Next gig for the GuitarChic

My fascination with female musicians is not just some weird quirk.  I am a musician and knowing how challenging it can be to play on stage makes me respect these talented women all the more.

I am part of Silverwing, a rockin' country band based in the Reno, Nevada area.  We play classic and current country music with a few good rock songs thrown in to keep it surprising.  I have played for a few lonely drunks in a tiny bar to thousands of people at a political rally.  It's always fun, even at closing time and the place is emptying out, I still love and appreciate that I get to play music for a living.  It is a blessing in my life.

So where is my next gig?  The Whiskey Tavern in Carson City, NV.  It should be a great time.  Looks like they have a good crowd with lots of Facebook followers.  They approached us in Virginia City on the Fourth of July and immediately wanted to hire us.  Very cool, that's a nice compliment.

So Saturday is gig day.  We start playing at 9pm, but we live an hour away, so we actually have to start our "job" earlier in the afternoon, when we load the gear into the pick-up truck.  Gotta bring it all, don't want to be an hour away from home and forget one chord, ugh.  So it's personal gear, like guitars, stands, microphones, amplifiers and tuners plus PA gear like mixer board, power conditioners, more chords and lots of speakers. 

I don't sit by watching my husband loading gear, frightened to break a nail, I jump into the back of the pickup and organize all the stuff.  It's like the old video game Tetrus, putting all these amps, boxes, speakers and guitars into a nice little package in the bed of the pickup. 

We gotta get there early enough to set up and sound check, so when we turn it on, it sounds good right off the bat.  Each room is different.  What worked great at the last gig, could be a real disaster at the next gig.  We go from outdoor gigs, to small rooms, to large rooms and everything needs to be adjusted for the unique situation.  Plus, you don't want to be rushed and chaotic.  So after the sound check we need time to relax and kick back just a bit.

You'd think I would be nervous, but it rarely crosses my mind.  I was so shy growing up, that even I am amazed by how cool, calm and collected I am when I'm getting up on stage in front of people and singing.  Recently we played a wedding.  The first song was the couple's first dance and the first note of that song, was me singing with no music behind me, HUH? What!  I admit I was shaking, but, I did great. Yeah!

So, that's why I am a great fan of female musicians.  I am just a part of a band.  I can't imagine how it would feel to step up and be the focal point, to keep a crowd entertained for an evening.  Wow, these women are my idols.

Please stop by my website www.guitarchics.com and learn a few interesting facts about my favorite female musicians.  The site will be growing each week, so come back often.  Also, check out our band at www.silverwingband.com, that's me right in the middle.  Our CD "Moonshine" is available at our gigs, our website, CDbaby and Amazon.com.

GuitarChics is Alive and Well

My website, www.guitarchics.com, is finally active on the Internet.  It's has been a personal challenge for me, but it is working and I will be adding to it weekly for the rest of my days.

My hope with GuitarChics is to introduce people to the stories of women who have made a living in the music industry.  Whether they are headlining in a stadium, playing in a coffee shop or teaching young children how to play, I want to share their stories.  The stories that encourage and inspire young women to pursue their hopes and dreams.  I want guitarchics to be a Power of Positive Thinking with musicians as our role models.

It's dear to my heart because I play rhythm guitar in Silverwing, a rockin country band from Northern Nevada.  I have played to thousands in a convention center and to a few in an empty bar at closing time, but regardless, it's always showtime.  It's my "job" to do my best, to reach down and give you my heart even if it's time to turn off the neon lights and head home and I love my "job."

So stop by www.guitarchics.com and read up the bios that I have completed so far.  Check back each week to see what else I have added.  If you have an idea of a great female musician that should be added to the site, send me an email at maryband_girl@yahoo.com with "Guitarchics" in the title.  I'll do my best to get that person included.

Get Silverwing's first CD of original music at www.silverwingband.com.  It's fun and I'm very proud of it, since I wrote a lot of the lyrics, played guitar and my husband wrote the music and played a bunch of instruments.

Silverwing's Mini-Vacation

Silverwing Band takes a mini-vacation

Well, January has been a slow month for Silverwing.  I think we played just about every weekend from July all the way to New Year's Eve.  But January only has one gig in it.  I'm going through withdrawals.  What will I do with all that time on my hands?

So during our mini-unexpected-vacation there are a few things the band is going to do:

Market our new CD "Moonshine"
The CD was printed at Disc Makers and it available at CD Baby, Amazon, our website and a few other outlets, but if no one knows about it, we won't have any sales.  So we did a great radio interview at the local country radio station, KHWG 750AM, Fallon, Nevada.  Ronzo, the morning DJ, invited us into the studio and between playing some of the songs, he asked each of us a few questions.  I won't deny it was nerve-wracking, but it's all part of the joy of getting to play music for a living.

Learn a few new cover songs
It's a good idea to keep the set list fresh, so we each picked out a new song to add to the set list.  Since we are a rockin' country bar band, we normally play from 8pm to midnight.  Four hours can be a long time and playing the same old set in the same old order can start to make the night drag.  So bringing in something new is a good idea.  I'm not sure the dancers always appreciate the effort it takes, but we are proud of ourselves even if the dancers have to go home and learn a few new steps off of YouTube.  It's good for them!

Work up some new material for the next CD
Silverwing can't sit around and wait for "Moonshine" to become a big seller.  We need to work on the next CD while we promote this one.  At this point we have a bunch of half completed tunes, some with no lyrics, some just a hook and a lead.  It's time to decide on our favorites and focus on completing them for the next CD.  Mel is going to get a CD together of snippets of songs and have each of us decide on our own which ones have the most promise.  Hopefully we can come to a consensus on about 10 or 12 songs.  Then we need to complete them and record them.  It's intimidating to create.  In Twyla Tharp's "The Creative Habit" she discusses the white room with nothing in it and how challenging it is.  Well that is the challenge of completing songs, can I make the lyrics better?  Is this good enough? Should I toss it in the trash and go sell french fries cause I am terrible?  Oh, the mind can think some terrible stuff. 

So our mini-vacation from playing gigs is going to be very busy and I'm happy about that. Playing music is so satisfying and as a formerly shy person it has changed my life.

Check out the CD "Moonshine" by Silverwing at CD Baby. http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/silverwing You can purchase the whole CD with the nifty art work or download one song at a time.  If you know an old cowboy, he'll probably love "Wide Open Spaces"  It is a crowd pleaser.

Stop by the website and leave us a message at www.silverwingband.com.  Check out our schedule for a gig near you. 

Thanks,
Mary Warstler, rhythm guitar player and songwriter

GuitarChics is launched!!!

The new website GuitarChics.com is launched. At GuitarChics we will be falling all over ourselves telling you about great female guitar players of all genres. We want to share the news and find the talent and let everyone know what we girls have to offer the world. Its going to be exciting to learn the history of female guitarist. Who stepped up to the mic years ago and paved the way for the rest of us? Who is creating a new sound and being unique and true to themselves? How is the female guitar player changing music and in kind changing the world?

Stop by often. It's young and new, but it's growing. My favorite part will be a section for young women who have never picked up a guitar. The basics, the answers to the questions that you don't want to ask the cool hot guy at the music store. Ask me and I will get the information for you. And then when you stop to talk to the cool hot guy at the music store he will be impressed.

Guitar playing has changed my life. I just want to share it with other young women and share my passion for music. Have a great day.