Los Angeles has been the epicenter of the music business for the last couple of weeks.
We were there! And the first place we started was with the She Rocks Awards.
This was the 11th annual She Rocks Awards started by the Women’s International Music Network (WiMN). It serves to recognize the contributions women make in all aspects of the music industry, while also networking to raise the equity of women in music. It means a hella lot to me to be involved in this event.
Music is a typically male dominated industry. My band mates have always been men. I am regularly the only woman on a stage shared by multiple bands. Most of my co-songwriters are men. In fact most of my friends are men. And although most of these guys are generally great, casual sexism is rampant. Thankfully, I’ve never been deep into an abuse-of-power horror story, but you may be surprised to know that I experience inequality as a woman regularly. But the shut down doesn’t always come from just men, it can come from other women as well.
So, I see a lot of benefit in women coming together professionally. As we recognize the strengths and contributions of other women, we lean into our empowerment. It helps all of us rise together. Women here aren’t competing against each other for the singular female slot, they are instead creating more spots to bring more women to the table.
We were brought on board as volunteers by our friend Christine who works as a coordinator for the event. (pictured above with her husband Dustin) Jared and Nicohl arrived early and were integral in set up and preparation for the big event. By Thursday it was all hands on deck. Brian and Jared worked backstage, Nicohl did anything and everything, while I was mostly on guest check-in. We all had our brushes with greatness. The honorees list was stacked: Debbie Gibson, Lindsey Sterling, Britt Lightning, and Sylvia Massey as a start. But my favorite was running smack dab into Diane Warren who was simply attending the event. As a songwriter she is one of my heroes, having written so many huge hits across multiple genres. I could hardly believe it was her since there was so little fanfare about her being there. But I suppose songwriting is a more invisible type of celebrity.
From set up to tear down we were there till the bitter end. (Brian pictured handing Britt Lightning her guitar after some on stage fixes.) The speeches were inspiring. Some of the performances were outstandingly amazing, while some of them left us wondering WTF. And of course, there were hiccups and hi-jinx a plenty that were expertly handled by us (yes, we’re awesome). By the end of the night we were all so exhausted that we passed on having celebratory drinks and went directly to bed. So here’s a belated “cheers” to women helping women, She Rocks Awards, WiMN, and a sublime experience.
(She Rocks Awards: https://sherocksawards.com/)
(WiMN: https://www.thewimn.com/)
My hero Diane Warren: