Girls rock!

Chicks, chords and chardonnay: How all girl music classes are turnin’ mama hensinto songbirds

Girl Guitar gig at Antone's in March
Photo by Meredith Rainey
Karen Jones, a current student, debuted on bass at Antone's in March.
Photo by Meredith Rainey
Founder Mandy Rowden (left)
Photo by Meredith Rainey
Karen Jones jams with Mandy Rowden
Photo by Meredith Rainey
Girl Guitar gig at Antone's in March
Photo by Meredith Rainey
Mother of four, Susan Stockton sings and plays guitar.
Photo by Meredith Rainey

You can’t participate unless you are over 21 and female.

The over 21 part is for good reason — the first thing you hear when you walk in the door is “white or red?” And a few minutes into it, some of the language being used by the women involved is no longer PG rated.

The female requirement is in some ways out of necessity: “If we let dudes in here it would change the dynamic,” Girl Guitar founder, teacher and multi-instrumentalist Mandy Rowden explains.

“While the music is really important, I want them to get as good and as strong as they can be. I also just recognize the need for just face to face human contact."

“I’m not a feminist and have never said ‘girl power’ or some shit like that. These women just wouldn’t thrive this way in any other environment…because it’s just women, they relax some.”

Girl Guitar is one part music lesson, one part confidence builder, one part girls’ night out social club. It’s a formula that’s celebrating five years of success in Austin. Rowden says Girl Guitar has grown organically and started because she was looking for a way to make some quick cash to get her cell phone turned back on. One successful class in 2007 turned into a thriving business.

“Sometimes I just think I’m the luckiest person. Like how did this happen? You know what I do for fun is hang out and play music and drink wine with people who are hilarious and kind and cool and I get paid for it.”

In addition to guitar, songwriting and singing classes, Girl Guitar offers band classes, putting together a singer, guitar player, drummer and bassist. At the end of 6 weeks, the bands get a chance to gig at Antone’s.

Rowden says her clientele ranges from experienced pickers to up and comers to housewives and moms looking to get out of the house and do something they’ve always wanted to do — learn a musical instrument or join a band.

“While the music is really important, I want them to get as good and as strong as they can be. I also just recognize the need for just face to face human contact — a glass of wine and a nice relaxing evening with a bunch of fun cool people. It’s invigorating and necessary I think.”

Her students will testify to the impact spending an hour a week with some fellow female musicians can have. “It’s just changed my life. It’s made me a better musician definitely. It’s also made me a lot happier. I think it’s made me a more pleasant person all the way around. ” Susan Stockton, a mother of four who loves to sing says. She’s taken several Girl Guitar sessions.

“When you walk in here it’s just relaxed and fun and there’s a lot of laughter and a lot of opportunity to do your very best,” she says. She’s now learning guitar and even jamming with her kids.

“I think for me it’s great to learn but better yet is the camaraderie with the women that we have. They’re incredible…and everyone just gels.”

Karen Jones committed to learning guitar as a New Year’s resolution at the start of 2011. She tackled guitar first and is now learning to play bass. “It’s very empowering,” Jones says. “I’m 50 and for someone my age…they always talk about old dogs and new tricks and to be able to sit down and be able to do it when you were told all these years you’re probably not very good at it…and even if I’m not good at it, I would never know because Mandy is so encouraging and all the women in the class — nobody tells you 'you suck.' Everyone tells you how great you are."

During my session with Karen, Susan, Emily and Mandy, I saw first-hand the magic created when you get a handful of women in one room with a common goal, a guitar and a glass of wine.

“I think for me it’s great to learn but better yet is the camaraderie with the women that we have. They’re incredible…and everyone just gels,” Jones says.

While Girl Guitar has helped Mandy Rowden keep her cell phone on for years now, she says she gets much more out of it than a paycheck.

“It’s the relationships, the friendships. I mean music is obviously fun and clearly that’s something I’m into and have fun doing, but it’s like all these people didn’t know each other coming in but I see all these really kick ass friendships being formed.”

Whether you’re an experienced musician or have no idea how to play a G chord, Rowden says you’ll get something out of Girl Guitar.

