Women in Rock Rock Seattle

Back in the mid-Nineties, pre-Lilith Fair, Carla DeSantis, a journalist and former musician, decided she was tired of the lack of media coverage given to female musicians. Rather than merely complain about what she perceived to be the unfair treatment women in music received, particularly those in the rock genre, DeSantis founded ROCKRGRL magazine as a positive outlet to focus on women rockers and the issues they deal with in the music industry.

In the year 2000, post-Lilith Fair, DeSantis feels those issues not only remain unanswered, but have grown larger. Her solution: to gather her fellow female rockers for the first annual ROCKRGRL Music Conference, where they can address those concerns.

Held Nov. 2-4 in Seattle, the ROCKRGRL Music Conference featured a wide range of panels and more than 250 performances at surrounding Seattle clubs. Unlike most current conferences, which are predominantly showcases for the major labels, the ROCKRGRL conference had a decidedly indie spirit and sense of community. Artists like Nashville-based Cindy Kalmenson were promoting themselves during the days, distributing their own CDs, being encouraged to announce their showcases during panels and freely able to mingle with some of the conference's bigger names, which included rock/blues wunderkind Shannon Curfman , Indigo Girl Amy Ray, Heart vocalist Ann Wilson, Kid Rock drummer Stefanie Eulinberg, the real-life Pennie Lane (who Kate Hudson's character is based on in Almost Famous), Ronnie Spector, Wanda Jackson and Jill Sobule.

During Saturday's panels, Curfman was seen wandering around the conference area videotaping everything. And Wilson was in the audience for Ray's keynote speech (one of two given at the conference, the other being by Spector). Only once during the seminar was there any sort of star treatment given, for a last-minute Q&A with Courtney Love [see separate Courtney Love story]. Even Love though, who initially insisted that there be no cameras and that everyone have a seat (many people stood to the side or sat on the floor for overflow panels) for her session, seemed comfortable as she got in, saying, "I was just being paranoid. Now that I've seen the vibe here, I know I can relax."

While the vibe throughout was casual and informal, there was still plenty of enthusiasm, as evidenced by the first full day of the convention (Friday). (Thursday night featured several showcases, highlighted by Ann Wilson's packed performance at the Showbox, and a banquet honoring Ann and sister Nancy Wilson with the first ROCKRGRL "Women of Valor" award). Ronnie Spector kicked off the conference in style with her heartfelt address. She began by focusing on the strides women in music have made over the nearly forty years she's been in music, saying, "Back in 1961 . . . I never dreamed I'd be standing, speaking in front of a group of women involved in the music business." When she stuck to the subject of women in music, she was at her best. The crowd responded very favorably when Spector commented, "Gender doesn't determine talent, but it shouldn't exclude it either." Too often though she used the speech as a forum to blast ex-husband Phil Spector, going so far as to call him and his former business partner as "the two biggest crooks in rock & roll music."

She earned her biggest applause, aside from when she sang a few bars of the Ronettes classic "Be My Baby," for when she spoke of her return to the music business and getting out from under Phil's thumb. During a particularly moving moment, she asked, "Who wants to become a victim?" adding, "Once you become a victim you can spend your whole life being one."

After Spector left to a standing ovation, the attention turned to the panels, several of which were gender specific, including "Mommy, Do We Have to Go On Tour?" and "Ageism: This Topic Is Getting Old." In the former, panelists like Amy Rigby spoke about balancing motherhood with life on the road, and how to deal with such concerns as paying nannies, your kids being in school and whether family members make good nannies on the road. Meanwhile, in the latter, Curfman, sixteen-year-old Celtic sensation Tania Elizabeth, Rigby and others discussed the problems facing younger and older women, from not being taken seriously because of a youthful age to the perception that older women lack the desirability and energy of their younger counterparts. Meanwhile, a management panel that included Seattle hero Susan Silver had attendees overflowing into the hallway, trying to pick up some valuable tips on whether or not they needed a manager.

Following a full day of panels and discussions, the showcases fed off that energy. Among the Friday night highlights were the aforementioned Elizabeth, whose guitar, fiddle and bongos lineup offered a unique and rich sound akin to a Celtic hoedown. Also of note was Missouri's Carbon Star. One of many acts at the conference who have put out their own CD and taken control of all aspects of the business -- from distribution to booking shows -- the quartet is equally adept at melodic ballads, guitar-churning rockers or hooky pop tunes.

Saturday began with the buzz of Love's appearance at the end of the day, and Ray's at the beginning. During Ray's forty-five-minute discourse, she concentrated on the colonization of radio -- specifically how so many stations throughout America are now owned by a handful of powerful corporations -- and lashed out at mainstream media, including Rolling Stone and Spin, for never featuring the Indigo Girls in their publications and for following the influence of the new "beast," Maxim. Feeling very candid in such a receptive environment, Ray said she believes her band has been ignored by the mainstream because they are "political lesbians."

Ray also praised the concept of "house concerts"; stressed the importance of touring, saying, "Tour followings are hard-won, but more loyal"; and performed a song from her forthcoming solo album, due in March of next year on the indie label she's run for years, Daemon Records.

Among Saturday's panels, the hottest was "The Secret Life of Groupies," which included celebrated groupie Pamela Des Barres, Pennie Lane, Eulinberg and Margaret Moser (a journalist for the Austin Chronicle who headed the groupie outfit known as "The Texas Blondes"). A frank conversation, it featured several hilarious moments, the most provocative of which was when Lane spoke of a school she started for groupies in 1972 in Portland, Ore. She said the school was funded by bands, who would pay to fly groupies there, and she recalled how there were five instructors who gave lessons in oral sex on bananas. All of the panelists were very careful not to name names, though Des Barres, who has been open about her past, did mention the names of Jimmy Page and Mick Jagger on multiple occasions.

The other hot panel was "Woodstock '99 to Eminem : When Did Women Become the Enemy?" As expected from the topic, the conversation got very heated at times, but failed to address what can be done to fix the problems. The one thing the panelists did seem to agree on was that artists should be responsible for the effect they have on their audiences. In addition to Eminem, Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst was also signaled out a number of times as being offensive and misogynistic.

Saturday night's shows offered the biggest names, including X lead singer Exene Cervenka, Curfman, Sobule and Penelope Houston.

For once though, a music conference offered enough interesting, insightful and thought-provoking panels and speeches that the attention was focused squarely on the questions raised, rather than free booze or solely how to get into shows. Even if that turns out to be the biggest legacy of ROCKRGL 2000, DeSantis should be proud.

STEVE BALTIN
(November 7, 2000)