Knox Girls Rock Camp Encourages Grrl! Power

While the non-issue of “women in rock” is a long-standing cliché of music scribes, there’s still a dearth of females rocking out in the dives of Knoxville—and everywhere else. Thus, a handful of local rocker/activists have established the Knox Girls Rock Camp, an organization that will host workshops for aspiring rock goddesses ages 6-18 in the hope of shifting the percentage of female rockers just a bit.

The KGRC organization features a host of well-known women rockers, including Elizabeth Wright of Fistful of Crows and Dirty Knees, Jen Rock of Deek Hoi, Emily Dunlap of the Body Girls, Mary Denman of Buddy System, Laura Rogers of Dirty Knees, and long-time scenester/activist Heather Robinson. Saturday workshops for guitar, vocals, bass, and drums will begin in October at the Birdhouse in Fourth and Gill. Is that old unused guitar just gathering dust? The group is also seeking used instruments for distribution to girls who will give them the love and attention they need. For more info, visit rockcamp.webs.com or find the KGRC’s Facebook group.

There will be a benefit for KGRC at Pilot Light on Saturday, Sept. 5, with a throbbing mass of bands including Milo, the Criswell Collective, Buddy System, the Nimoids, Wyld Stallyns, Salvation Cowboy, Choreboys, Yung Life, Flak Jaket, and Three Man Band, with more acts to be announced. The show starts at 6 p.m. and admission is $6.

CORRECTION: The names of Emily Dunlap and Mary Denman were spelled incorrectly in the original version of this story.

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