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Belles of the Ballroom

9 Austin bar and venue experts take over popular Old Austin space near UT

29th Street Ballroom/Facebook

Changes are coming at the 29th Street Ballroom, but the goal is to preserve what already makes it special.

The evolution continues at the 29th Street Ballroom, the music venue formerly attached to Spider House Café. It's no secret, Resound Presents CEO and co-founder Graham Williams says, that he and a large team of other industry pros are taking over the space; but now they're ready to talk about what comes next for the venue and adjoining bar.

Although Spider House Café closed in 2020, the Ballroom stayed open, and has continued serving University of Texas students and anyone else who wants to see a show outside of the ordinary: punk shows, burlesque revues, fundraisers, and more. It'll stay open through most of the renovations, scheduled through January of 2025, and is expected to hold a grand opening in March.

Now Resound — one of Austin's top live music organizers, which was itself born from the ashes of another Austin institution — is lending two of its co-founders to managing the space going forward: Williams and Ian Orth. They're joining seven other team members from venues around town, many of them overlapping: Amy Mullins, Brian Tweedy, Jason McNeely, John Yaklin, and Shannon LeBoeuf of Hotel Vegas, Chess Club, Kinda Tropical, Tweedy’s, and Yellow Jacket Social Club, in varying capacities; and Brian Buscemi and Mike Sanchez of the Little Darlin’.

Williams emphasizes that although things will be changing at the Ballroom, the goal isn't to change anything people already love.

"Over the next few months as we kind of ease into the spring, we're using this downtime to revitalize things, decorate, revamp some of the stuff in the venue and the bar, and just kind of get things moving in the right direction," Williams says, "taking what's already popular about the venue and just adding to it, really."

Bar updates
The biggest shift will be turning the bar from an accessory to live shows into its own entity that's open even when there's nothing else going on. Amy Mullins, best known as a co-owner of Yellow Jacket Social Club, is overseeing that transition. She's never operated a venue that is primarily focused on music, and has been enjoying learning more about how to do it; she even worked the door recently when a staff member called out sick.

Mullins echoes Williams in assuring that the change is more about logistics than tone. It'll still feel like Old Austin, but she does express a hope to run more than the "typical venue bar," handing out simple drinks as quickly as possible. She's working on a new menu that includes wine, beer, craft cocktails, and non-alcoholic options like tea, kombucha, or mocktails. Regardless of what's on the schedule on any given night, Mullins says the menu will stay the same.

"There's no drink too complicated for us to make, however busy we are," she says.

Food options
Another goal for the team will be making sure the space works when there's not someone onstage to crowd around. They'll expand the front and side patios and create a food truck food court that features the same trucks that are there now, plus one newcomer. All in all, that includes Yalla Burger & Wings, Gyro Center, Li’l Nonna’s Vegan Pizzeria, Guppy’s Indian Fried Chicken, Waylon J’s BBQ, and Ay Chihuahua Tacos.

The expanded patio will connect to Tweedy's Bar next door, which also has its own food trucks. The idea is to create a space to hang out after shows that feels fit for the purpose. It's possible to stick around after events now, but the layout does create a vague feeling of loitering.

Artist and fan-friendly tweaks
On the entertainment side, Williams says some of the renovations include putting in a new sound system, redoing the green room, updating the facade, and repainting signs. Since the winter is a slower time for live music, they'll be taking advantage of the extra time to work on things before packing the calendar with more events than before. Resound will handle most of the bookings in live music, comedy, and DJ sets, welcoming both national and local talent.

Whatever the details end up being, this team has proved to Austinites that they know how to run venues worth visiting. And since they're all friends and business partners on multiple levels, it sounds like having this many cooks in the kitchen just isn't an issue.

"Some of us have been roommates and known each other since we were young," says Williams. "It's a good mix of people who are all very like minded, so a lot is being brought to the table per decision. So yeah, it's it's really exciting. Sometimes that's not the case. .... But with this project, it's a lot of really great, creative people that are good at what they do [and] they trust each other."

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