Asheville, NC

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photo: SPECIAL TO THE CITIZEN-TIMES "Especially for harder edge rock music, rock has been dominated primarily by men. Which doesn't necessarily mean they're better," said Mary Anne Barckhoff of Viva la Venus (far right). "I think a lot of people think of women's music as being a woman with an acoustic guitar." To check them out What: When Women with Guitars Attack! Where: Fred’s Speakeasy, 122 College St., Asheville When: 10:30 p.m. June 24 Cost: $3 Bands: Viva la Venus, Someday Merry, Dragonmoose On the Net For photos, MP3s and downloads, go to the band Web sites: • Viva la Venus (of Durham): www.vivalavenus.com • Someday Merry (of Atlanta): www.roamergirlrecords.com • Dragonmoose (of Bryson City): www.dragonmoose.com photo: SPECIAL TO THE CITIZEN-TIMES For 15 years, Shawna Solito, guitarist in Dragonmoose, has tried to be just one of the guys in rock. But she says, she's come to realize that no matter how well she plays, that will never happen. photo: SPECIAL TO THE CITIZEN-TIMES Women and men don't play rock 'n' roll any differently, Eline Emme of Someday Merry said. "It's got to be from your gut," she said. "Otherwise you might as well hang it up, girl or guy." Web Extras AUDIO: Clip from the song, "Shades of Color," by Eline Emme, from her CD titled, "All You Would Do." AUDIO: "Back Alley Love Slam" by Viva la Venus. This is from their new record, Forget the Fairy Tale. AUDIO: Clip of the song, "Love Criminal," by Dragonmoose. Newsroom • Submit a News Tip • Ethics Policy • Write a Letter to the Editor

ASHEVILLE - Mary Anne Barckhoff sees it in their eyes when her band Viva la Venus kicks off its first rock number: People don't know what to make of three women rockers.

"People stare at us with a blank stare," Barckhoff, who plays bass and guitar in the rock quartet, said. "You can tell they don't know what to make of us."

With people like Janis Joplin and Grace Slick forging the way, women have had a place in rock 'n' roll since its earliest days. "We've always been around. We're just much more organized now," said Eline Emme of Someday Merry.

But despite success by such rockers as Joan Jett and Chrissie Hynde, for every step guys take in hard rock, women have to take two, according to some of the female musicians performing during "When Women with Guitars Attack!" a night of rock by female-fronted bands coming to Asheville next weekend.

Shawna Solito, guitarist with Dragonmoose, organized the June 24 show with the help of Madalyn Sklar at Go Girls Music.com, a promoter of women musicians. The Web site brought her together with other female rockers who "share some of the same problems that I do as a performing musician," she said.

Those problems tend to revolve around not being taken seriously as rockers, she said.

"After we've played shows, I personally have received a lot of compliments on playing guitar and bass," Barckhoff said, "and I think it's because there's this idea that because we're women, we're going to be substandard. They're amazed that we can play."

The Citizen-Times asked Barckhoff and other women performing June 24 to comment on their experiences in the male-dominated world of hard rock.

Question: How is your experience in rock different from your male counterparts?

Mary Anne Barckhoff: A lot of times, audiences are all about what the women look like, rather than their talent, so a lot of people are more impressed when they see women are musically talented. When you're dealing with harder-edged music, you're kind of dealing a male audience. And they sort of have a misogynist approach to music, like "hey, check out those chicks on stage, they've got nice legs."

That's fine if it gets people into the club. But what I hope that people will get out of this show is, there's a lot of talent too."

Q: Do you find chauvinism in rock?

Shawna Solito: As a woman in rock guitar, especially lead guitar, we are not given the same consideration as other male guitarists, no matter how well we might play. Which for me has been quite painful because other rock musicians are my peers. Because most male rock musicians discount me, I have spent many years alone musically. Because of this exclusion, I developed a unique style and have grown on a personal level.

Q: Has life in rock 'n' roll improved for women?

Eline Emme: It use to be women grew up wanting to emulate artists like (Bruce) Springsteen and (Tom) Petty, but now we can chose from a selection of strong women like Bonnie Raitt, Melissa Etheridge, P.J. Harvey, Julian Hatfield, Sarah McLaughlin and the "indie goddess" herself Ani DiFranco.

Men in this business, for the most part, seem to realize how much power women in this industry have now. We draw crowds and can write with the best of them.

Q: How do men react to you as hard rock musicians?

Barckhoff: We had a band-mate, Susan (Darney), who was pregnant, seven months when we played this club in Greenville (S.C.). There were all these men that were totally attracted to her because she was pregnant. They were all standing up at the front of the stage gawking at her. I never knew that some men find pregnant women attractive. At least they do in South Carolina.

Q: Which bands are you listening to right now?

Barckhoff: Ember Swift, Evanescence, Sonic Youth, Rasputina

Emme: Butterfly Boucher, Patty Griffin, Radiohead, David Garza, David Gray

Solito: Mahavishnu Orchestra, Miles Davis, No Doubt, Velvet Revolver and Frank Zappa every day before breakfast.

Contact Clark at 232-5854 or

pclark@CITIZEN-TIMES.com.

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