Editor's Note: The following is the sixth story in a five-day series about the advances and difficulties of women in Athens' academic, professional and cultural scenes.
The Loaded Revulvas scream it. Liz Pahl chooses an acoustic guitar and soft vocals. Red Dahlia delivers with introspective lyrics and complicated rhythms.
They're accepted and applauded local female musicians, sometimes set apart as novelties, making their way in a music scene dominated by men.
Women have always been the minority of Uptown musicians, said Matt Toledo, a member of Red Dahlia and Web master for the Athens Musician Network. If there are a hundred musicians
I'd say 20 of them are women.
Yet women have come a long way in the music scene, said Susan Burgess, an Ohio University professor who teaches the class Women, Gender and Rock and Roll. When women first entered the music scene during the blues era of the 1920s, they created uproars and were considered scandalous. Opportunities have opened since then ' women can play instruments, be headliners and get radio play ' but challenges remain, Burgess said.
Onstage at The Union, The Front Room, Casa Nueva and other local venues, female rockers of Athens are bringing their own identity, style and sound to the music scene while trying to break down remaining barriers.
Chicks with guitars
Three years ago, Chandra Trembly and her friends Cara Chatfield, Jessica Street and Kari Smith realized they had a bass, a guitar, a drum set and a love of music, but no band. Although they had little musical training, they taught themselves how to play together and the punk/rock group The Loaded Revulvas was born.
When Loaded Revulvas got together, they were hailed as Athens' first all-female band in 11 years, Trembly said. They were joined in 2005 by General Stacks, another all-female group that broke up after a year and a half.
Street, the band's drummer, said the Revulvas have worked long hours practicing, performing and preparing to record their 17-song repertoire, but they also have gotten a lot of breaks from their audiences because they are an all-girl group.
Cause we're all chicks we're a novelty whether we want to be or not she said.
OU professor Burgess said this is a problem that many female musicians face. While women with identities traditionally occupied by men are seen as trailblazers, they face the danger of being considered a novelty, which can cause them to distance themselves from other females.
Its not necessarily that they want to disown being a woman
but they want to occupy that identity without being made a novelty
Burgess said.
While being female sets the band apart, it also influences the way they play their music, a rapid attack inspired by past experiences. Trembly said the band tries to stay away from music that is too girly and fluffy, but their songs are definitely female-oriented.
Being one of the only all-female groups in Athens generates respect from audiences ' especially women who want to start their own bands ' but the Revulvas still have faced stereotyping
Chatfield said.
When we played Halloween, I heard 'Who do you think is the prettiest one?' she said. What the hell does that have to do with anything?
Taking the lead
While Jodi Toledo had been singing and playing the piano since she was a kid
her career as a lead singer started when she met her husband Matt while working at Shively Dining Hall.
The couple started playing together and formed the rock band Planet 12 and later Red Dahlia
an old-school rock band that draws its influences from groups such as Sonic Youth.
Toledo
also the keyboarder for the band
said the ballads she writes are often about relationships and women sticking up for themselves.
Women bring a unique quality to music 'cause they're so much more in tune, Toledo said. They have a sense of emotion and how it can add dynamic to the music.
Janiene Torch
lead singer of Human Lawnmowers
