There’s no question that women have made strides in the musical world in the past couple of decades, but the dominant image of women in music still involves slinky-dressed divas and frontwomen. That’s why the Girls Rock! movement started in Portland, Ore., in 2001 — to empower girls to make their own noise and make their own images.

And when Hilary Jones of Providence first heard about it, she wanted to help out. She was busy studying psychology in graduate school at the time, but last summer she volunteered at a camp for girls in Brooklyn. “That kind of sealed the deal,” she remembers.

She and a group of people, including Lauren Holt at the Machines With Magnets studio in Pawtucket, formed Girls Rock! Rhode Island in January and began meeting with musicians and women with experience in the nonprofit sector to put together a program for girls and women to do it for themselves.

The group is planning a Girls Rock Camp for next summer, but this weekend will see the first Rhode Island Ladies Rock Camp, for women 18 and up.

The approximately 20 attendees, ranging in age from 20 to about 45, will start off on Friday with what Jones describes as “sort of a speed-dating thing” to get attendees acquainted with one another and form bands. Then they’ll get an hour and a half of instruction in their choice of voice, guitar, bass or drums — although some women may be nudged into picking up different things, Jones says: “Most people want to play guitar; it’s the most flashy instrument.” Instructors are women from local bands, including Kaleigh Melise from Lolita Black; Rebecca Mitchell and Ruby Wells from Maid in Mexico; and Chrissy Wolpert from Bonedust.

They’ll start off simple: “A couple of chords, maybe even just power chords — we’re just trying to get them through the weekend — and then tell them they can arrange them however they want.… It’s always good to show them part of a song, so they get psyched — ‘Hey, I can do this!’ ”

It’s still a lot to learn, but Jones says she’s seen it happen. “They were definitely able to do it. It’s not as polished as someone else, but they were definitely able to do it.”

There will be intermittent lessons throughout the weekend, as well as workshops on related subjects such as merchandising, working with effects, and self-defense, but the emphasis is on the fledgling bands practicing together rather than receiving wisdom. The end result is to create an original song with their new band and play it live, in front of an audience, by Sunday evening.

The women at the Brooklyn camp ranged in age from 20 to about 65, Jones recalls, and, “A lot of these women had never had the chance to be loud.… Even talking into a microphone for the first time can be a really empowering experience, so that people can hear what you have to say. It was really great to see women so excited to do this thing that they’ve been told that they’re not supposed to do, or that they just put aside to help other people.” Jones, who credits the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts and the City of Pawtucket with invaluable support, started playing guitar and bass as a teenager and has played locally with bands including Sweet Thieves and Fierce/Close. She says that as a girl growing up in Fargo, N.D., “I always had a lot of support from my family, but I came to realize that not everybody had that. And a lot of times, when I ended up wanting to play with women, there weren’t a lot of women to play with.”

The hope is that women will grow to like the sound of their own volume. And after the girls get their chance next year, Jones thinks, more musical seeds will be planted.

“It’s nice to see that there are more women involved in music. I like music written by women generally, so I like seeing that. It’s nice to see women and girls getting to express themselves in that way. The message a lot of women get through the media is that they are singers; that they are to be viewed, to be seen as sexual objects. That they’re not to be active in creating what’s going on around them. So I’d like to see more women involved in creating music for the sake of creating music, rather than [because] they’re supposed to want to look hot.”

The final showcase of the Ladies Rock Camp will be held on Sunday at 6 p.m. at JamStage, 25 Esten Ave., Pawtucket. For more information, go to www.girlsrockri.org.



* Just an FYI Rick, its MADE in Mexico not MAID.  We will dismiss all Freudian implications and assume that they have been worked out in therapy. Now go listen to some Iron Made-in, peace.  - J.S.