Cue Moods: Being in an All-Women Rock Band

Part One: Stumbling into Bliss

Never underestimate the power of an invitation.

This is one of the main messages of this blog: offer invitations to people, and accept invitations when offered. These simple transactions can lead to some pretty powerful stuff.

If you’d like to see what this looks like when a fully-grown woman is invited to be in a rock band, read on.

Our story begins:

What started as a neighborly dinner at Diane Harris’ house ended up with an invitation that changed my life.

We were in her kitchen waiting for pasta to boil. Our kids played in the rec room; hubbies hovered over the grill outside. A small acoustic guitar in the corner caught my eye, so I began strumming and singing while the pasta burbled in the pot. Diane’s eyebrows shot up.

“Wait --you play?” she said. “I didn’t know you played!” Diane and I had recently performed as a trio with our friend Doug Potts at the Highlands Café in Dallas; they played flute and keyboard and I crooned to oldies like “My Funny Valentine.” I never thought to mention to them that I also played guitar.

She inched closer. “So, what do you know?”

“This and that,” I said, and showed her a few chords from a handful of old songs from the 1970s.

She inched even closer. “You have got to come and try out for our band,” she said. “We just lost our rhythm guitar player.”

It was a frozen-to-the-spot moment. Diane was inviting me to play with the rock band she was in! This wasn’t a Funny Valentine trio kind of band, no, we’re talking rock, punk, all original stuff, all…. Play with her band? Are you kidding? That’s like asking me if I’d like to have a million dollars. “I’d love to!” I said, “but...I don’t have an electric guitar…”

“No problem. We’ll fix you up with a loaner from my friend Sandra. Practice is next Saturday, just come on and play and you’ll fit right in. It’ll be fun!”

Just. Like. That.

I floated through dinner that night. A shot to play with an actual rock band! It’s only the one secret wish I’d had for, oh, 30 years. All my playing and singing to date had been church-related or confined to the bathroom. (Bathroom acoustics, by the way, are fantastic. The tiles make the sound ring out, and it keeps the kids happy while they’re in the tub.) But playing in a band is a far cry from playing in the john. Over the next few days I tried to not get my hopes up -- after all, they were probably going to try out dozens of people.

Diane showed me the chords to a couple of the band’s songs and I practiced like a maniac. Then tryout day finally came. It was time to relax and let the music flow. Playing those couple of songs with the band was sheer bliss -- drums pumping up the beat, bass filling the room, Diane’s sax wailing away, the lead singer attacking the notes like a pro skier on moguls -- and I was part of it! This was heavenly, and I didn’t want it to end. How can something this good be offered, and then be taken away? It was like I’d been inside one store at the mall all my life and had suddenly stepped out into the hallway: Shazam! There’s so much more…

Diane was pumped, the other band members seemed happy enough; but the bandleader was...reserved. She suggested I might be a good stand-in (a stand-in...?), but let’s schedule lunch and talk things over.

The lunch never came -- that band imploded a week later, buckling under the pressure of too many control issues. Diane immediately called and said that she and I should start our own band. A second incredible invitation!

We began practicing, noodling around on classics such as the Eagles’ “Best of My Love.” For the next few weeks we’d get together and play music and sing in our living rooms. Then, she got a call from Mary Hestand, the lead singer from the imploded band, who, along with bass player Lucy Galey, wanted to join forces. That next Saturday we set up shop in my living room and things started to click. All we needed was a drummer, and we’d be on our way. The only problem was we wanted a woman, and female drummers are as common as feathered cats.

We lucked out. A local drum teacher happened to have one student who fit the bill: Martha Germann, who only started taking lessons two months earlier. We pounced on her, and the band was complete: Merry and the Mood Swings was born.

We worked up mostly original songs (songs we make up on our own) and a smattering of covers (songs by other bands that people are familiar with). The only hiccup was that Mary Hestand landed us a gig before we were ready to perform. A big gig. Local entertainer Jerry Haynes (known as TV's "Mr. Peppermint," also the dad of one of the Butthole Surfers) was having a big birthday bash at the Granada Theater in two months, and we were to open for the Grammy award-winning Brave Combo.

Our fledgling band with its beginner drummer and green rhythm guitarist had a lot of work to do.

Next: The Mood Swings Hit the Stage:
First the Granada, then New York City

www.merryandthemoodswings.com

Copyright 2008 Mary Guthrie