. She is a true Angeleno whose musical influence comes from 60’s and 70’s rock bands such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones all the way up to 80’s pop stars such as Madonna. She is known for her “dance-pop and alternative dreamy vocals style. “Her Perfume” is officially out now! ‘I’m so excited for you all to listen and experience this song that means so much to me.’
https://www.instagram.com/alex.beck
MAYBELLENE RYDER
Then MAYBELLENE RYDER came on stage. As Westside Current describes her, “With a moniker that’s a Chuck Berry reference (after his game-changing 1955 hit “Maybellene”) Kiana Keane as Maybellene Ryder is a true cosmic American, rock and roll mama, and fiddle shreddin’ sweetheart. With music as her muse, she sings and plays like it’s all she’s got, in search of what’s good and true in a world born from a bang.” Maybellene Ryder put the rock and roll twang in her country fiddle and guitar acoustic set along with her co-female guitarist Brittney Carranza. “It’s real again, as you know. No Rock without the roll art” https://www.instagram.com/maybelleneryder/
YOYOKA SOMA, AVA JAMES, CANDY ZHANG
Last but not the least for me covering this night were the teens, 15 year old Japanese Phenom Drummer Yoyoka Soma https://www.instagram.com/yoyoka_drums/
and her bandmates of the night:
• 13 year old Ava James on lead vocals and guitar https://www.instagram.com/theavajames/
• 19 year old bassist Candy Zhang who came to the U.S in the summer of 2024 all the way from China to her dreams in the music https://www.instagram.com/candyz.music/
Spearheading the group, Yoyoka got together with Ava and Candy and all three collaborated together as a single unit and performed a great one of a kind show just on this night who, by the way, rocked out some Pop Punk songs for us. Hopefully more from the three of them together in the future as a new band.
“Yoyoka Soma (Japanese: 相馬世世歌), known mononymously as YOYOKA (よよか), is a Japanese drummer from Ishikari. In 2018, at age 8, she gained international attention for an online video in which she covered Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times Bad Times”, which was uploaded to Vimeo as her entry for the 2018 Hit Like a Girl contest. As of October 2019, the video has 3.2 million views and David Grohl, Ian Paice, and Robert Plant all praised the video and her drumming capabilities. She has stated that John Bonham, Chris Coleman, and Benny Greb are her favorite drummers and Rage Against the Machine her favorite band.”
– [source: WIKIPEDIA]
In conclusion, despite me seeing only the first half of the night, what makes this showcase important is that 18//88 Productions and Hotel Cafe curated a spectacular event where we all celebrated the power, the importance, and the contribution that women give to the music industry. We celebrated Women. We celebrated Music. We celebrated Art. We celebrated Life. It’s people like Robert and his team and his organization and the music venue, Hotel Cafe, who have the passion to promote artists and musicians and to create good deeds to all that inspire me to keep going, keep creating, keep documenting and keep shooting my Art and my Visuals and sharing my Words of great artists of today.
FOLLOW 1888 PRODUCTIONS and HOTEL CAFE for more .
https://1888media.wordpress.com
https://hotelcafe.com
FOLLOW all the artists mentioned above for more great music
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