Jailed women get chance to change their tune
Non-profit organization has plans to send instructors in to help five inmates form a band
Five incarcerated women will get a choice: pick a lock or pick a guitar.
That’s the plan, if the first lottery at the Waldorf is a success. The lottery, slated for Jan. 29 at the East Vancouver venue, aims to raise funds to pay for instructors to cultivate a rock band at the Alouette Correctional Centre for Women in Maple Ridge.
Women at the centre are invited to take part in a three-month Ladies Rock Camp. Five hopefuls will form a band, learn to play their chosen instrument, write a song and “perform the song for their peers.”
Laura Barron is confident that will happen. She is the director of Instruments of Change, a non-profit organization that includes among its goals music education.
It has joined with the Girls Rock Camp and Association of Very Good Ideas to launch Ladies Rock Camp.
Barron is uniquely qualified. She’s been present at the original Girls Rock Camp in Portland and has seen how this intensive immersion into music can be a powerful tool. She has taught yoga at Alouette for two years so is connected and knows what the facility can do.
“I’ve been extremely impressed by the staff,” says Barron. “They really care about the inmates.”
The lottery funds will pay the salary of two instructors who will conduct the camp five hours a week for three months, starting in February. Girls Rock Camp is donating the instruments, Alouette is storing them.
The Waldorf lottery also has music, but nobody knows what to expect. Twenty musicians will gather the morning of Jan. 28, and will form five bands on the spot. The five will then have 24 hours to put together a 15-minute set, to be performed the next day. Entrance to the show is by donation but a $10 minimum is advised.
Barron figures the five women will continue in music upon their release.
“I’m very confident in that,” she says. “They want to better their lives. They don’t want to come back.”
So, pick the guitar.
News
Mt. Currie band Kalan Wi will introduce itself with its first LP in February.
Three Inches Of Blood will release their fifth LP, Long Live Heavy Metal, March 27. They then play the Rickshaw on March 31.
John Pippus writes to say that his third LP, Wrapped Up In The Blues, not only is getting worldwide airplay that has led to dates in Holland in May, but he has been chosen by vanmusic.ca as one of Vancouver’s 10 best indie acts.
A big bravo for Don Alder. The acoustic guitarist was named Guitar Idol (Worldwide) by Guitar Idol III after his performance in a London club in December. Alder was selected as a finalist from 1,000 entries that came from around the world. Even more remarkable was that his guitar was damaged on the way to London, forcing him to play on a ruined guitar held together by duct tape. (There might be an endorsement there.) The HMV Record Store in Richmond has closed, apparently another victim of falling record sales (although sales apparently were up last year for the first time since 2004). Wondering where to buy records in Richmond? Go to Beatmerchant in Steveston.
Tunnel used to be known as the Piccadilly Pub at 620 W. Pender St. and was a good place to check out local rock ’n’ roll. On Jan. 27, Tunnel vows to give the indie scene here a boost with a return to those roots. There are many more bands than there are places to play so Tunnel will be received with open arms. The headliner on the 27th is Exit 200, which celebrates the night by debuting a new EP. Also on the bill are
The Broadway Bullies and Secret Revolution.
CD of the week
Alert! Alert! A Fish Called Piranha’s second CD is a double disc. Furthermore, it’s a concept album. Both are risky propositions, the former commercially; the latter artistically.
To (over) simplify, this is a love story between two computers, who give birth, and, of course, we experience the social complications. Orwell meets Arthur C. Clarke meets H.G. Wells brought up to date. The band is the brainchild of
Kwong, who wrote the songs, produced the record and plays most of the instruments. Disc 1 he gives over to hard rock with an occasional nod to hip-hop. Disc 2 is more diverse and arguably better for the variety from the tuneful pop-rock of “Sunday Driver” to the powerful, guitardriven ballad “Carrie.”
The story is far-fetched but wouldn’t be science fiction if it wasn’t, but Kwong’s songs hit a high standard he maintains throughout.