women and acappella
Desiree Pointer
I must apologize in advance for any newsgroup faux pas, as this is my maiden voyage into nntp land. I had heard from Garth Kravits that there had been a call for schmary perspective on this women in a cappella issue. While I don't presume to speak for our group (http://www.maryschmary.com) we have definitely had several conversations about the challenges of being a women's contemporary group. Here are some of my ideas on the issue.
I don't think that the women in my group feel that the issue keeping us from touring or "going for it" is societal oppression-- societal oppression (racism, sexism, classism, creationism :) ) is one of the recurring themes in our music. Fighting the power, not letting the power keep us from fighting at all. Our feminist politics infuses our music, and is one of the main reasons why mary schmary is so important to me personally.
What has kept us firmly in the semi- part of semi-pro is that all of us have jobs which are also very important to us. Two of us are teachers and Ph.D. students, two are high-powered computer folks. Our life choices, therefore (none having to do with family or being in our "child-bearing years") come before our music. We can't rehearse more frequently than once a week because of our other commitments.
For me, I have seen how difficult making the choice to go full time is, and how much it extends into every aspect of musicians' lives. It requires a different orientation towards music, not as something you 'want' to do, but something you 'have' to do. That's from observing friends of mine whose musicianship is not a choice for them, it's part of who they are. And that is probably the main thing keeping this schmary from quitting doing something else I love (teaching) to do music full time.
That having been said, I think that the schmaries have seen first hand the different ways that audiences react to female and male groups. Many male groups have larger vocal ranges than female groups (although we have the indomitable Myriam Casimir and Cynsa Bonorris to ensure a big-ol' vocal range for a women's group) and can sometimes put forth a richer sound. Of course, you need look no further than Sweet Honey, Jezebelle and Zap Mama for some very rich sounds accomplished with female voices.
But another way that audiences react to men's groups has very much to do with another aspect of a cappella-- that being the humor part of it. We have seen audiences react very differently to a male singer being campy than a similar thing done by a female singer. I think that has to do with other issues, such as the perceived outrageousness of a man acting suggestively vs. a woman doing the same thing. It "reads" differently.
Touring and performing aside, I think another aspect that has affected women's professional a cappella has been the music industry. As with any signed group, if your original A&R person relocates and the new one doesn't "hear" your music, you're out of luck. Or if the label signs you on hoping to get the next Spice Girls and then hears lyrics like "You have no juris--dic-- tion over my uterus," :) they reconsider how "marketable" they think you are. Hopefully with the advent of Ani Difranco, Lilith et al, record companies have realized what a huge market there is out there for women's music and put their p.r. muscle behind more acts, including a cappella acts.
That having been said, I think that the advent of online sales will help smaller groups advertise and sell their music online, circumventing the gatekeeping mechanisms of the music industry altogether and making the necessity of touring nationally less linked to reaching people far away with our music.
Obviously, I would like to see more women's groups attaining success,
touring commercially, etc. I will personally support them with my
cd- and ticket- buying dollars!
--
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Desiree Pointer
Language, Literacy and Culture
School of Education
University of California, Berkeley
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"The ceiling isn't glass; it's a
very dense layer of men."
--Anne Jardim
Chris Tess
>I don't think that the women in my group feel that the issue keeping us
>from touring or "going for it" is societal oppression-- societal
>oppression (racism, sexism, classism, creationism :) ) is one of the
>recurring themes in our music. Fighting the power, not letting the power
>keep us from fighting at all. Our feminist politics infuses our music,
>and is one of the main reasons why mary schmary is so important to me
>personally.
For Mary Schmary, the feminist politics may be one of the driving forces
in your music, but the very fact that you ARE singing about "Fighting the
power" suggests that maybe other women are NOT willing to fight it. From
this you could make an argument that perhaps the reason why there aren't
more women's groups on the pro side is because of female oppression by
society. However, I doubt that that is the case, or at least it doesn't
seem to be the case of my generation or the generations below mine. In
the medical profession (which is traditionally a "good ol' boy" field),
there are many women coming out of medical schools, such that I don't see
much sexism there at all, except maybe with the patients (who often call
female doctors "Nurse" or "cutie"). Of course, I'm coming at this from a
guy's perspective, which may make my observations really off...
I think your comments about humor being different is true (I've seen many
women's groups try this and rub the audience the wrong way), but I've also
seen women performers who were excellent with comedy (Janie and Lori Bob,
Ambiance). But many of the top men's groups don't use comedy at all, and
they're still loved.
I think the difference really is the sound. Women's groups that I've
heard (in general) don't have the same sonic "punch" as most guys groups
that I've heard. (This is a general statement. Certainly some guys
groups don't have much punch either-- the King's Singers and the former
incarnation of the Flirtations, for example.) The women's groups that
have worked for me (and the guys groups that lack punch that work for me)
have all worked because they played to their strengths rather than to
their weaknesses. If you do arrangements where punch is called for and
you can't produce it, it falls flat on it's face. (You can even
generalize this: If you do arrangements that call for something you can't
do, you will fall flat on your face.) Play to your strengths, and not to
what you wish were your strengths.
Yikes, gotta go to work...
-Chris
--
Chris Tess RARB Coordinator www.rarb.org
cmt...@rarb.org
H: 617-776-0837 http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cmtess
162 Summer St. Apt 46; Somerville, MA 02143
cy...@my-dejanews.com
> from touring or "going for it" is societal oppression-- societal
> oppression (racism, sexism, classism, creationism :) ) is one of the
> recurring themes in our music. Fighting the power, not letting the power
> keep us from fighting at all. Our feminist politics infuses our music,
> and is one of the main reasons why mary schmary is so important to me
> personally.
>
I'd have to say a big "what she said" on this subject. I don't know about
other women singers and their decisions whether or not to go pro, but I've
been singing semi-professionally in bands and in the schmaries for over 10
years now, have had my fair brush with the music "Industry" and I'd have
to say, in a word, it sux. I wouldn't want to be part of it, simply because
it would be my great fear that my joy in my music would be stripped from me.
there are some who can thread the loopholes and make their way safely to
huge market popularity without giving up their integrity (ani difranco comes
to mind) but it's an awfully hard thing to do, and requires both luck and
immense patience. I've seen too many friends try and fail. and women have
added strikes, because most record company executives have their heads really
far up their asses, when it comes to women. I mean, even more so than they
usually do. :o
and I find local popularity quite satisfying enough, really. it gives me
a forum for my music, the schmaries give me the satisfaction of performing
with excellent talent and (almost) like-minds. if this is as far as I
go professionally, for the rest of my life, but if I can continue growing
in my singing, composing and performing abilities, that's all that really
matters to me.
-cynsa
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