2020-10-09

Danielle Ponder

Danielle Ponder (Rochester, New York) 

Danielle Ponder is a singer and bandleader based in Rochester, New York. Her group was named one of the Top Ten Bands to watch by CityPaper and was a winner of the 2015 and 2016 Roc Awards for Best Band. Danielle has performed opening shows for musicians including George Clinton, Ledisi, and the Roots, and has toured nationally and internationally. Her recorded releases include the EP Blow Out The Sun (2016) and the single “Holding Me Down” (2019). Beyond music, Danielle is a former Public Defender and TEDx speaker, and has organized around issues such as education funding, women’s rights, and criminal justice reform. She has been highlighted by the American Bar Association and has been awarded the Public Interest Law scholarship at Northeastern University, the Teen Empowerment’s PeaceMaker in Action Award, and the Jessica Bain Community Excellence Award. In 2017, she created the multimedia show For the Love of Justice, where she examines the U.S. criminal justice system.

Interviewed by Tamar Sella, 10/09/2020.

Tamar Sella

Music; United States; Covid-19 Pandemic

Rochester, New York

Musicians in America during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Society for Ethnomusicology