Pedal Board pics of the last month! Johnny Marr, Sonic Youth, Wolfmother, Heartless Bastards, Von Bondies, John Mayer, Melt Banana, TMBG and many more

There still are not enough female guitarists to photograph their gear exclusively. But several of these pedals do belong to the gals. Can you guess which ones?

Short Film with my band from the 90's "The CHICKLETTS"

The Chickletts, 10 years later, just filmed follow up interviews to the short film "Fireflies" (from 1999) in which we were one of 3 all female bands interviewed and studied.

Our song in the old film is "Hush". Other songs we did are "I Need A Man", "Psycho" by the Sonics, "Leave My Kitten Alone", "Peroxide" and more girls-in-the-garage type songs. I hope to put together a compilation and old pics up online again soon.

We were lucky enough to play with some of our favorite bands in NYC in the 90's including the infamous Andre Williams, Norton Record acts, and whoever was plowing thru CBGB's in those years...

The new film should be out next year.

For Katarina's blog, the original filmmaker:

SEE MOVIE HERE

Cute as Hell

NEW! Ladies Band/Workshop/Jam Class

You've asked for it and here it is. A ladies' band workshop jam every THURSDAY at the new Willie Mae Rock Camp Center!

WHEN: THURSDAY Nov 12th - Dec 17, 7-9pm:

THURSDAY NIGHT "LADIES JAM"

Ladies Jam is an informal jam session for women who play guitar, bass, drums, keyboards or vocals, and who want to practice their instruments while gaining experience playing with other musicians.

Guided by a band coach (who provides instrument/amp set up, assistance on song structures, and general coaching), women of all levels of musical experience have the chance to practice familiar songs, learn new ones, hone their chops, trade tips, find possible band mates, and have fun playing music together.

Led by Sara Landeau, longtime music teacher and Willie Mae Rock Camp
for Girls band coach, and owner Brooklyn Guitar & Drum Studio for Women & Girls in
Greenpoint, where the Ladies Jam has been a popular program for
several years.

For women aged 18+, all levels of experience welcome. Instruments
provided, or bring your own.

Thursdays, 7 - 9 p.m
November 12 - Dec 17 (except Thanksgiving, Nov 26)

Come to as many or as few sessions as you want. Just RSVP by day
before session.

Willie Mae Community Music Center
87 Irving Place
(between Fulton and Putnam, 1 block from Classon)
Around the corner from Outpost Coffee Lounge
Near Franklin Ave C / Shuttle station

$20 per session

http://www.williemaerockcamp.org/about.html

TO SIGN UP: Email Sara Landeau at info@saralandeau.com
www.saralandeau.com

(image above: The Slits)

All girls and women should see this Video

This is amazing. I'm so impressed by this brand for making such an educational video.

GUITAR GEAR is Fun to Look At

As a part time bartender at a music venue, I don't have much extra learning going on - pouring liquids into cups is fairly easy at this point (and age) and there's only so much creativity and skill that goes with it. So before I cash out on that moonlighting extra money, I decided to learn something at this job about the one thing I soak in and am dying to master: GUITAR PEDALS & GEAR. I should have thought of taking photos of this stuff YEARS AGO. I think these images are BEAUTIFUL!

Here's some of the set ups of Hope Sandoval, members of My Bloody Valentine gear, The Raveonettes, The Black Angels and more. I can't tell you who's who or people won't like it.

Rock Camp Austin Review -click *HERE*

"Texas Monthly Magazine" review of the Girls Rock Camp Austin. OCTOBER 2009.

I got a little quote in

the article....

TUESDAY

Every day at rock camp had a schedule: assembly in the morning, then instrument instruction, workshops, and band rehearsal. Another of the coaches, Sara Landeau, a guitar teacher from Brooklyn who helps run the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls there, told me that she has taught classes of girls and classes of girls and boys. “When boys are in the group, they won’t stop playing, and they’re very loud. Girls won’t take solos—they won’t play in front of the boys. But if it’s all girls, they’ll play.”

