Annual Girls+Rock show set to perform for Grey Cup Festival
By Brianne Godsman
Girls who rock will soon be rockin’ the Grey Cup.
The annual Girls+Rock show, which took place on Nov. 5 at the National Arts Centre, was highlighted by news that alumni of the girl-empowering music program have been offered a chance to perform during Grey Cup week later this month.
The Nov. 5 celebration concert took place at the end of the weekend-long girls’ music camp that took place the weekend before the show.
It’s the first time that the alumni from Girls+Rock are being given the opportunity to perform at the Grey Cup Festival during the week leading up to the Nov. 26 Canadian Football League championship game.
The show is open to anyone who has participated in the Girls+Rock Ottawa community as a camper, teacher, parent or volunteer, and is in a band consisting of at least one member who identifies as female, non-binary or Two Spirit.
Last year the group was awarded the TD Music Counts grant and was able to buy enough instruments to equip four bands, so that any student who doesn’t have her own instrument has one to use.
Since it began in 2007, Girls+Rock has sought to empower women and girls through music. The organization was first called Ottawa Rock Camp for Girls but changed its name in 2014. It hosts free monthly jam sessions and gig-planning workshops aimed at helping new musicians gain confidence.
Girls+Rock chair Tiffanie Tri, a member of the local folk band Scary Bear Soundtrack, says this is just the beginning of what the camp’s organizers hope to do for their students. “For a fully volunteer-run community grassroots organization, the TD Music Counts grant is huge. In the future, we hope to do more with these instruments — hopefully a lending library.”
This was the first time the organization hosted a show at the National Arts Centre and also one of the first shows in the refurbished Fourth Stage at the NAC. This was also the first year the organization held a women’s rock camp.
One of the bass guitar teachers, Willa Maclean, taught at last year’s camp and came back again this year to share her skills with participants in both age groups — the girls’ rock camp Nov. 3-5 and the women’s rock camp June 23-25.
“One of my favourite memories of the women’s camp was definitely teaching my mom bass. It was cool to be the one mentoring her and teaching her how to do something she didn’t know how to do.”
Kim McMullin, another parent in the Girls+Rock community, said the rock camp for girls has been an empowering experience for her 14-year-old daughter.
“I think she is the kind of kid that maybe hasn’t quite found her people yet, so it’s important for her to be able to connect with girls with similar interests,” said McMullin. “She has been so excited to come back this year. She has been doing the countdown for months.”
The girls formed bands and performed cover songs they had learned over the weekend. Each girl chose a noun and an adjective when they began the camp and band names were formed by randomly arranging these words. This method led to some interesting band names, such as The Sleepy Witches and The Purple Lollypops.
The organization had stage-hands in between each song setting up the girls’ instruments and equipment, each band had a drummer a bass player and at least two guitarists, as well as pink and blue lights that danced across the stage.
“It’s great to see these young people shine,” said Justin Holeness, a local Indigenous musician who came out to support the show.“I think young people are the most resilient demographic in the world.”
Holeness runs an annual indigenous art, music and fashion show call INDIGENIUS, because, he says, “I believe everyone is a genius — you just have to nurture your gifts. I truly believe that art and music are some of the highest forms of human intelligence.”