Best female guitar players?

Subject: Best female guitar players?
From: Tigger the Tiger
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 08:46 AM

From the 1960's on, I was really as interested in the guitar work as in vocals. I only had one femals friend who could really play.   Could some of you send me some names of current female performers who really do some good work on the guitar?I am looking for people who really do some work rather than just accompany a pretty singing voice. Preferably solo. I am curious to see what the girls can do these days. Thanks.

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Silas
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 08:47 AM

Sarah McQuaid

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Silas
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 08:49 AM

Helen Marshall

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hq1KLOQluSQ

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: GUEST,Big Nige
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 09:04 AM

Don't think there are any great Female Guitarists, there are some very good ones, but no great ones, and before all the whole folk world descends on me, check out Tommy Emmanual. He really is great.

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Pete Jennings
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 09:24 AM

Jo Ann Kelly.

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 09:40 AM

Sharon Isbin is as highly regarded in the classical guitar field as any of her male contemporaries.

And Vicki Genfan is a great finger/tap stylist.

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 09:42 AM

I've seen Muriel Anderson (American guitarist) playing at a gig of Tommy Emannuel's. She's amazing. Clearly Tommy rates her as well.

I've seen Gabriela of Rodrigo y Gabriela. They're from South America, but were resident in Ireland a few years ago. They do instrumental guitar stuff, with latin influences. They're both very good, but Gabriela's especially good.

I've seen Julie Ellison (English guitarist). She plays all sorts, but is particularly good at the ragtimey, rolling-bass stuff.

But in general, yes it's rare. There are plenty of women who'll play some guitar to accompany their singing, but they're more interested in being The Singer rather than The Guitar Player. With men, it's often the other way round - I can think of a few who started off wanting to be The Guitar Player, taking up singing later in order to be able to get gigs.

I've no idea why this is the case. Lack of role models?

Or perhaps guitar music doesn't appeal to women?

Every time I go to a gig that's mainly instrumental guitar music, (For example Tommy Emannuel, Pierre Bensusan, Bob Brozman) it's at least 95% blokes, and a smattering of bored looking wives and girlfriends. If women don't like to listen to it, then they're not likely to want to learn to play it I suppose.

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Trevor Thomas
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 09:44 AM

Guest above was me, sorry.

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 09:46 AM

The trouble is, all the one's I can think of are dead: Jo Ann Kelly, Memphis Minnie, Elizabeth Cotton, Etta Baker, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Maybelle Carter, to name a few.

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 09:48 AM

Just remembered Bonnie Raitt - she's still alive.

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 09:59 AM

Anna Massie (Scotland) is pretty handy with the guitar, banjo, fiddle.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRAUovccFWE&feature=related

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Rob Naylor
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 10:01 AM

Ana Vidovic

Julie Ellison

Rory Block

Sharon Isbin

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 10:21 AM

Anna Massie is amazing, and has been since she was a wee lass.

May I point out that women had a hard time getting gigs as instrumentalists back in the day because the prevalent image of a female musician was the Chick Singer.

My other favourite female guitarists are also singers: Joan Baez and Kathy Moffat, who never let the guitar get in the way of the song, and of course Bonnie Raitt.

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Trevor Thomas
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 10:49 AM

I'm also a fan of the guitar playing of Hazel Wrigley, of the Wrigley Sisters.

I believe they're doing a UK tour soon, (April?) and I'm very much looking forward to seeing them when they play Sheffield.

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Leadfingers
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 10:50 AM

Maggie Holland - Fine guitarist , banjo and bass player and a very good songwriter too

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: GUEST,John James
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 10:59 AM

To those who know ,there has never been any question as to who the most accomplished guitarists are. This has got nothing to do with popularity or composing etc. Some of the finest composers were not virtuosi.
IDA PRESTI has long been recognised in the guitar world as one of the top three,ever since her debut in Paris as a teenager all those years ago.The other two in the top three will vary..Seqovia, Bream, Assad brothers, Barrueco, David Russel, Williams and of course the astounding Alirio Diaz.
But there has never been a question of being the top woman..IDA PRESTI was the top guitarist.!!

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 11:06 AM

I was going to say Raitt and Kelly but I see I was beaten to it. Who's that American woman who plays some reverse strokes with her fingerpicks?   It's country but I think she's pretty good if I could remember her name...

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 11:07 AM

BTW, Guest, are you John James the guitarist? If so you have a bit of a rep too...

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Pete Jennings
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 11:12 AM

One of Ida Presti's album covers here, found via Wikipedia.

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Pete Jennings
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 11:13 AM

Judging by some of his posts, I think it is the one-and-only Mr. James, Richard. Great guitarist.

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: GUEST,olddude
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 11:16 AM

hand down Bonnie Rait

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: GUEST,AZOIC
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 11:47 AM

Shurely it's June Tabor anyone heard of her?

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: GUEST,Wesley S
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 12:09 PM

Mary Flowers and Del Ray come to mind.

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: saulgoldie
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 12:21 PM

Badi Assad

Saul

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Arkie
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 01:59 PM

I have never even seen a picture of June Tabor holding a guitar.

Has anyone heard of Australian Beccy Cole? Is she considered an adept instrumentalist?

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: GUEST,Bizibod
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 02:11 PM

Kristina Olsen

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 02:11 PM

Jennifer Batten - ex Michael Jackson & Jeff Beck.

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 02:23 PM

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Greg B
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 02:26 PM

Cindy Kallet

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Ebbie
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 02:27 PM

There are some really good young'uns coming up, such as some of those on Wood Songs and on Song of the Mountains. In another five years or so I would expect that some girls' names will become familiar to us all.

A name that pops into my mind is Laura Zahasky, part of the Alaska String Band. Laura is a quite remarkable instrumentalist. She started out on fiddle but she says that guitar is more fun.

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: kendall
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 02:35 PM

If you have never heard Charo play Malagena on the guitar you have never heard a top drawer guitarist. Absolutely fantastic.
How about Caryl P. Weiss? She plays Beaumont Rag like she wrote it.

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: pdq
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 02:38 PM

I can find only one record by Glenda Faye and that is on Flying Fish Records, 1987. She is a seriously good flatpicker who credits Doc Watson for inspiring her to take up the guitar.

As to the ol' "hound dog geetar"... both Sally Van Meter and Cyndi Cashdollar are probably on the Top 10 list of modern Dobro players.

Both Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Memphis Minnie played big jazz-style f-hole guitars and were both very good players. Memphis Minnie on the secular side and Rosetta Tharpe in gospel. However, not all the guitar work on Memphis Minnie records is her. All three of her husband were guitar-playing accompaniests for her, plus a young George Barnes worked on some of her recording sessions.

Aurora "Rory" Block is a darn good player and a fine Blues singer.

In Flamenco and Classical, the "Coochie Coochie Girl" herself, Charo, is a fine player on nylon string guitars and studied under some masters in her native Spain.

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Elmore
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 03:01 PM

Years ago I was impressed by Nina Gerber who accompanied Kate Wolf. On her website I see that she still has a busy schedule, working with Karla Bonoff, and others.

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: bobad
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 03:06 PM

Ellen McIlwaine

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: judyac
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 03:27 PM

The 2011 issue of the Oxford American Music Magazine featured artists from Mississippi. It comes with a CD and has an article about each artist.

"Tallahatchie River Blues" by Mattie Delaney was a standout.

You can listen/download it here

http://funfunfunmedia.com/2010/12/mattie-delaney-tallahatchie-river-blues/

and "Down The Big Road Blues" here

http://funfunfunmedia.com/2010/03/mattie-delaney-down-the-big-road-blues-mp3/

There is an article about Mattie Delaney here (not the article in the magazine)

http://www.oxfordamerican.org/articles/2011/nov/21/which-would-you-pick/

and Wikipedia has a page for her.

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 03:45 PM

Barbara Dickson used to play a decent guitar before she went pop.

Pat Ryan always played a strong guitar accompaniment to support a great singing voice.

Gill Burns from Liverpool had a good style. There's some info on recordings in this thread .

Rosie Hardman played some good guitar.

All self-accompanying, no solo guitar stuff that I remember.

Julie Henigan does some nice instrumental tunes, as did (does?) Wendy Grossman.

"Women's Guitar Workshop" (Kicking Mule) has tracks by Gill Burns and Wendy Grossman, as well as others from Janet Smith, Lynn Clayton and Margo Random. Click on the link to find mp3 samples of the following:-

Gill Burns:

1. Medley: Off She Goes & Lily Boleiro

2. Roxborough Castle

3. Give Me Your Hand

4. Gillespie's Hornpipe

5. Fairies' Hornpipe

Janet Smith:

6. Green, Green Rocky Road

7. Piano Mover's Rag

8. If I'd Have Known

9. Curried Sunflower Seeds

Wendy Grossman:

10. Kemp's Gigue

11. Atholl Highlanders

Margo Random:

12. Little Creature

13. Top Of The Hill

14. Mosquito Song

15. Rapid Pips

Lynn Clayton:

16. Lord and Lady Fitzwater

17. Cat and Mouse

Liz Moroney (Scottish Borders) has a great style for accompanying traditional music, jazzy like Hazel Wrigley - also, like Hazel, can do the same on piano/keyboards.

Ross

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 04:01 PM

Nikki Haan is prety good. Can play well the late Roger Brook's material, and that ain-t easy.

Can't argue with Jukie Ellison or Aurora Block, both of whom I admire greatly. Going back in time Memphis minnie had some nice moves. And Deidre Cartwright, who used to do Rockschool on thetelly was pretty clever.

However is there a female guitarist who inspires wonder like Django did?

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Pete Jennings
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 04:15 PM

Here in the UK, Emily Slade's pretty good on guitar.

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Tigger the Tiger
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 04:27 PM

I just wanted to take music with me wherever I went. Perhaps the other girls did not want to go through six sets of blisters before getting good callouses,or maybe they did not want to cut their left fingernails flat?I was very lucky,as the first player I met was spectacular;I thought that was how to play guitar. Thanks for all the names;I will try to find videos on these to see how they actually play. I appreciate all the help.

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Elmore
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 04:32 PM

Attn: Bobad Yeah, Ellen McIlwaine. Haven't heard of her in ages. I couldn't remember her name, even though I recall her her fine guitar work. Thanks, Elmore

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 04:33 PM

What about rock guitarists? There used to be a good woman band called "Fanny", and another called "Birtha" - and one from Australia called "Cheetah".

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 04:41 PM

This Canadian lady was regarded as being among the worlds best before a medical setback. She was also Pierre Trudeau's old girlfriend and one of the most beautiful ladies to ever hold a guitar. This video has poor quality but it shows three of the best players alive at the time together and is a gem!
Liona Boyd

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: bobad
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 04:49 PM

Elmore, did you check out the link I posted on Ellen?

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Don Firth
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 05:54 PM

This young lady is local (Seattle area). She graduated from the Guitar Department in the University of Washington School of Music.

They didn't have a guitar department at the U. of W. School of Music when I went there in the late 1950s. I had to take lessons from an outside teacher (who was very good), but at the time some of the faculty didn't consider the guitar to be a legitimate musical instrument—despite the fact that while I was there, Segovia did a concert in Seattle, and John Williams did a concert at Meany Hall on the university campus! Anyhow, I like to think that I may have kicked a few bricks out of the wall for guitar students at the U. of W., like Elizabeth CD Brown.

What the "CD" stands for, I dunno.

Anyhoo, Elizabeth CD Brown is now out and around, teaching at Pacific Lutheran University (in Tacoma, thirty miles south of Seattle), she has at least one CD out, and she gives about fifty concerts a year.

She not only plays the modern guitar, but she also plays the lute. I understand that she studied with Paul O'Dette for a while. And she plays from time to time with early music ensembles.

In addition, she plays the Baroque guitar (1600 to 1750). The Baroque guitar has five "courses" (doubled strings), more or less tuned like the top five strings of the modern guitar, but with some interesting differences. She uses what is called "re-entrant tuning." The 5th course (pair of strings) is tuned to an A like the modern guitar, but both strings are an octave up. The same pitch as the 3rd string, 2nd fret. One of the D strings is the same as the regular D, but its mate is an octave up (same as 2nd string, 3rd fret). That lower D of the pair is the lowest pitched string on the guitar. The 3rd, 2nd, and 1st strings are the same as those of a modern guitar—except that the 3rd and 2nd strings are doubled (like a 12-string guitar), but the 1st string is single (the "chanterelle," like the top string of a lute).

Interesting possibilities!

And the Romantic guitar (1750 to late 1800s). Like a standard, modern six (single) string guitar, but a bit smaller. Like a nylon-string (in those days, gut) parlor guitar. This was what Fernando Sor and a lot of the well-known eighteenth century guitarist-composers played.

I've never actually met her, but last I heard, she was also treasurer of the Seattle Classic Guitar Society.

Ms. Brown with her lute.

And with her Baroque guitar.

A photo on Ms. Brown's web site, showing her with her Romantic guitar.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 06:56 PM

Joni Mitchell is very original in her use of open tunings.

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Greg B
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 07:31 PM

On the Rock and Roll side of things Ann Wilson ("Heart") was amazing in the day, and a real pioneer for woman rock guitarists.

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: Elmore
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 07:42 PM

Bobad: Can't do it tonight, but will in the a.m. Again, Thanks, Elmore

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: MarkS
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 11:02 PM

Ann Wilson still amazes today!
How about Patty Larkin for folk?

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: mrdux
Date: 20 Jan 12 - 01:15 AM

try jazz guitarist Emily Remler.

Subject: RE: Best female guitar players?
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Jan 12 - 08:51 AM

Sue Foley from Ottawa is a great blues player.