Music to my ears
On the heels of our last Friday Fun Thread re: summer camp, I have to give a big shout out to some fierce girls who spend their summers learning to rock. Thanks to commenter Hill Rat for bringing this write-up about Girls Rock! DC to my attention.
Camp not only educates these girls about rocking out and working together but they also learn to hook up their own equipment and how to be confident with themselves.
They start every morning with a bit of scream therapy (!), receive instrument instruction, and take electives such as Women Who Rock, Song Writing, Image, and Self Defense. The girls formed bands on the first day of camp, and devote their afternoons to practice. At the end of camp the girls showcased their talents at popular DC venue the 9:30 Club. The showcase sounds like it was amazing, and the girls’ pride and enthusiasm is heartwarming. I would love to enroll a (hypothetical) daughter in an empowering program like this. There are Girls Rock! camps across the country, and they thrive because of the hard work of donors and volunteers. Check it out!
This is completely awesome. I love that girls are being taught how to rock out. Y’all should click on the link to see more…it put a big smile on my face.
Thanks for the tip, HillRat.
@BeckySharper
My pleasure. As much as I enjoy coming here and stirring the pot, I also want to be a member of this community who contributes.
NYC has a similar org: http://www.williemaerockcamp.org/about.html
They’re pretty fantastic too. Cheers for girls who rock!
Whaaat! Oh HELL yes.
This is music to my ears, and that photo just about brings tears to my eyes.
Look at that smile!
They just got a donation.
I, for one, hardly thought I could possibly feel any more personally empowered, but I managed to do it by buying myself an electric guitar when I turned 30. I’m still kind of horrible at it (for now!) but I can pluck out a halting-but-recognizable “White Wedding,” and I cannot believe how much pleasure it gives me. Who says I’m too old? I’ve gotten basically zero encouragement, but screw them; I don’t care what anyone says. ♫It’s a/Nice day to/Start agaaaaiiin!♪
OMFG, they have DJ classes too.
Can I sign up for this place??
Karinova, that’s a shame nobody encouraged you. YOU ROCK! And how on earth did you make those little music notes?!
You could probably volunteer there and have just as much fun as the kids!
There is also a documentary about the camp (which started in Portland, OR). The film, honestly, wasn’t as good as I hoped it would be, but definitely worth checking out to see how the camp is run.
My daughter decided not to do the DC camp based on the film, actually. It’s the way they form the bands: All the girls together in a big room with genre signs (goth, punk, pop, hip-hop, metal, etc.) taped up to the walls around. Then they just sort of wander around and organically form bands.
There were some girls who were shunned by others for not being cool enough, or being “annoying.” My girl decided that sounded too stressful and looked like a lot of feelings were hurt.
Hopefully she’ll be more up for it next summer but, one way or another, the girls is gonna rock in a fierce way!
Oh…the movie: http://www.girlsrockmovie.com/
Tim, I shuddered as I read the description of how bands are picked. That would have been really scary for me too. That was the only thing that gave me pause.
The video at that link totally made me tear up. And the young woman on drums is a total badass.
karinova, I wonder, depending on where you are, if you could volunteer or work for one of these camps? It sounds like you would be a great role model for these girls.
PhDork,
I had the same thought: gotta get good at this so I can share the wealth. This is how evangelists must feel. Really, I didn’t expect it to be so… well, empowering! It’s like, “That sound you’re hearing? I made that. I literally made it from nothing.”
Hell, maybe it doesn’t even matter that I’m not so good.
HillRat, this was a great tip! What a truly lovely story. If we all had scream therapy, I think the world would be a better place.
@karinova – thanks for your support! we’ll be sure to let you know about the next instrument class (turntables? guitars? drums? oh my!) via harpyness or some other way
@Tim – i’m really sorry to hear your daughter was turned off by the band selection practices
each camp/city does band selection in different ways. as you may imagine, it can be difficult to figure out a way to get dozens of girls to meet and pick top choices of bandmates on the first day of camp!
here, in dc, we’ve felt the round robin/speed dating process has served its purpose of getting everyone to know each other and think of who they want to create music with. BUT, if you or your young rocker have any suggestions of making the band selection process less intimadating-sounding, please let us know!
i can be reached at ebony[at]girlsrockdc.org
thanks to HillRat and the charming and vicious ladies of Harpiness for the shoutout!
Hello Tim / Karinova / all,
Like Ebony (above), I am an organizer of the DC camp, and am also sorry that your daughter was turned off after viewing the band selection process that the Portland camp uses in the Girls Rock! film.
I want to be clear that we use a totally different method of band selection at our DC rock camp (and it has worked well for us), precisely to avoid the intimidating “last kid picked” concerns that you mention.
At our rock camp, we do a “speed dating” process, where every girl talks to every other girl at camp for one minute (they are provided with a list of interview questions they can use if they want.) Each camper takes notes, and in the end, writes down a list of ten people she would enjoy being in a band with. Bands are then put together by Girls Rock! DC staff (we ensure that every girl ends up in a band with at least one person she wrote down on her list, plus a good balance of instrumentation), and announced to the campers later that day.
Take care, and we hope to meet more Pursuit of Harpyness readers soon! I am always happy to provide more information about Girls Rock! DC and can be reached at jeanni@girlsrockdc.org.
Rock on!
Thanks Jeanni and Ebony!
Hey thanks a lot for your responses ebony and Jeanni! I really appreciate you letting me know about the selection process at the DC camp. I’ll definitely let the girl know about it as it really sounds much more like a process she’d be good with.
Keep up the good work!! If I were a woman, I’d totally be volunteering as a counselor.
Girls do, in fact, Rock. Mine especially.