Photo by Gabbi Forrest

Have you ever heard of a wildly famous and skilled female rock musician–guitarist; bassist; drummer? Most would laugh at this and agree that any famous girl musician in the media today holds nothing against the average alpha-male musician of other popular rock bands. It is a true fact that in rock and basically all of its sub-genres, men have been dominant for its entire existence.

A few of the biggest names in rock include The Beatles, The Who, Metallica, Rush, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Kiss, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Guns ‘n’ Roses, Nirvana, Rancid: all different sub-genres and all 100% completely male. And some girls are working against the general image of male supremacy in the rock genre.

Inspired by Paul Simonon of the Clash and Meg White from the White Stripes, Blu Hunt has taken up the bass guitar as of last Christmas. “The bass is much simpler, I love the sound and how it carries a song. Also it’s like everyone plays the guitar so I thought I’d do something different,” Hunt said.

At eight years old, Hunt rocked out on bass for a short time. It was brought up again when she received a short-scale Daisy Rocks bass with a custom pickup as a little Christmas gift. Though she doesn’t see a career in a band in her near future, Hunt is still eager to represent the underrated idea of a girl who can rock.

Being a girl in a rock band, however, definitely isn’t anything new for 48-year-old bass guitar player Dixie Rose of Denim Wizard; a Scandinavian-style death metal band with a Viking metal twist. Originating from Santa Rosa, CA, Denim Wizard is a six-piece band of all women except for the rhythm guitarist, who goes by “Sailor Man.”

“Back in ‘79 when I was 16, my rebellious brother played the bass and it inspired me to play too. I pursued it and surpassed him,” Rose said.

It was a long journey to get to the unique genre they’ve acquired, however. “In the early ‘90s, my husband Jeff and I experimented with 70s-style funk,” Rose said. “We also did a lot of Turbonegro covers, a Norwegian sort of ‘deathpunk’ band. Our covers were done death metal style and that was the beginning of Denim Wizard.”

Blu Hunt and Dixie Rose with her crew of Denim Wizard are just two of the hundreds and thousands of women just waiting for their break show that girls can rock worlds just as well and possibly more than the typical dude.

By CHLOE MCCROSSEN