Girls Rock!

Portland's Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls

by Kathryn Lipman

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Published: Nov 5, 2008

Courtesy of First Person Arts

Palace, a 7-year-old vocalist with a Sid Vicious sneer, shakes her fist at the camera and screams in precocious rage. The mini-rocker's swagger and self-made rebel image make her an appropriate (and irresistible) poster child for Girls Rock!, a documentary that follows her and three others through Portland's Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls.

Women involved in Portland's music scene in the late 1990s started the camp in response to statistics showing that, although more girls than boys score in the "gifted" range when they start school, many girls finish scoring lower than boys. Researchers disturbingly concluded that by middle school, girls internalized the message that they had to choose between popularity and demonstrating their intellectual and leadership abilities. 

"I was lucky enough to come of musical age in Portland when Riot Grrrl had just happened. I don't think it's like that everywhere in the country and certainly not in the world," says Katy Davidson, who volunteered at the early sessions of the camp. Formerly of the band Dear Nora, she now plays as a solo artist and in the duo Lloyd & Michael.

Along with zinester Nicole J. Georges and the Portland camp director who goes by the name sts, Davidson will speak at Saturday's screening of Girls Rock! about the roots of the movement and the recently released book, Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls: How to Start a Band, Write Songs, Record an Album and Rock Out! (Chronicle).

The girls featured in the documentary learn to play their chosen instruments, form bands, write music together, print T-shirts and how to avoid being taken advantage of by promoters. The message, sometimes implicit but often overt, is about self-empowerment. "We all remember what it was like to be an adolescent, and I think we all hope we can give them what we needed at that time," says one of the instructors in the film.

Campers are introduced to the history of women in rock, from Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton to Kim Deal, but the real lessons come from the impressive lineup of instructors. "As women, we fall into roles without realizing it," says Beth Warshaw-Duncan, a producer at WXPN and a founding organizer of Girls Rock Philly!, one of the original camp's many offshoots. At the camp, she says, girls are encouraged to consider how the media influences their self-image and to ask, "Who am I? What music do I want to make, as opposed to what music I've heard before?"

"These days, there are so many coed bands," says Davidson. "That's an indication that things are getting better, even more than all-girl bands."

Sat., Nov. 15, 3-6 p.m., $10, Painted Bride.

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