Girls Rock 2010!

July 14

Ah, hump day. This is the day when things seem to come together at the last minute, but it's not apparent at all until then. The Black Candles got off to a rocky start today, working on the design of their logo that will be screen printed onto t-shirts. It didn't go all that well because they just couldn't agree, and compromise didn't come too easy. They were guided through the process by one of the girls leading the workshop, which was great, but there definitely wasn't the enthusiasm you'd expect after just designing a logo. But I'm certain they'll dig it when they see it on a T-shirt. The process was interesting to watch because of the dynamic between the girls. It's hard to deny someone their opinion, but then again they're going to encounter plenty of those very scenerios so maybe it's important to teach them compromise or the art of choosing their battles now.

After lunch, we had our "soft" practice. The girls, as always, were scattered, unfocused and lazy and Heather and I figured it was time to change our tactics. We decided not to let them make any more changes because it was imperative that we complete the song and start nailing it. After all, we only had 2 days. Friday they were to perform in front of camp. And Saturday was the final performance. So we really only had Thursday to practice a certain amount of run-throughs of the song. I'll admit, we weren't feeling like things were going to fall in place in time. The girls didn't seem into it and they were still trying to make changes, from little ones (changing a line) to big ones (getting rid of the whole intro).

But miraculously, during loud practice, things really did fall into place. Another volunteer, a bass instructor, came and sat in and offered some great suggestions for the girls, especially the bass player and we really started to see things change for the better. And along with that came some excitement from the girls, even Xelah, the keyboardist, who didn't always agree with other ideas for the song. So, as is the seeming tradition, hump day proved to be the day when things just clicked for the girls. Tomorrow will be a good practice day where they really cement it all. And Friday I suspect we'll see more emotion from all four girls.


July 15
Today, Channel 9 News came in to do a piece on Girls Rock Camp. Word spread and the girls were beside themselves with excitement. I was helping out in Drum Instruction and the girls just could not focus, they all wanted to be on TV. It was funny to see them fidgety and unfocused until the cameras came around. Then they just rocked it. A band called BrainWash played their song for the camera and hopefully they got to see themselves here.


As for The Black Candles, they're still kickin' it. One day before they have to play in front of the camp, and two days before playing in front of a packed house at the Oriental, they're still trying to make changes in the song before they even have it mastered. I guess that's to be expected but um, we have to determine the parts and play them over and over again, right?

But it has been cool to see them collaborating more with each other. Xelah's really coming out of her shell and has been more open to other people's ideas. Lily is getting more comfortable with a mic in her hand and experiments with a louder voice at times, so we'll see how she comes across at the performance. Anna is doing great at lining up her bass beats with the drums. I found out she was at Girls Rock Camp in North Carolina for the past two years, just recently moving to Denver, and is doing bass for the first time. And Marin has been getting more focused, willing to herd the group into what they're doing at any given point during practices. She reminds me a lot of Bella last year; so sweet and incredibly easy-going, someone everyone gets along with.