How about Aimee Mann?

Aren't they all mostly singers?

all were/are great instrumentalists who are also excellent vocalists: mother maybelle carter-guitar, daugherty-autoharp; elizabeth cotton-guitar ('freight train' among others); joan baez-guitar (excellent finger stylist); mimi farina-dulcimer; aretha-piano/organ (could hold her own w/the right reverend ray); erma franklin-piano (if you aint heard her doing her song 'piece of my heart' you should); joni-guitar/piano (incredible guitarist and held her own with mingus; who ever heard of her ex chuck outside of detroit and toronto?); dixie chicks-guitar, fiddle, banjo, mandolin.

i forgot buffy ste marie, christine mcvie, carole king & suzie quatro (the more talented--altho i use that word reservedly in this case--member of the family) and i'm sure i'm forgetting many others.

you can write off chix who play keyboards...i'd give my right hand to play like aretha or erma (of course then i couldn't hahahaha)

all were/are great instrumentalists who are also excellent vocalists:

Ok. I'll take your word for it.

I think maybe that's enough for female guitarists. What about some more female drummers?

What is this "musician" crap?

First of all, the voice is an instrument for sure. It requires tuning and practice. It requires focus and control. It requires a deep understanding of its limits and how to push them.

But that's totally irrelevant, because we're talking about rock musicians. And when it comes to rock musicians, there's only one question we need to ask:

Do they rock faces?

Tori Amos can play the piano like nobody's business, but Debbie Harry rocks more faces.

The Wilson sisters are skilled and dedicated vocalists, but Heart is a great band because they rock faces.

Pat Benatar. Joan Jett. Cindy Lauper. That girl from Black Eyed Peas. These women rock faces.

And rocking faces, like the hokey pokey, is what it's all about.

Please explain "rock faces."

good article, Icono. I really don't know why more female musicians aren't in rock.

They are in rock... they just don't get the same sort of exposure.... but they are there.

What about Hole? Are they any good?

Ha! it was Courtney Love who inspired me to pick up a guitar. I figured if an untalented crack headed twat like her could play, then I could damn well do it too.

I learnt to play at the grand old age of 30. I'm not saying I'm as good as her, but I will say that the chords for some of their stuff are very, very basic. They had to be, she was stoned most of the time.

Ha! it was Courtney Love who inspired me to pick up a guitar. I figured if an untalented crack headed twat like her could play, then I could damn well do it too. I learnt to play at the grand old age of 30. I'm not saying I'm as good as her, but I will say that the chords for some of their stuff are very, very basic. They had to be, she was stoned most of the time.

Dang... that woman is like looking at a car wreck waiting to happen. Sad.

that woman is like looking at a car wreck waiting to happen

Well, the car wreck is over, it's basically the debris that were looking at now.

How about Aimee Mann?

Aimee Man is pretty good. At least I think so that is.

India Arie is another female musician that's pretty good as well.

From the classic Bon Jovi touring song, Wanted Dead or Alive:

"I've seen a million faces, and I've rocked them all."

It's a reference to the rockstar experience of being up onstage in front of a huge crowd, rocking hard.

If the question is confusing, try it without the "faces":

Do they rock?

The answer to that question is all you need to know. Whether or not they can play an instrument is entirely beside the point.

Oh, and here is a link to femmuse.com a female musician site. Thought you might like it.

HOLY CRAP, there is a female Cheap Trick cover band. That's really awesome!!!

Do they rock? The answer to that question is all you need to know. Whether or not they can play an instrument is entirely beside the point.

I don't think Rock is what they need, I think it's more what my guy friends call "F@ckability Factor".

Not to mention, few of them wanted to even really look at a women that was better than them in male dominated fields.

It's a reference to the rockstar experience of being up onstage in front of a huge crowd, rocking hard.

That's what I suspected.

Whether or not they can play an instrument is entirely beside the point.

Wrong. That's the point of the article.

It seems a lot of the women aren't aggressive enough to beat the hell out of a drum set or play a mean guitar.

Get over the "are singers musicians" thing... It's Iconoclast's article, he gets to make the rule! ;~D

Get over the "are singers musicians" thing... It's Iconoclast's article, he gets to make the rule!

Thanks, Ted. The rule is: can they play an instrument as well as most guys in a rock band? Specifically, drums and guitar.

Not much of a drummer fan, more into guitars, but here is a small list of women I have either heard play on recordings or seen play in person. Listed in order of earliest to latest that I came to know of them:

Moe (Maureen) Tucker (The Velvet Underground)
Cecilia Lynch (Frightwig)
Mimi Parker (Low)
Sara Lund (Unwound)

i remember seeing a poster in chicago advertising an all female band as:

Chicago's Unbelievable New Talent

unfortunately i can't recall the name of the group

Moe (Maureen) Tucker

yeah but she was waitin for her man...26 dollars in her hand.

jeez you remember more than ive forgotten hahahahah

On the Mar Y Sol Festival album, there's a blues band called Nitzinger. He (John Nitzinger) introduces the members. I can't hear him real well, but when he introduces the drummer, he says, (I think I hear him right), Francis Pace, female drummer of distinction. Link I can't find a list of his band members, though.

Here are some of the lyrics of "Texas Jellyroll Blues", which he perfomed at the festival:

Mama, you ain't nothin'
but a big ol' greasy jellyroll.
I said, mama, you ain't nothin'
but a big ol' greasy jellyroll.
If you don't dig the blues
we're gonna put a little soul in your hole.

First you took my pride (and I didn't mind that)
Then you took my stash. I ain't goin' for that.

Baby, if you put your brain on a razor blade
it'd look like a BB rollin' down a four-lane highway.

--"Thanks, Ted. The rule is: can they play an instrument as well as most guys in a rock band? Specifically, drums and guitar."--

Here are some more. When it comes to guitar there is Ruyter Suys from Nashville Pussy and Corin Tucker from Sleater-Kinney.

The drummer Janet Weiss from Sleater-Kinney is good too. Another real good one is Stefanie Eulinberg. She plays in Twisted Brown Truckers, Kid Rock's back-up band. Another one is Meg White from The White Stripes (one of my favorite bands). It's hard to describe her playing. She's overrated and underrated at the same time.


--"On the Mar Y Sol Festival album, there's a blues band called Nitzinger. He (John Nitzinger) introduces the members. I can't hear him real well, but when he introduces the drummer, he says, (I think I hear him right)"--

I know his drummer back at that time was Linda Waring. But I don't know if it was her that played with him at the festival.

Just writing that last sentence I'm reminded of a blues guitarist I saw in Vegas about 5 years ago. Her name was Teresa Russell. She was very good. But that might have been the alcohol. I wonder if she's still around. I bought a cassette that night but Lord knows where it is now. If you like blues you should check her out.

Thanks, Icono for getting my brain going. Trying to think of female musicians got me looking through all my old cassettes and bringing back some good memories.

I know his drummer back at that time was Linda Waring. But I don't know if it was her that played with him at the festival.

Even though I couldn't understand him real well, I'm sure he didn't say Linda Waring.

after three days of holding this one back, i no longer have the strength to restrain myelf.

your best argument can be summed up in two words: linda mcccartney.

Sheryl Crowe and Tift Merritt - two of my faves.

your best argument can be summed up in two words: linda mcccartney

Neither a singer nor musician.

Sheryl Crowe and Tift Merritt - two of my faves.

Sheryl Crowe is pretty good. I haven't heard of Tift Merritt.