jaimes

There is a quote by the mother of modern dance, Isadora Duncan, that for me sums up my experience as a band coach at this year’s Girls’ Rock Camp ATL:

You were once wild here. Don’t let them tame you.

It perfectly captures the rock camp experience. The girls are wild, but not in a negative way. They are bold and stubborn like wildflowers, growing wherever and however they please. Untouchable beauties that need the right environment to grow, but then are best left alone to do their own thing and be admired by the rest of us.

From day one, I realized that as a band coach, my role was not to take charge of these girls and conduct my way of playing music or writing songs. Although these girls were new to their instruments, they were not new to themselves. They knew what they liked and didn’t like and surprisingly, they always found a way to agree on their sound.

My band coaching partner, Carly, and I started the first band session with introductions and a few questions about the kind of music the girls liked.

“You know that song, Paint it Black?” asked the 11-year old guitarist. “We want to sound like that.”

The 13-year-old vocalist then chimed in, “Have you guys heard of the song, Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin?”

“No,” they answered in unison.

“What about The Beatles song, Helter Skelter?”

“I love The Beatles!” they said.

The singer continued, “All of those songs do the same thing. They go from quiet to loud.”

Carly and I exchanged happy glances. “They like the classics,” I whispered to her. And then to the girls, I said, “Ok. I think we’ve got our sound.” And then we got to work.

By the end of the first practice, the girls had written the verse. By day two, the entire song was complete. We didn’t direct the songwriting so much as point out what they were already doing.

“That drum beat right there. That’s a Led Zeppelin beat! That’s awesome. You’ve got it!”

The idea is to get the girls to make all the songwriting decisions themselves. Even if they ask our opinion, we turn it back on them. Get them to vote on it. Should the bassist play alone on the first verse? Vote on it. Should the guitar solo have reverb? Vote on it. Very few disagreements came up, and when they did, the girls worked it out themselves. And it wasn’t as if one band member made all the decisions. These girls were very vocal about what they liked and didn’t like. And they high-fived each other every step of the way.

The only things we did direct were tuning their instruments and setting up the PA and amps. But we always asked if they were happy with the sound coming out.

“Do you want your guitar to sound crunchy and gnarly or clean and pretty?”

“Are your vocals loud enough?”

“Which bass amp do you like better?”

“Is your high-hat close enough for you?”

We basically acted as roadies, cheerleaders, and mentors all rolled into one.

The girls wrote the bass line for the song first, and then we showed the guitarist where the notes were on the guitar that go along with that bass line. She then decided what chords to play and how to play them. When she wrote her guitar solo, we put little stickers on the neck to help her remember which frets to play.

And then we stepped back and watched the girls practice that song over and over again. And each time we nodded along. And each time we cheered them on. And when they got too hyper or scatterbrained, we threw up our hands in a time-out gesture and got them to refocus or hear each other out.

And it worked.

Our little band, The Lemon Lime Light, killed on stage. The drummer, who’s been playing for six months POUNDED the drums like someone twice her size. The bassist, brand-new to her instrument, jumped up and down as she played. The singer fell to her knees as she sang her 13-year-old heart out. And our mini-Nancy Wilson guitarist made the crowd of parents and fans melt as she kneeled in front of her amp and threw her head back for her solo. Are you kidding me? Imagine her a decade from now.

And that’s what I’ve been doing since rock camp ended, thinking about these girls 10-20 years from now. Will they still be playing? Will they be in touring bands? Will they put their music aside for college, work, relationships, marriage, or kids? I think about myself in the 10-16 year old range and how many obstacles got in the way of my own musical journey. And I know how hard it is to keep playing as an adult and parent to two rambunctious children.

Girls’ Rock Camp ATL offers the ideal environment to help girls tune into their creative selves, the part that is untouched by outside interferences like familial expectations and social norms. The volunteers are on the look out for insecurities, and they address them in a way that does not single anyone out. For example, if someone is making fun of someone else, the volunteers will put on a skit that addresses the issue. And just let me say that the women who run this camp are AMAZING. They’ve designed a camp that really works for both volunteers and campers that has me already looking forward to next year’s camp.

Some of these girls will only do rock camp once, but many come back year after year. My hope is that the influence of the camp and the friendships that are forged are enough to carry the girls through the teenage years and on through adulthood. I want these girls to continue making music that is pure and from the heart, and most of all, I hope that each of them keeps her soul wild and untamed.

Here is a behind-the-scenes video I put together for Girls’ Rock Camp. I captured as many of the girls as possible when I was not coaching. To see videos from the showcase at Variety Playhouse, visit the Girls’ Rock Camp ATL facebook page.

So, I’m super busy trying to parent, volunteer at Girls’ Rock Camp, and you know, shower and stuff. The girls are soundchecking today for tomorrow night’s performance. Here’s a clip of the band I’m coaching at practice.

Are you ready to rock, ATL? This is Lemon Lime Light!!!!

You do not want to miss these girls live. They’re playing at Variety Playhouse tomorrow night as part of the Girls’ Rock Camp ATL showcase.

