Okay folks, I know some of you have been waiting for this post as much as 24 hours, but here it is, my ode to female musicians. Unfortunately, I have no answers for you. I don't know why a woman becomes twice as alluring once you put an instrument into their delicate little hands, but it's ridiculous. It's almost unfair - there's really something amazing about female musicians that just can't be described, other than those gape-mouthed stares that they draw from all males in the room when they are performing. I will say first and foremost that this whole blog was brought around by Sarah Balliet (pictured immediately to your right), the cellist and keyboard player for a band called Murder by Death, who I lucked into seeing last night at Slim's. Not only was I blown away by the musical ability both of Sarah and the rest of the band, but I was reminded of just how much of an inescapable crush I have on female cellists. I think this stems back to my freshman year of college, when we had the hot female cellist at CSU Hayward, I'm not sure, but nowadays anytime I see a female who is even remotely cute who can play cello, I get weak in the knees.
Technically, I suppose you can say that this blog first had its seeds planted by seeing the Raveonettes last week (that's Raveonette Sharin Foo at the veeeery top of the page, there), but honestly, I was much more struck by the music at that show, to the point where her tall, blonde, Danish hotness was actually eclipsed by how amazing they were to hear live. So why is this? Why do we men (or me, at least) always find ourselves so wildly attracted to women just because they can play an instrument. Yes, there are some glaring exceptions to this generality, but for the most part, a vast majority of female musicians are crazy hot. I will also say at this point that I am qualifying "female musicians" to females who actually play an instrument, so all those little pop princesses are all outta luck.
So here's what I've got: music, generally speaking, has been a boy's club. Most musicians in bands (again, with the exception of singers) have been males, so it's kind of fascinating to see these females who can remain incredibly feminine while doing something we think guys should do. This is why powderpuff football is so great, too, or foxy boxing. But I digress. Women who can crank out tunes just as well as the guys can have entered a grey area: they are "other" but they are still part of the boy's club. Some feel that there is a stigma given to women as "female musicians"; that they somehow escape judgement as "musician" in general because of the label "female." I'd like to think that we've moved beyond that.
There is one other factor that I feel bears mention: when females play music, they move differently. They aren't quite as concerned as much with "rocking out" like male musicians are (except perhaps The Donnas), but the way they groove to music drives men (again, or at least me) absolutely nuts. Guys bob their heads or tap their feet, or do some sort of spastic convulsion that makes it appear that they should be riding the short bus to the show. It isn't sexy. Granted, I am saying this as an incredibly hetero male, so I may be a bit biased, but I think it's valid. When women play music, for some reason bass in particular, they just groove a bit more: they let their head sway, they move in the hips much more than their male counterparts, and they often times close their eyes and throw their head back. Anyone who's been around the bedroom a bit knows exactly the look I'm talking about. There's a full-body experience of the music that females seem to have that escapes men. I think it's that full-body experience that drives onlookers apeshit. Or maybe that's just me.
Either way, female musicians - keep doing what you're doing. You're amazing, and I appreciate it. Plus, it also helps a hell of a lot when you play in a band that also happens to be amazing.
So who are these sirens pictured above, you ask? Top to bottom: Sharin Foo of The Ravonettes, Kori Gardner of Mates of State, Nikki Monninger of Silversun Pickups, Freddy Feedback of Art Brut, Erin Fein of Headlights, Brody Dalle/Armstrong of The Distillers, and the aforementioned Sarah Balliet of Murder by Death.
No comments:
Post a Comment