Girls, music take center stage with Girls Rock

IOWA CITY - Nina Jakob wants to be famous drummer some day.

At age 8, she's already on her way, with a performance at The Mill under her belt and another coming up at the Raygun store in downtown Iowa City.

The performances are part of her participation in Girls Rock, an initiative to give girls a chance to play instruments, create music and perform onstage.

'We try to build positive self esteem and a sense of community in girls through music instruction,” said Iowa City Girls Rock co-founder Merit Bickner, 24, of Iowa City.

She and Alyse Burnside, 22, also of Iowa City, brought the program to the Corridor after volunteering at a Girls Rock camp in Chicago. Girls Rock programs exist around the country and share curriculum, though they are not officially affiliated.

Iowa City Girls Rock kicked off with a summer day camp earlier this year. Recently, Burnside and Bickner started Saturday morning jam sessions at United Action for Youth's center at 355 Iowa Ave, Iowa City, open to any girls ages 8 to 16. An upcoming songwriting workshop, to be followed by the Raygun performance, is also open to any girls.

The workshop is being held in partnership with the Iowa Youth Writing Program and will feature Iowa City band Younger.

Having female musicians like Younger's members serve as mentors is central to Girls Rock. The idea is not just to teach music, but to give girls the self-confidence to express themselves and make their voices heard, Bickner said. The summer camp also included workshops on topics like bullying, gender identity and self-defense.

'We really stress personal expression over technical mastery. It's more about what they're interested in learning than overview of the instrument,” Bickner said. 'I think that especially in that age range of preteen and young teenagers, girls are taught to be quiet, be reserved, to start second guessing their own opinions.”

Erin Partridge and Liliana Moessner, both 8 and of Iowa City, certainly have opinions to share and will get a chance to do so at the Raygun performance. At last Saturday's jam session, they were working on two original songs - one about running away from math class, the other about global warming.

Together with two other girls, they've formed their own band - G.I.R.L., which stands for Great Indestructible Rockin' Levels.

'It's awesome,” Partridge said of Girls Rock. 'You get to just learn an instrument, even if you have no experience.”

For Jakob, performing onstage has been the start of a dream come true.

'When I was little I saw people play instruments and thought, oh wow, I want to be like them some day. And now I am,” she said. 'It gives young people a chance to hit the spotlight.”

Get involved

' What: Girls Rock songwriting workshop and performance

' When: Nov. 16; Workshop 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.; performance 3 p.m.

' Where: Workshop in basement of Wesley Center, 102 N. Dubuque St., Iowa City; performance at Raygun, 103 E. College St., Iowa City

' Cost: Free; donations accepted

' For more information or to participate: Email girlsrockiowacity@gmail.com