As seen in Guitar Girl Magazine Issue 21 – Fall 2022
Dear Alexx,
Which female rocker inspired you as a kid?
Andrew Beczo, Porter, TX
Dear Andrew,
You may be surprised to learn that I didn’t really listen to a lot of female-fronted rock bands as a kid. I guess that could be because they weren’t as prevalent or as mainstream as they are now, and a lot of the female artists you heard about back then tended more toward the pop genre.
It also wasn’t often that you came across a female musician who really rocked. I can think of Joan Jett, Ann and Nancy Wilson from Heart, Pat Benatar, and a few others, but they just weren’t really being pushed at the time.
Nevertheless, I did connect deeply with grunge and blues artists like Silverchair, Soundgarden, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Johnny Lang, and Stone Temple Pilots, so that’s kind of where I got my singing and guitar-playing chops. I was also really inspired by my dad, who is a great guitarist, bassist, and vocalist.
Now that more and more great female-fronted bands are coming out and becoming popular, I can name off quite a few I’m really enjoying, like Beth Hart, Dead Sara, Dorothy, Halestorm, etc.
It’s quite cool to see this shift in the music community as well. I almost never ran into other female guitarists when I was growing up, and now I see them all the time.
Maybe my answer to your question would have been different if I were a kid now. Maybe because I listened to mostly male artists, I developed the style I have. Who knows? Either way, I am just glad that kids coming up now have a lot more female musicians to draw inspiration from. Music should be played and enjoyed by absolutely everyone, no matter who you are.
-Alexx Calise