An evening of heavy music made by a bunch of dudes will benefit a program that aims to help girls become songwriters.
Central Arkansas metal bands Tranquilo, Dirt Wizard and Fred will perform Friday at Little Rock's White Water Tavern to raise money for songwriting and recording summer camps run by Trust Tree Arts and Leadership Programs for Girls.
Benefit for Trust Tree Summer Songwriting Programs for Girls
Featuring: Tranquilo, Dirt Wizard, Fred
9 p.m. Friday, White Water Tavern, 2500 W. Seventh St., Little Rock
Admission: $6
(501) 375-8400
"It's so amazing and so appreciated," says Trust Tree's Correne Spero, who started the songwriting camp for girls last year.
A similar benefit for the 2017 camp raised enough money to award two full scholarships to campers, says Spero, who plays drums in Daughters of Triton (DOT) with Melanie Castellano and Jordan Wolf and was a member of the New York-based hip-hop trio Northern State with Robyn Goodmark and Julie Potash Slavin.
"I also think it's so cool that this is a bill of heavier bands," she says. "It's always so fun for me to see these heavy rock dudes, and sometimes ladies, come together to support the next generation of young girls who want to make music."
The show is being organized by local promoter Christopher Terry, who also put on last year's fundraiser. Oh, and his daughter, Hannah, just happens to be a camp participant.
"It really means a lot to us when parents of the campers and community members get involved and are proactive," Spero says. "There's a small group of us that organize this camp and there are so many things to take care of. It's so helpful when someone rolls up their sleeves and gets involved."
The three-piece Tranquilo was part of last year's fundraiser and are "punk, heavy metal like Motorhead," says Terry, who also sings in Iron Tongue and Rwake.
Conway's Dirt Wizard is a newer band that is just starting to play out and Fred specializes in slower, heavier instrumentals, Terry says.
Castellano, Wolf and Goodmark, along with Spero, are instructors at the camp, which takes place at the Center for Humanities and Arts, University of Arkansas Pulaski Technical College in Little Rock.
A two-week songwriting and recording program is set for June 18-29, while a one-week songwriting workshop is scheduled for July 23-27. The second week of the June camp will be spent recording original songs at Capitol View Studio in Little Rock, Spero says. Both camps end with performances by campers of original songs for friends, families and donors.
Instruments provided for campers include piano, keyboards, acoustic and electric guitars, drums, drum machines and more.
Camps are for girls ages 10-14, although Spero says there's some wiggle room there: "That's an approximate age range. We've accepted younger and older. You might have a very mature 9-year old who is already playing guitar, or you might have a 15-year-old who has never picked up an instrument but has the maturity level and can handle it."
More information is available at trusttree.org.
Weekend on 05/17/2018