Ladies and Queers Rock! camp allows adults the chance to start in the music field.
Get ready to rock, Athens.
The "Ladies and Queers Rock Athens" camp allows female-identified and LGBTQ adults the chance to form bands and take musical lessons for groups that aren’t normally in the music field.
Cindy Crabb, camp director, runs the Athens Rock Camp for Girls, a chance for young girls to learn and engage through music. This is the first year the group is presenting "Ladies and Queers Rock Athens."
“I think rock 'n' roll music and electronic music is such a powerful medium for people to feel themselves being loud and feel themselves being heard,” Crabb said. “I don’t think that’s something we just need as teenagers. I think that’s something we need as adults too.”
Crabb said she hopes this camp provides an open and safe space for those who may have their voices silenced.
“I feel like as adults people who are marginalized because of gender also can really benefit from some team building and having … the chance to really explore music in a away that’s powerful and sort of freeing,” Crabb said.
The camp is inclusive to all LGBT identities, Crabb said. About 15 people have signed up for the camp, which cost each individual $50, with scholarships available. The camp started Sunday and will continue through the week, ending with a concert on Friday.
Each individual was asked to fill out their preferences with what instruments they wanted to play, and Crabb said she tried to accommodate as best she could. Instruments are provided. Four bands were created for rehearsals.
The day is split into two hours of music instruction and two hours of band rehearsal. There also will be break-out sessions about topics like communicating with bandmates on and off the stage, Crabb said.
Miguel Evanosky, bass player of Weird Science, and Jessica Makosky, drummer for the Revulvas and an Ohio University telehealth distance learning coordinator, are both going to be instructors for the camp.
Evanosky and Makosky both have worked with the Athens Rock Camp for Girls and enjoyed the experience.
Makosky said working with the younger girls was “life changing” and said in Athens, it can be hard for adults to get in the game.
“We live in a town filled with musicians and it’s intimidating to get started,” Makosky said. “This camp gives everybody the courage to take that first step and then they’re hooked for life.”
Evanosky said he is looking forward to meeting his students and said the biggest difference between this and the girls’ camp will be that the relationship of him to his class will be more like peers, rather than a teacher-student relationship.
He added the concert at the end of the week is a great way for the participants to show off what they have accomplished.
Crabb said she hopes that after this camp, there will be more bands rocking out in Athens.
“I think so many girls and queers are not encouraged to play … amplified music when they’re kids,” Crabb said. “I think just being able to be in a place where you’re able to gain those technical skills of playing music without any kind of judgment is just so great and so empowering for people as adults.”
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