Rock 101: Still a Man's World

Saturday afternoon, some friends and I headed out to Madison Music Foundry for their Second Anniversary Party. Specifically, we were there to see some performances from MMF's Rock Workshop.

The Rock Workshop is an eight-week music program at Madison Music Foundry for middle- and high-school students. During the workshop, the kids form bands, learn songs, play live shows, and even record in a real studio. It's a rare and exciting opportunity for young musicians and I was excited to see what the kids were up to.

First of all, Madison Music Foundry definitely knows how to throw a party. Tasty snacks? Check. Fancy beer keg? Check. A lifetime supply of ear plugs for rock-your-socks-off volume levels? Check, check, check.

And the kids were awesome. There's something about thirteen-year-olds singing Van Halen that just warms my heart. Also, most of these kids had better hair than I do and they were definitely better at playing the drums.

One of the bands, a group tentatively calling themselves Four Pesos, even played a few original tunes. The original songs were some of my favorites of the night-- I swear one of the songs could have come from a Pernice Brothers album. You may or may not consider that a compliment, but I happen to really like that album.

I managed to snag a quick video of one of their Rock Workshop originals:





"All boys," my friend Clare observed at one point, nibbling a pretzel cracker between Ramones covers. It was true: there wasn't a girl in the whole group.

Amy Winehouse notwithstanding, rock and roll is still very much dominated by men. Which is part of why I was so enamored with the documentary Girls Rock! when I had the opportunity to catch it during this year's Wisconsin Film Festival.



Every person in the world should see this movie. It was so much more than cute.

photo courtesy hoodedfang, madison music foundry