To paraphrase Bryan Adams— “ Everybody knows the girls want to rock.”
That’s exactly what the first ever Lethbridge Girls Rock Camp will be doing this week at CASA.
One of the organizers Silvana Campus has been volunteering with the Vancouver Girls Rock Camp in Vancouver for the past three years and decided the time was right to bring it to Lethbridge.
“ I’m super stoked about it. Girls Rock Vancouver are so supportive. They have lent me a ton of materials,” she continued adding co-organizers Kristen Krein and Roz Jeffrey plus 15-20 volunteers are all pitching in to make Lethbridge Girls Rock Camp a hit.
“The girls will show up on the first day, most of them not ever having played an instrument, then they will form bands, write and rehearse a song, participate in workshops and will play it at the end of the week,” Campus summarized.
The camp runs at CASA July 22-26, with the final showcase taking place on July 27. They are partnering with the YWCA for this program.
On the first day the group will be played a variety of different music. Bands and instruments will be chosen according to their musical interests and taste.
While the camp is open to girls aged 8-18, most of the 17 enrolled this year are around 9-14.
“Some of them will come in having no experience at all. It will be fun because they are so open to learning. They will go in never having touched a set of drums and by Saturday they will be playing a 2-3 minute long song which they wrote, which if you’ve ever tried to write a song is no easy feat,” she enthused.
“ While girls rock may seem exclusionary, girls tend to sit back in a class and let someone who is louder take all of the attention. And that’s usually the boys. This way, girls are forced to step up. There is nobody to take a back seat to,” she continued.
Several members of the Lethbridge music community will be running the workshops.
Multi-instrumentalist Brenna Lowrie, who plays keyboards, guitar, drums and vocals in several different bands will be teaching a workshop on vocals.
Local musician Jessie Tollestrup, who often plays at the Trianon’s Thursday night jam , will be teaching a workshop on keyboards. Roz Jeffrey, who plays in local band Shipbreaker will be teaching a guitar workshop while Campus , who plays bass in a couple different bands including betterhalf and the Darby and Joan Club will be teaching the bass workshop.
A couple of guys will also be involved.
Campus’ bandmate Aaron Trozzo, who also plays in Lustre Creame will be teaching a songwriting workshop and Clayton Smith who plays drums for countless local bands, will be teaching the drum workshop.
There will also be workshops on stage presence body image, media awareness and zines, where the participants will make their own band T-shirts and zines. As well there will be a gear and equipment workshop.
“ This camp is about providing positive role models and forming positive relationships between girls,” she added.
“It’s nice to give them role models in music, not just pop singers that they usually see.”
Lethbridge Girls Rock Camp spread the word through social media like Facebook and Twitter plus held two fundraisers at the Owl Acoustic Lounge and Slice. Several more enrolled after an appearance on Scene and Heard. They are planning further collaborations with the community after the camp ends including a girl jam with the YWCA during their Week without Violence on the Oct. 13 weekend.
“I’m hopeful these girls will get into music. It’s important to get used to music and use this as a medium to support it,” she said.
For added inspiration, several of Lethbridge's beloved female performers will be on stage every day at noon. Punk/ metal band Fox Eyes play on Monday, Redrum Triumph will perform on Tuesday, Brenna Lowrie will play on Wednesday, betterhalf will play Thursday and Shaela Miller will wind things up on Friday.
Tickets to the showcase on Saturday can be purchased at Blueprint.
More information is available at http://www.lethbridgegirlsrockcamp.com
