The axe wielding Guitar God (or Goddess) is more often than not akin to Zeus coming down out of the sky with a thunderous fire and brimstone vengeance. The thought of soft lace and flowers are usually not really associated with the aforementioned, but let me tell you what…I recently met someone at this year’s She Rocks Awards that made me rethink all that!
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Daisy Rock Guitars founder and President Tish Ciravolo is a force to be reckoned with! Being a bassist and seriously driven personality, Tish has made it a life-long journey to help break down stereotypes that lend to the idea that girls can’t be as seriously fierce on that same axe. From an inspiring floral image drawn out by her daughter, Tish has gone on to helping lead the way for female musicians. Selling her company’s guitars in twenty plus countries is not her only passion though. She is still a musician and still gets her hands on those addictive strings with the best of them, regardless if the hope and dreams of a record contract ever comes to fruition! Even though Tish’s husband Michael Ciravolo is the head of Schecter guitars, she has hardly ridden any coattails. Tish is self-made; and if you meet her, you will pick up on that real quick! I mean let’s be honest here, this is about furthering the charge of females in music and that is one campaign I am truly excited about.
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An Interview with Tish Ciravolo of Daisy Rock Guitars
I had the chance to pose a few questions to the always busy Tish Ciravolo at this year’s She Rocks Awards in association with the NAMM Show. The awards is also on the same crusade of celebrating and promoting women in all areas of the music world.
SS– Do you think that there are enough girls in Rock?
TC– I don’t! That’s why I started a guitar company. I’m the only girl guitar company in the world.
SS– Why did you do that actually? Were you trying to be a crusader?
TC– You know I dealt with a lot of discrimination in the ’80s as a female musician. When I walked into a music store and the guy behind the counter asked my boyfriend what I wanted to buy, and they didn’t know how to deal with me; that was my first impression of … “Oh girls don’t go to music stores.” Then when my daughter did a drawing of a daisy about 15 years later I thought… “You know what, we should make girl guitars.”
SS– My daughter is eleven, what would you give her for advice?
TC– To practice. She needs to dig deep to find her muse and find out what’s gonna inspire her, and what it means for her to talk through her music… because we all have that.
SS– So, not to say don’t get involved with music whatsoever?
TC– No never, I would never say that because one day she will be the one on that stage getting that award if she sticks with it and continues to do what she does.
SS– Do you still feel like you are crusading?
TC– I’m always crusading. I’m co-hosting the She Rocks Awards tonight. Five years ago, I won the first award for the Vision Award. Now five years, later I’m co-hosting it. When we started, we had 75 people in the room. Five years late,r there’s a thousand people here and we are live streaming tonight for 22 million so… there is no stopping it. At one point, everybody is gonna realize that women rock harder than men and there are more women in this industry than ever!
SS– So for your last bit of advice for any female even remotely getting involved in music?
TC– Practice, stay with it, be true to yourself, and as Ronnie Spector would say… “Don’t listen to your boyfriend!” (Laughter)
SS– Thank you so much.
Being the father of a seriously headstrong and very artistically talented eleven year old daughter, I can tell you everything Tish Ciravolo, Daisy Rock Guitars, the She Rocks Awards, the Women’s International Music Network (WiMN), and all of the people supporting and promoting women in this aggressively cut-throat industry are doing is giving me hope. The hope that my daughter’s talent will not fall on a deaf ear or a blind eye. The music world is changing folks… and we are all better for it!
Check it,
SixX
For more info on the She Rocks Awards, WiMN, and Tish Ciravolo and Daisy Rock Guitars go to:
She Rocks Awards: www.thewimn.com/events/she-rocks-awards/
Women’s International Music Network: www.thewimn.com
Tish Ciravolo and Daisy Rock Guitars: www.daisyrock.com