July 8–15, 1999

music

Lilith's Daughters

From the Internet to the stage, Indiegrrl creates a community for women artists.

by Lori Hill

A few years back, singer-songwriter Holly Figueroa was loading her equipment into a Seattle club when a drunken onlooker commented: "So, you’re carrying your boyfriend’s amp. That’s really great. That’s really nice of you."

Irked, Figueroa informed him that it was, in fact, her guitar. Her frustration had been brewing for a while. Playing at those blues clubs made music industry sexism more tangible. People admitted that she had a good voice, but they also wondered, why didn’t she wear a shorter skirt, shed a few pounds, or maybe grow her hair a little longer?

Even online, as part of a musicians’ e-mail list, Figueroa found men who were "condescending, and rude, and lewd, and just disgusting toward the women on that list." They told her if she didn’t like it, she should start her own music list.

So began Indiegrrl, a multifaceted "cooperative" for independent women in music that now includes about half a dozen Philadelphia artists.

In May 1998, Indiegrrl was just an e-mail list for hooking up like-minded women musicians. Talk of a six-woman regional tour quickly exploded into discussion of a national one.

"As soon as we put a press release out, I got 300 e-mails in 24 hours.… We went from 10 members to 250 really fast," Figueroa recalls, two days before the start of the national tour, which stops in the Philadelphia area four times in July.

A year after those first e-mails were sent out, there’s now an Indiegrrl record label, a compilation CD and a nonprofit organization in the works.

Other outlets for women musicians to share resources and experiences do exist, such as the Women in Music National Network, a branch of which also released a compilation CD. But Figueroa figures the more exchange of information the better.

Anyone can be a part of the organization, by joining either the fan mailing list or the various professional lists on the Web site (www.indiegrrl.com). Indiegrrl’s "Total Access" ( a yearly membership fee of $45) allows musicians to be considered for inclusion on future compilations, and offers them a "benefits package" consisting of media contacts and discounts on CD duplication, Web site creation and graphic design.

The submissions are judged by a "listening committee" of five people. "We don’t really look at the press kits, we kind of throw them to the side and listen to the CD.… It doesn’t matter how cute you are."

While the tour and compilation CD are brimming with standard singer-songwriter types, Indiegrrl counts rock and punk acts among their numbers. Figueroa says she’s striving to bring rap and R&B artists into the fold.

While Figueroa says that she was quite inexperienced in the day-to-day business of the music industry early on, now she manages a staff of 10 committee people and about 30 "worker bees" who collect data and do grunt work.

Figueroa acknowledges a debt to Sarah McLachlan ("I think that Lilith Fair opened the door, I mean just kicked open the door"), but it’s easy to see the differences between the tours, both in attitude and participation.

No one’s on a major label, many self-produce their albums and each act is allowed control over how its work is used, even under the Indiegrrl banner.

Philadelphia singer Michelle Nagy will join the Indiegrrl East Coast tour. Nagy was skeptical at first: "It didn’t seem like it was going to be anything big, but then I said, wait, I don’t want to be big. Let’s try it." Indiegrrl has helped Nagy get some publicity for her self-released first album, Art Museum. "I’m also able to tell them where and when I want to gig."

The Internet focus of Indiegrrl impresses Nagy, too. "We’re just connected so easily."

Figueroa may still receive the occasional unpleasant remark from a chauvinist audience member or venue owner, but her attitude has changed.

"I think that Indiegrrl has given me enough confidence to go out and say, you know what, I’m in jeans and I’m very comfortable and very happy and you can all go to hell," says Figueroa, laughing.

Indiegrrl Tour: Tue., July 6, Grape Street Pub, 105 Grape St., Manayunk, 215-483-7084; Fri., July 9, and Sat., July 10, The Dog House Café, 83 E. Lancaster Avenue., Paoli, 610-644-5069; Thu., July 29, Tin Angel, 20 S. Second St., 215-928-0978. Visit the Indiegrrl Web site for more information and show lineups (www.indiegrrl.com).