Female Sound Rocks New York

Make Music New York, a festival of free music all over New York, enticed our musical desires for a third year. On Sunday June 21, nearly 900 concerts filled the streets of the city from 11 am to 10 pm. Genres like reggae, classical, jazz, rock music and more each spiced up the dreary day with their unique musical sound. And of course this day definitely had women who rocked.

The Brooklyn Historical Society, for example, showcased its very own rockin' women by hosting the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls in downtown Brooklyn. The Camp, a Brooklyn based mentoring program for girls, has been a part of this event for a second year in a row. Sady Sullivan, a volunteer and staff member at the Brooklyn Historical Society, said being part of the festival was a great way for her to combine her volunteer job and her regular job. “It's such a fun festival to be a part of,” she said. The concert included young girls and volunteers playing in their own bands. The first to rock the stage was the band called Twilight at the Idle. This band had a jazzy yet rocker feel (with a drummer and a singer on keyboard). Rickie Gal, pianist of the group and piano instructor at the camp said she loves contributing to the camp. “I think Willie Mae does a great job,” sie said. Another awesome band that played was the Crinolines. This group had four women who rocked out with their skill that generated to the crowd. Leu Chekowsky, singer of the band, said she didn't know she would like playing music when she first got started. She said Make Music New York is awesome that it can allow people to play music together at the same time. “It's like an experience to help girls speak up,” said Hanna Fox, president of the girls rock camp.

Women for sure spoke up and played hard at Punk Island. Governor's Island was scattered with stages of different types of punk rock from 11 am to 5 pm. The island was big and had punk music in various parts. But women rocked on at Stage 11. Bands like S.M.U.T., Vagiant, and the Percocettes were showcased. Yet one group that had one fan loving their sound “kicked-ass.” Pat Mitchell said he really liked Shira Girl, a Brooklyn based group. “They were poppy, but punk enough,” Mitchell said. He added that he was totally for women in rock music.

Not only is Mitchell a fan of these women. Athenia Henderson, singer of a Caribbean/ R&B/pop infused band, said women in rock is a nice change from a male dominated genre. She also said this event is an excellent way to get musicians together. Henderson is part of a band of six musicians. She sang covers from rockers like Gwen Stefani to R&B divas like Alicia Keys at the Brouwerij Lane bar in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The singer writes her own songs too including a pop-rock oriented song called “Always.” The influence of women rockers was spread out in the city that day. New York knows how to make its music fly.

-Tiffany