GoGirlsMusicFest 2001 - New York, NY
November 2nd @ Hard Rock Cafe
221 West 57th Street - New York City

GoGirlsMusicFest Scrapbook:

Performance Review - Good Times Issue 826
by Richard Hughes

Over the last few years, The Internet has proved to be an invaluable tool for independent musicians. It has provided musical artists throughout this country with information about the business of music, innovative ways to get music before the public such as mp3's, and local and national support groups where performers and songwriters can network, exchange information, and make new friends as well.

One such group is GoGirls. Formed in 1996 by Texan Madalyn Sklar to help women promote music on the web, GoGirls has turned into an organization with hundreds of member artists and bands from all over the country. This past autumn, GoGirls celebrated its fifth year of existence by holding its second annual GoGirlsMusicFest, a series of shows highlighting GoGirls member bands in 17 different cities throughout the country. The shows each benefited the Nicole Brown Charitable Foundation, an organization that works to help stop domestic violence. All of this coincided with the release of a full- length compilation CD comprised of GoGirls artists, which was given free to those who attended the MusicFest shows.

The New York leg of the festival took place at Manhattan's Hard Rock Cafe. It featured a strong lineup of artists from the New York metropolitan area, including Jennifer Marks. Lorraine Ferro, Amanda's Waiting, and Nancy Atlas. Throughout the evening, which was hosted by local stand-up comic Erik Hastings, show-coordinator Minx (of Amanda's Waiting), and her hardworking GoGirls crew (Paige of the Long Island band Paige23, singer/songwriter Allison Tartalia, and Oxcidian, the bass player for the punk band pseudo doll), worked the crowd, soliciting donations and selling raffle tickets to raise more money for the Nicole Brown Foundation.

The first performer was Jennifer Marks. An acclaimed artist who describes her music as "pop alternative," Marks has won several national songwriting contests, and was recently one of the 10 quarter- finalists for the Coca-Cola New Music Award. She and her band played a number of songs from her new CD, the aptly entitled "My Name's Not Red" (one look her thick red curls will explain the name) . The low- key, but entertaining, set included such risque numbers as "Halo" ("I made you think I had a halo / I liked it when you sucked my toes / You thought I had a halo / A wolf in sheep's clothes"), and "Window", wherein the song's main character tries vainly to invite a timid Peeping Tom inside for some closer contact.

Other strong numbers included "Fragile" ("There's a hole at the bottom of this cup / I want to fix it so I can fill it up"); the upbeat "Thick"; and a less-than-fond look at her past called "High School Reunion" ("If I wanted to know about your life / I would have called you on the phone"). Marks has a website at www.jennifermarks.com.

Next up was Lorraine Ferro. Herself an award-winning songwriter, and a semi-finalist in last summer's Long Island Music Festival, Ferro proved to also be an energetic and joyous performer. She and her band rocked hard on numbers such as "Religion" ("Religion is bliss religion is blind / But this God-fearing woman act is a sinful disguise", and the bluesy "Piece of Myself", both from her CD "Languishing in Turbulence".

Also strong were "Happy", which is probably her most radio- friendly song; "Be Kind to Me", a song of quiet vulnerability; and the uplifting "Open Door" ("Life begins when I say it's so / From here on in there's no stop and go / and its just like walking through an open door"). Ferro's website is located at www.lorraineferro.com.

Amanda's Waiting is a band well known to club goers in Manhattan. Fronted by charismatic lead singer Minx, with strong harmonies provided by guitarist/songwriter Grace Millo, this is a band that is poised for a breakthrough. They played a varied and thoroughly enjoyable set of songs, mostly from their latest CD "Just Lay".

Their best number of the evening was doubtlessly "I'll Drink You In", a highly charged, passionate number that is also their contribution to the GoGirls compilation CD. ("I'll drink you down / All around inside / Nothing means a thing." This is a song that would definitely appeal to fans of such bands as Four Non-Blondes and Fleetwood Mac.

Other strong songs in their set included the wistful "Twist in My Sobriety"; "Empty Space", a song with a lead-in guitar riff that can't help but bring to mind Concrete Blonde's "Caroline"; and the quietly desperate "Superman Blue" ("No Superman would surrender / Am I enough for you?"). Amanda's Waiting also has a website, at www.amandaswaiting.com.

The last artist of the evening was Long Island's Nancy Atlas. Atlas and her band The Nancy Atlas Project ended the night on a country-rock note, playing a set of songs from her new CD "Swagger".

Atlas' best attributes included a powerful, somewhat smoky, voice and a very tight band. Her strongest song of the evening, an upbeat number called "Boots" ("These old boots of mine, they've got / Too many scratches, they've been / Worn everywhere from Montauk to Memphis"), is also the song that begins her CD.

Other highlights of her set included a song with a good harmonica intro and some cool slide guitar called "Wake Up Tomorrow"; "Shot My Wad", which at times had almost a Santana feel to it; and the hard-rocking "The Best Is Yet To Come".

The night definitely lived up to the GoGirls motto: cuz chicks rock! Lots of money was raised for a good cause, each of the artists involved acquitted themselves splendidly, and lots of good music was enjoyed by those in attendance.

To learn more about GoGirls and the compilation CD, you can visit their website at www.gogirlsmusic.com.

Performances by:

Amanda's Waiting

Jennifer Marks

Lorraine Ferro

Nancy Atlas

* date, time and artists are subject to change. please call ahead to confirm!

Brought to you by: GoGirlsMusic.com, promoting women in music. Disc Makers provides CD replication, CD duplication, CD-ROM replication, CD-ROM duplication, & CD packaging for independent musicians and software developers.

Benefiting: Nicole Brown Charitable Foundation

Sponsored by: Daisy Rock Guitars