Any of you ladies rockers?

[Lorna]

Lorna, you a have a point: women have definitely left a mark on the hard rock / prog rock scene. I had a mad crush on the Wilson sisters (of the group Heart) as a teen... Barracuda, Crazy On You, and the like are all anthems of my youth.

Oh yes.... I forgot about Heart!!!

[Elizabeth]

Jeannie,

I have seen a lot of my heroes. I have seen Jimmie Page, Eddie Van Halen, Eric Clapton, Billy Gibbons, Ted Nugent, Gary Richrath, Alex Lifeson just to name a few.

CJ,

I played in bands with female vocalists, whiich meant we did a lot of Heart songs. We did a lot of songs from other female vocalists also like Linda Rhondstat, Fleedwood Mac, and ever other one hit charlie.

Here is a look at my band in 1981.



Love always,
elizabeth

[Amelie-Laveau]

This will sound kinda strange from me, but I saw the Ventures live and I really liked the twang of their guitars. Also I liked the feedback style guitar playing of Jesus and Mary Chain. I was also impressed with the guitar work of blues band Son Seals.

If you want to hear a good head banging female metal rocker, go to this site and listen to Betty X, I especially like "Teen Dream"

http://www.myspace.com/bettyx

Another band worth mentioning is Malice Mizer from Japan. They mix goth with Eno, Rick Wakeman styles.

[Carol B]

Let's not limit this to just geetars...

This is my Hammond A100



Rock would not sound the same without this and its sisters the B3 and C3. Any Keith Emerson or Jon Lord fans out there? Not to mention Rick Wright, Rick Wakeman, Greg Allman or Tony Banks? Sheesh, the list of Hammond rockers goes on...

Hugz,

[Elizabeth]

Hi Carol,

Yes, I am a huge Rick Wakeman fan and Jon Lord and have seen both in concert. I seen Yes on thier reunion tour in 2002 and Deep Purple back in 1975.

Which reminds me, I also seen Steve Howe in concert. Unfortunately Richie Blackmore was no longer with Deep Purple when I seen them.

Anyway, the sounds of the B-3 with a Leslie speaker are indeed a huge part of the Rock and Roll past.

Love always,
Elizabeth

[Jeannie]

My son plays piano and church organ. The Priest at my wifes church gives him the key so he could practice in the summer. There is nothing more powerful and impressive than a big church organ. I don't know how they play with all those keyboards and their feet. I have enough trouble with my six fingers!I went with him one day and he played the signature song from Phantom of the opera" It was chilling. What an awesome sound. I remember seeing Emerson,Lake and Palmer in the early seventies. They were great.
Amelie don't feel old about seeing the Ventures. I'm in "Bits and pieces thinking about my first concert. The first concert I ever saw was the Dave Clark five in New Haven,CT. I remember the ventures. WIPEOUT!
It doesn't matter what our how you play as long as you have fun. It's like crossdressing. We all do our own thing at whatever level but we love it. Life is short so play and dress on! Can we dress ladies? Can we? Like a fiend we can! Have a great holiday and New years! You all are the best. When will those weird average people realize it. Their lose! We are the best of both worlds.

Love
Jeannie

[GalicianGirl(SO)]

Believe it or not but I was the lead singer in a rock band back in the 80's. Our band was called Lightspeed and we were based out of Atlanta Georgia. We did a lot of copy music such as Pat Benatar, Heart, Missing Persons, Stevie Nicks, Van Halen, Kiss, Def Leppard, Yes and more. We also wrote our music which came across pretty good when we played out.

That had to be one of the best times of my life. I was a real rocker at the time. The song that always got the crowd going wild was when I sang "Rock of Ages" by Def Lepppard. Yep, I got down and dirty and slid across the stage with my red leather pants singing "I'm gonna burn this damn place down, down to the ground" Ha, Ha, Ha... Boy, those were the days...

We got to do a demo with Rick Jamison as our producer. He was the guy who produced Foghat. That was the best break for us. But all good things must come to an end, our lead guitarist got hit by a truck while changing somones tire, our drummer smashed his hand in the car door and broke 3 fingers and I got pregnant... We did manage to play thoughout my pregnancy but had to get a new guitarist. Our drummer only lost a month so he rejoined us. We played our last gig at a rock festival just outside Atlanta where there were about 10,000 people in attendance. I think I freaked out the other bands being 9+ months pregnant but when we went out to play that didn't hold me back at all...

If I can find a pic of the band, I'll post it sometime...

Unforuneately, now I just rock to a Karaoke machine...

Rock On...

Sharon(SO)

[Celia]

Damn, Sharon, that's cool. Wish my life had been so interesting.