So, this is day four of Girls’ Rock Camp ATL, and it’s going really well. The band I’m coaching, Lemon Lime Light, wrote their entire original song by day two. Now it’s just a matter of practicing until they’ve got it down. That’s a big accomplishment, especially considering two of the girls in Lemon Lime Light are brand new to their instruments and one has only been playing for six months without formal training.

Watching these girls accomplish so much – and get along at the same time- is inspiring. It’s also proof of how far people can go when they are placed in a supportive environment. This camp is not about telling girls how to rock; it’s about giving them the tools to do it themselves.

I dropped out of the music scene after I became a parent, so I wondered how much of the DIY ethic was passed down to this generation. It turns out, a lot. And now with myspace, facebook, music websites, and blogging, there are just more and more options available for musicians to be both seen and heard. Now that I’m back in the music scene with two kids in tow, I’m happy to see that DIY is not dead.

A perfect example is the the Girls’ Rock Camp ATL facebook page. Volunteers are posting clips of the girls playing daily. It’s pretty amazing. The videos are like mini-documentaries tracking the girls’ progress and preparation for showcase day at Variety Playhouse. And the beautiful thing about DIY filmmaking, promotion, zines and music is that it’s more likely to treat everyone equally, regardless of skill level, musical background, age, race, or shoesize. And it shows the truth.

And the truth is that when you get around 40 girls together and you encourage them to speak up and speak out, you hear their true voice. When you hand them an instrument that is big and loud, you hear the biggest, loudest noise your ears can stand. And when you support those girls through workshops on self-expression, self-defensive, and self-esteem, you hear the purest music that is out there in any scene. I consider myself lucky to witness it firsthand.

I thought being a band coach would be tough. I imagined the girls arguing, or name-calling, or obsessing over their looks. I could not have been more wrong. The only thing these girls have done from day one is totally rock.

Check out the CNN story on last year’s Girls’ Rock Camp ATL for a behind the scenes look at the best camp ever. Some of the girls featured are returning campers this year.

Yesterday was day one Girls’ Rock Camp, and we’re off to a great start. The band I’m coaching is called Lemon Lime Light, which I think is a super creative name. They’ve already written a first verse and all of the lyrics to their original song. Not bad for a few hours work.

In honor of Rock Camp, I’ll be posting about girl musicians all week. First up is Orianthi, an amazing guitarist out of Australia. She writes her own stuff, and she’s got mad skills on guitar. She’s played with Steve Vai, Carrie Underwood, and Carlos Santana, and she was scheduled to tour with Michael Jackson. Not bad for a 24 year old.

Here’s Orianthi playing with Steve Vai. This video makes me want to turn a fan on while I practice.

p.s. Special thanks to my good friend Mel2 for pointing this virtuoso out to me!

“You want me to tune that for you?”
“She doesn’t write anything. He just tells her what to play.”
“Well, it wouldn’t hurt to have a cute girl on stage.”
“So, do you play acoustic?”

These are a few of the phrases I heard from boys as a girl guitarist. I do not miss those days. I really could have used a mentor back then, or even a whole congregation of female musicians routing me on. But, I couldn’t even find a female guitar instructor. I went to an old man who made me learn stuff like, “Gemini Polka.” I’m not kidding. I still have his instruction book. He was actually really great, but he couldn’t offer me the mentorship I needed as a girl standing on the sidelines of a mosh pit. I really could have used a Rock Camp for Girls. (more…)

I watched the VH1 Behind the Music with Courtney Love, and it got me thinking about my history with Hole and the sometimes described, cockroach of rock music, Courtney Love. She is sober now and talked openly about her decade of screw-ups and her marriage to one of the greatest songwriters of our generation, Kurt Cobain.

While Kurt Cobain is still loved and revered by many, his widow has one of the worst reputations of any rock star, and definitely the worst if you add the modifier female. Courtney Love is a phenomenon, her own worst enemy, narcissistic, an addict, and also so charismatic on stage you barely realize there is a band behind her. In short, she’s the perfect rock star, which by definition, means not the best person, and definitely not the best mother.

But think about it, do you know many rock star dads who are great role models? Why would we expect the female ones to be any different? I mean if our musicians are meant to be upstanding citizens who abstain from all that is unholy, they wouldn’t be much fun to listen to or watch.

I was a fan of Hole back in the riot grrrl days, which mixed punk and feminism. While my friends were Hole fans, plenty of my peers were not, based largely not on the music, but on the antics of Courtney Love. And while I also questioned the actions of Hole’s frontwoman as a young feminist, I couldn’t help but LOVE her band. Pretty on the Inside is a GREAT punk record. Loud, angry, and totally on-point lyrically. Live Through This is an incredible rock record. The songs are melodic, catchy, and again the lyrics are smart and poignant. Violet, Doll Parts, and Olympia are seriously good songs. When I saw Hole play on Saturday Night Live in 1994, I literally grabbed my guitar to learn how to play Violet. (more…)