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Grrls of Rock
from: sltrib.com
by Dan Nailen, The Salt Lake Tribune
JOAN JETT serves as my personal barometer of cool when it comes to women playing rock and roll.
Jett owns a record label. She's had monster pop hits like "I Love Rock and Roll," and slogged through tours of dingy rock clubs leading her band, The BLACKHEARTS. She's an activist, for women's rights and against the war on Iraq, and makes regular trips to play for soldiers in the Middle East. And her most recent album, last year's "SINNER," is a potent blast of old-school, straight-up (no pun intended) rock and roll - no small feat considering she started putting out records with The RUNAWAYS more than 30 years ago.
When my editor recently asked "where are all the girl rockers?" I immediately thought of two things. The first was that Jett and the BLACKHEARTS are playing a free show at The Canyons in Park City on March 31. And the second was a conversation I had with Jett last summer about the state of women in rock music.
"There are girl bands out there," Jett said. "And there are bands with girls in them. But it still seems, this far down the line, that they're only allowed to go so far.
"Obviously, you have to be good. You should be. You should have great songs that are catchy, and have an engaging stage show. But beyond that, it still is tough. And there's resistance to girls playing rock and roll. I'm talking about real rock and roll. Dirty rock and roll. And I don't mean it has to be dirty lyrically. Just gritty. Trashy."
Amen, sister.
Measuring Up
As a service to readers looking for quality, female-led rock and roll, The Salt Lake Tribune offers this handy guide. The higher the act is on the list, the closer it comes to JOAN JETT levels of coolness.
* Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders. A punk pioneer and crafty pop songwriter, not to mention a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
* Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth.
* Kathleen Hanna, formerly of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre. Hanna helped launch the "riot grrl" movement, combining feminism and indie-rock to great effect through music and publishing. And she's written songs with Jett.
* Kim Deal of The Pixies and The Breeders.
* Erika Wennerstrom of Heartless Bastards. Leading a blues-rock power trio, Wennerstrom wails as if she could be the angry daughter of Robert Plant and Janis Joplin.
* Beth Ditto of The Gossip. Ditto is a powerhouse of a bluesy belter leading this indie-rock trio that stops in Utah on June 9.
* Debbie Harry of Blondie. Yes, she was a force on the early New York punk scene and has a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but there's a lot of disco in her past as well. She performs at the Usana Amphitheater on June 9.
* Patti Smith.
* Exene Cervenka of X.
* Shonna Tucker of Drive-By Truckers. Playing bass, providing harmony vocals and chugging Jack Daniels in arguably the best live rock band on the planet is enough to get Tucker on this list, representing the slew of boy-led bands boasting genuinely rockin' female bass players through the years (e.g. Silversun Pickups, Superchunk, Smashing Pumpkins).
* PJ Harvey.
* The Moaners. This North Carolina-based all-female guitar-and-drums blues-rock duo has grit and sass to spare.
* Sahara Hotnights. A Swedish quartet that delivers driving garage-rock with plenty of hooks.
* Pink.
* Tammy Ealom of Dressy Bessy. If you don't think a power-pop band can rock, you haven't seen this Denver combo led by the guitar and voice of Ealom.
* Eisley. This Texas group led by the three sisters DuPree is far from gritty, but it creates some sonically massive guitar-rock. The sisters are currently putting the finishing touches on their sophomore album.
* Amy Lee of Evanescence.
* Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
* Meg & Dia. The St. George-raised Frampton sisters leading this group don't rock out much, but they've landed a spot on the Warped Tour two years running and will stop in Salt Lake City with the tour on July 7.
* Liz Phair. Once the queen of indie-rock, Phair lost a lot of street cred with her efforts to make radio-friendly pop.
* Avril Lavigne.
* Kelly Clarkson.
* Ashlee Simpson, Hilary Duff, Lindsay Lohan. Cosmetic surgery, Disney movies, rehab and tabloid stupidity don't equate to rock and roll.
Kim Gordon
Erika
Wennerstrom
PJ Harvey
The Moaners
Sahara Hotnights
Eisley
Karen O
Liz Phair
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