-Celia

[Kathy]

Back in high school I was the drummer for a local rock band. We did all copy music, nothing original. Before the drinking age was raised to 21 we played a lot of local lounges.

And, just to keep life interesting, I also played in the school marching band, dance pand and concert band as well as the town military band. When I didn't have anything else going on, I'd get together with a few guys who played guitar, banjo and fiddle and do square dances and country music at the local Grange Hall.

But, then, I had to go get a "real" job and haven't picked up a drum stick in nearly 30 years.

Kathy

[Anita]

Believe it or not but I was the lead singer in a rock band back in the 80's. Our band was called Lightspeed and we were based out of Atlanta Georgia. We did a lot of copy music such as Pat Benatar, Heart, Missing Persons, Stevie Nicks, Van Halen, Kiss, Def Leppard, Yes and more. We also wrote our music which came across pretty good when we played out.

Nice account, Sharon. I didn't think, at the time, that I'd eventually be thinking, "Those were the good ol' days," when I looked back at the 80s. It was still possible to get four-night-a-week gigs back then, playing the steak houses and the nightclubs. People made a living doing that. I'd say that about 90% of those venues are gone, as far as having live music. Any one who's younger than 30 is used to having sound systems and/or djs play the music that they want to hear.

But you cut a wide swath through the area when it WAS possible, Sharon. Great! Your account and Elizabeth's picture of the band take me back there.

Kathy, I hope you can eventually pick up those sticks again. Just for fun, if nothing else.

[Kerri]

I listen to Wheels of Fire album by Cream when I am driving through the city while coming / going from / to work.
Kerri is 53, white haired but still a rocker.

Never played a musical instrument, my love in the sixties was my motorbikes. I never rated bands like Van Halen, Bon Jovi, Kiss or Guns and Roses as rock bands, they lacked originality.

My favourites then and now are, Pink Floyd, Yes, Fleetwood Mac, Cream, Black Sabbath, The Who, The Doors, Meatloaf, Suzi Quattro.

I Roadied for a few years for a band, in pubs and clubs and had a radio show and guest Dj spot in a club in Wales. I now still like the latter, but also like Techno and indeed all forms of music except Jazz and MOBO.

I like drum solos the best.

Its takes all kinds!

Kerri

[Kendra Lynn]

I'm a free lance music journalist and have been writing about music for almost 30 years!!

Now I mostly write about British folk-rockers, progressive "Celtic" stuff, and contemporary "world" music acts from continental Europe and the middle east.

Some favorites: Steeleye Span, Fairport Convention, Oysterband, Silly Wizard, Capercaillie, Shooglenifty, Ofra Haza (Israel), Spakka napoli (Italy), Richard Thompson, Afro Celt Sound System, The Neville Brothers, The Klezmatics.

Nice guitars in those photos, and yes, I will always love the sound of a Hammond B3.

Hope everyone had a groovy holiday!!

Peace-- Kendra Lynn

[Nick]

Well, y'know what?!

BAMF!!!



I've got guitars, too! Although, while you all dilly-dally with the weak rock of yesteryear, I'm headin' way down south of heaven with DEATH METAL! ...and just in case you're wondering, the black one in the front there is (Oh, YEAH!!!) a seven string! WOO!

Just kidding. I have a lot of respect for older bands such as Pink Floyd, Kansas, Van Halen, and Heart. Not only were they all very talented musicians and songwriters, they all made there own sound, and stuck with it. Although, I'm more of a metal person. I'm into bands like Megadeth, System of a Down, Arch Enemy, Cradle of Filth, Mastadon, Opeth, and (the guitar GOD!!!) Yngwie Malmsteem! I also do a lot of writing, and I hope to start recording pretty soon, as I finally figured out how to work a certain peice of recording hardware I have.

[Lorna]

Nice axes, Nick!!

I grew up on 80s Heavy Metal, but I do have a sweet tooth for Death Metal as well...

And if I'm ever in your area or you're in NY, I'd love to jam with you sometime.

[Nick]

I don't know if you can handle my AWESOME METAL POWERS *<-click it!*, though? Are you sure you are prepared? (Oh, my... I used a smiley!)

Eh, Lorna's prolly heard my song, but for anyone else who is curious... I've got a couple that aren't so heavy that I'm working out the kinks in the recording on. I've been writing a lot of political stuff as of late because of the State of the Union and all. The song I have on there right now is about military intelligence. There's a bit of a disclaimer with the lyrics that tell what it's about and why I wrote it. It made me smile when I played it all back after getting it all put together. It REALLY makes me wish that I could start a band!