1/19/2024 0 Comments Female guitar shreddersThen, following the release of her debut album, Song to a Seagull in 1968, she went on to produce such masterpieces as the traditional folk album Blue (1971), jazz-rock record Court and Spark (1974), and jazz-fusion work Hejira (1976), among others. Early singles “Chelsea Morning,” “The Circle Game,” and “Both Sides Now,” the latter brought to a wider audience by Judy Collins, first put her on the map. Born Roberta Anderson in Alberta, Canada in the early ‘40s, Mitchell adopted her stage name shortly before she moved to America in 1966. Starting out in the ‘60s, singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell is one of the most influential, poetic, and multi-faceted artists to have emerged from the mid-20th-century folk scene. Starting out in the late ‘70s with all-girl rock group the Runaways and switching to a brief solo career from 1980-81, Jett became known for her loud, defiant, no-frills rock edge, which can be heard on songs like “I Hate Myself for Loving You,” “Bad Reputation,” and most famously, her Top Ten hit “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Joan Jett and the Blackhearts was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015. Perhaps one of the biggest names in rock, bandleader/guitarist Joan Jett rose to fame in the ‘80s with her band the Blackhearts. Read on to see the many examples of women in rock. They’ve become platinum-selling artists and have lead musical movements. They are shredders, bandleaders, singer/songwriters, sidewomen, and more. Now, 40 years later, more and more female guitarists have played a role in the evolution of rock and been recognized for their contributions. In their study of music ads in Seventeen magazines from 1944 to 1981, Lyn Ellen Burkett and Kim Wangler note, “girls were pictured … standing near guitars, and watching boys playing guitars, but rarely was a girl shown holding or playing a guitar. By the time rock emerged in the 1950s, the guitar had come to be viewed as masculine-a supposed quality that was reinforced by the media. As a result, women, such as Spanish virtuoso Madame de Goñi, were some of the greatest early guitarists.īut as the commercial availability of steel strings in the early 1900s accompanied the general popularization of the instrument, it found a new home among a male demographic. Guitars were smaller back then, and in the 1800s, the parlor guitar-a small, compact model-was developed for women. In the 18th and 19th centuries, guitars were seen as women’s instruments. I sat bolt upright in my living room, like, ‘Why didn’t anybody tell me you could get those sounds out of a guitar?!’ Up until then, I had been dinking away trying to play ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit.’ But after Crossroads, it was a snowball down the hill into that whole shred world - everyone from Vai and Joe Satriani and Paul Gilbert to Marty Friedman and Jason Becker.Despite what its image in the 20th century might suggest, the guitar hasn’t always been a symbol of masculinity. “I remember watching Vai come in, and he’s just blazing. “But no - it’s real.” Her father bought her a guitar when she was 13, but she didn’t find her calling with the instrument until seeing the 1986 Ralph Macchio film Crossroads. “What’s funny about that is people always think I’m using a classical-sounding stage name, like Sebastian Bach,” she says. But more than anything, you have to be prepared - be better than anyone else out there, and leave no doubt with your playing.”ĭOWN TO THE CROSSROADS: Strauss comes from a long line of classical musicians - an ancestor on her father’s side of the family is the composer Johann Strauss. As for her diverse résumé, she says, “A lot of being a guitarist, especially in L.A., is being in the right place at the right time. Her most visible pre-Cooper gig, however, was as a member of the Iron Maidens, a ripping all-female tribute to the British metal legends. The Los Angeles native has played everything from corrosive deathcore (with As Blood Runs Black), to classic funk (with Jermaine Jackson) and symphonic-rock renditions of video-game themes (with Critical Hit). WHO: At 28 years old, Nita Strauss has already traveled a long and varied path to her current position - shredding arena stages as a guitarist in Alice Cooper‘s band.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |