Ladyfest — music by women for women — returns

It's not Lilith Fair, and it's definitely not the VH1 Divas show. But music lovers are flocking to Olympia this weekend to hear female rockers at a festival that celebrates women's artistic expression.

The first Ladyfest, held in Olympia in August 2000, spawned an international grassroots movement.

Partly in response to the reported rapes at Woodstock during the summer of 1999, "Allison Wolfe of Bratmobile decided it was time to create a safe space for women in entertainment," said organizer Kanako Wynkoop, "and the idea of organizing a festival for women by women was born."

Since then, women from nearly 75 other cities around the world have organized Lady-fests of their own. Festival sites have included Jakarta, Indonesia; Dublin, Ireland; Monterrey, Mexico; São Paulo, Brazil; and Melbourne, Australia.

But recently, a group of about 20 women decided it was time to bring Ladyfest home to Olympia again.

Ladyfest Olympia is still about girl power, feminism and political activism. The event, which features more than 30 live acts, runs from Thursday through Sunday.

Ladyfest lineup

Headliners include soul and blues star Barbara Lynn; rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson; soul, blues and punk band the Gossip; noise band Metalux; singer-songwriter Mirah; multimedia artist Tracy + The Plastics; and solo artist Mary Timony, formerly of Autoclave and Helium.

Festival participants can watch a fashion show, listen to a DJ discussion panel, learn how to swing dance, make films, play the drums or guitar. Other scheduled events focus on AIDS awareness, feminism, doll making and being "fat positive."

Ladyfest also will host a series of screenings featuring about two dozen films. In addition, award-winning filmmaker Su Friedrich will present "Hide and Seek," a film about growing up lesbian in the 1960s, which will be followed by a discussion.

"Ladyfest is an idea that women can do anything and everything," said festival spokeswoman Marianne Kozlowski.

In addition to working as one of the organizers of the event, Kozlowski, 23, plays guitar and sings backup in Mind Your Pig, Latoya, a local country-punk band that's performing this weekend.

Because each Ladyfest is a grassroots effort, this four-day festival has a very different lineup than the first one, said Wynkoop, the only organizer who also worked on the first Ladyfest. Wynkoop, 29, better known as Kanako of the acoustic band Liarbird, remembers being one of the youngest women in charge of Ladyfest 2000.

All ages welcome

"We're trying to appeal to a broader audience," said organizer Kate Robinson.

Robinson, 23, a singer and self-described music lover, said she recently moved from Houston to Olympia because of the city's rich music scene.

"In this [Ladyfest] we have older women — Wanda Jackson and Barbara Lynn — who are legends," said Kozlowski. Singer-songwriter Lynn has been playing the blues on her guitar since the 1960s, and rockabilly star Jackson began performing with Hank Thompson & His Brazos Valley Boys as a high-schooler in 1954.

This year's lineup also showcases a performance by Portland's Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls and one by Heartbeat, a local band featuring 11-year-olds Rosie and Maiya from Olympia.

Robinson said she's excited that organizers are seeking participation from the younger crowd. "We want to encourage 11-year-old girls to pick up a bass or a drum."

Ladyfest's roots

Ladyfest grew out of the Riot Grrl movement, which began on Olympia's Evergreen State College campus. Several members of a collective of women who came together to create a zine in the late '80s eventually formed a band called Bikini Kill. Other groups that came together at the time included Bratmobile, 7 Year Bitch, and Heavens to Betsy. This group of bands, who called themselves the Riot Grrls used grassroots organizing, tours and zines to make a name for themselves.

Younger musicians will be sharing the stage with performers who have ties to the Riot Grrl movement, including Tobi Vail, a former member of Bikini Kill, who plays with the punk-rock group Spider and the Webs; Kanako, of Liarbird, a band known for its soft melodic sounds; and 7 Year Bitch bassist Elizabeth Davis, who plays with the soul-punk band Von Iva.

Women as inspiration

Kozlowski and Robinson agreed that exposure to female role models changed their lives.

"Bikini Kill definitely was one of the reasons that I got into the music in the first place," said Kozlowski. "I didn't know that women could be in a band and travel and tour and be successful as artists until I saw the Riot Grrl movement happening."

Watching these women is also how she learned about feminism, Kozlowski said. "Feminism was just this ideal, but they were applying it to art and to music."

"For me it's the idea that women took it into their own hands and didn't wait for someone to say they could do it," said Robinson.

"They didn't wait for a label to sign them" before heading out to perform, said Kozlowski.

It's inspiring to see women of the Riot Grrl movement take charge and "apply that attitude to so many things," Robinson added. "That's why five years later we are seeing that there's a need to re-ignite that attitude in a new generation of girls."

Judy Chia Hui Hsu: 206-464-3315 or jhsu@seattletimes.com