Venus Envy
Transgender bender
at Soul Invictus
Michael [Steven] Grandell (a.k.a. Venus de
Mars) might take enough' female hormones to- grow not-quite-B-cup breasts, but don’t ask the transgengdered performance artist to change his
voice. After all, Venus’ Bowie-esque pipes have been the signa-ture sound of the darkglam-rock band All the Pretty Horses for nine years. Says Venus, “I don’t alter my voice. It’s my singing voice, and I love the depth of it.”

When Venus de Mars plays a regular bar, she says, sometimes people don’t know how to react to her feminine look and manly voice. “I’m .not shy about being transgendered. I use that in my per-formance,” she says. “But I take my music seriously.”

And so do others, like producer Barb Morrison (Debbie Harry, Rufus Wain-wright, Scissor Sisters), who recorded Venus’ upcoming solo album, slated for an April release.

Venus will answer your questions -in her booming voice and unveil her bud-ding breasts at Soul Invictus, 1022 Grand Avenue, on Saturday, March 4.The soiree costs $5 and includes a meet-and-greet, a screening of the documentary Venus of Mars, and a Q&A session. (She also performs a free show on Friday with “local tranny punk band” The Insignificant Others.) Visit www.myspace.com/soulinvictus.