Hey Ladies: Being A Woman Musician Today

I balk at being asked to play 'Women Festivals' and other such things. I don't want to be playing in what I feel are patronizing attempts to rectify the balance between the exposure men and women get. But I am acutely aware of the disparity in chances and exposure.

All the festival artist T-shirts are men's size.

I can appreciate physical beauty on stage, but I think music is supposed to transcend normal ideals.

Critics describe what you were wearing at the show as opposed to what you sounded like.

I'd say that women musicians these days (because of the economy and how the industry is in recent times) need to be more thick-skinned and adaptable, you have to be cool with sharing buses, rooms, etc.

I think younger women, in their teens and twenties are becoming more visible in the arts, and are becoming more comfortable with being themselves vs being a sex object.

Overweight men in opera, who sang lead roles, could pretty much expect to be judged on their voice and their acting, with no mention of their size. But a large woman would always be criticized for her size.

Mostly, you deal with people saying things like, 'You know, I don't really like female drummers but you're alright!' As if that's some sort of compliment and I should take comfort in their new found respect for a singular female artist.

Lemmy once told me..it's all about being at the right place at the right time.

I started a record company, then signed myself.

I tell my students: 1. Don't sleep with him if you want him (or her) long term in your band and 2. Don't forget to have kids.

I see differences between women after the 1970s. Women entertainers were suggestive until then. Women have become way too salacious since then. There is little left to the imagination.

I'm forever greatful to the women who spearheaded the women's rights movement to lead our gender to a place where I could feel that it is entirely possible to succeed on every level in my career.