Read the WHOLE article..... TEXAS MONTHLY October 2009 review: http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-10-01/letterfromcamp-2.php

Record Year for Female Nobel Laureates

2009 is the record year for female Nobel Prize winners.

And click HERE for a list of all the female Nobel Laureates in history. Only one woman, Marie Curie, has won twice. So far in history no women have won a Nobel prize for Economics, but that category was not created until 1969.

I have mixed thoughts on the nomination process....

* * * * Since I posted this entry about the Nobel Prize winners, Elinor Ostrom (76) became the first woman to win a Nobel in Economics for her work on the management of common resources.

Style Rookie

Another inspiring place to visit.
http://tavi-thenewgirlintown.blogspot.com/

Her Bio:

Tiny 13 year old dork that sits inside all day wearing awkward jackets and pretty hats. Scatters black petals on Rei Kawakubo's doorsteps and serenades her in rap. Rather cynical and cute as a drained rat. In a sewer. Farting. And spitting out guts.

92 Year Old Woman Outsells Beatles to Top UK Charts

This story is truly inspiring and allows me to breathe better. Bravo.....

Vera Lynn, who made her name entertaining troops in World War II after recording her first song 70 years ago, has become the oldest living artist to have a number one album.

The 92-year-old's album "We'll Meet Again -- The Very Best of Vera Lynn" took the top spot in the British charts on Sunday, even outselling much-hyped re-mastered versions of the Beatles' back catalogue, according to the UK's Official Charts Company.

"I am extremely surprised and delighted, and a big 'thank you' to all my fans for putting me there," Lynn said, according the UK Press Association.

During the war, Lynn was known as the "Forces' Sweetheart" for hits such as "The White Cliffs of Dover" which struck a chord with British soldiers fighting overseas and audiences at home.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/09/14/lynn.charts.uk/index.html

The Uniform Project is a a year-long fundraiser for the Akanksha Foundation, a grassroots movement that is revolutionizing education in India. At the end of the year, all contributions will go toward Akanksha’s School Project to fund uniforms and other educational expenses for children living in Indian slums.

http://theuniformproject.com/home/monthly/August.html

I'm currently very inspired by this site; it proves how creative we can be with very limited resources and conscientious living.

Movie Review "It Might Get Loud" - the story of Jack White/The Edge/Jimmy Page

A little over a week ago, one of my students suggested seeing this movie so we arranged a Ladies Night Out trip to the movie theatre, a "class" field trip involving the group of us. We were an amusing crew, when we walked in we realized we were the only women there except for a few girlfriends of dudes, but mostly SINGLE men, sitting alone with their arms crossed and very serious expressions. To top it off, one of us was extremely pregnant (and has since had her baby in that week since then); us all in our 20's, 30's, 40's -professional and definitely non-rocker looking types. But we are all guitar or bass people so we KNEW what we were getting in to.

I was expecting that we'd be heckling, cringing at every turn, or plain out throwing our diet cokes at the screen with every sexist/Guitar Center comment. Our group had one loud laugh and snort when Jimmy Page compared the guitar to the curves of a women early in the film.., but in general the movie was non-offensive, exciting, and a guitar/pedal nerd's DREAM...okay, like MYSELF; and I even teared up a few times....those TONES...whew...and when JP played "Ramble On" by himself and showed us the mansion and hallway they recorded the drum intro to "When the Levee Breaks"....wow. And The Edge, minus the pretentious and annoying name, also charmed me into loving his guitar playing and song writing for the first time since "Sunday Bloody Sunday" came out. Bono...well, thank god he wasn't IN the movie, except the first U2 clips when they were New Wave and 18 years old was pretty thrilling to see.

So if you like guitar and amps and grew up with your parents Led Zeppelin albums, you will love this movie on the big screen. If you are a musician and don't care much about amps, you should see it on video. ... but see it.

It Might Get Loud