The girls are alright
Girls Rock Denver gets some guitars in good hands
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While the riot grrrl movement is mostly a memory, the spirit of the ’90s feminist punk movement still resonates with the ladies who grew up with bands like Bikini Kill. But now, women interested in shaking the patriarchy out of rock aren’t necessarily jumping on stage with guitars and microphones. Some—like Girls Rock Denver project director Monique Bourdage—are handing the equipment over to little girls at all-female rock camps around the country.
Bourdage is modeling her new Denver chapter after the original Girls Rock Camp, which was founded in Portland in 2001. From July 20 to 25 this year, Girls Rock Denver will provide a space for young women to pick up instruments, form a band, and perform for the community. This summer’s 25 attendees will enjoy music lessons and performances from local musicians; workshops such as zine-making taught by the Denver Zine Library; and discussions of issues including body image and bullying. “The goal of the camp is really to encourage girls to express themselves,” Bourdage explains, “just to be comfortable with who they are, and to have a voice and use it. When there aren’t boys around to grab the instruments first, there’s more of a chance for the girls that are used to standing back to step forward and do these things.”
To help make the camp a fiscal reality, local acts Rachael Pollard, Laura Goldhamer, Melodic Daydream, Abi McGaha-Miller, and Safe Boating Is No Accident will play a fundraiser tonight at the Meadowlark, one of many such benefit shows that Girls Rock Denver has organized over the past few months—all of which were inspired in part by last year’s documentary Girls Rock! The Movie, which helped spread the word about the movement. “There are so few women represented in rock right now,” laments Girls Rock Denver volunteer Katie Rothery. Adds Bourdage, “And a lot of the women who are really popular are not instrumentalists. They’re singers. It’s a big, long process, but hopefully we can change these ideas of what traditional roles are for females, and soon we won’t have to have a girls rock camp because it will be normal enough for girls to be playing the guitar.”
For more info or to donate to the cause, visit Girls Rock Denver’s website.
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