Female Drummers ROCK Harder Than You Might Think!

Despite the convenience of Facebook and text messaging, teenage girls still find it challenging to keep up with daily drama, let alone find a way to deal with the every day challenges of female adolescence, such as: boys, backstabbing friends, schoolwork and bushy eyebrows.

However, watching Elizabeth "Little Rock" Piedrahita of the band White Noise and Dina Juarez of The Velvet senses during last nights performance at Stage 84 lead me to believe that women in their interest group don't exactly share the same concerns as most other young girls do.  

You see, Little Rock and Dina aren't exactly singer songwriters, acoustic guitarists or background dancers.  They're drummers; really, really good drummers, who by the way are barely old enough to drink.  Witnessing the look of intensity in their faces as they pounded the skins providing the rhythmic foundation for their male counterparts was a cool sight to behold.  Being a rock drummer requires a skill-set that includes rhythm, timing, energy, power and confidence.  But above all else, it allows for a controlled display of aggression, which under normal circumstances would be considered unacceptable for a young woman to express; an opportunity most women seldom get a chance to take advantage of.

It is my opinion that young women of any age who pick up a pair of drumsticks, struggle less with depression and self esteem issues than other women in their age group. In addition to being a great stress reliever, there's an undeniable "cool factor" and swag that drummers possess which is something that can never be taken away, manipulated or ruined with a malicious Facebook status.  More importantly, anyone who excels at the drums are professional instrumentalists who can only achieve such status with a great deal of practice and dedication; leaving very little room for self-destructive activities that leave many young women out of school, out of work and out of luck.

With all that said, I rest my case that female drummers rock harder than most as it takes an extra ounce of intestinal fortitude for a woman to go against the grain and excel on such a male dominated instrument. Still not convinced? Check out the following clip and tell me if you feel the same when its over.  Male drummers, prepare to get owned:

This is 14-year-old Caitlin Kalafus who claimed the title of World’s Fastest Female Drummer last month in Anaheim, California at the NAMM Winter Session. Caitlin is the youngest person to ever hold a World’s Fastest Drumming World Record, setting female division records in the  ‘Battle of the Feet’ with 799 singles on the bass drum in sixty seconds.   She's 13 in this video.

Well known females drummers are unfortunately few and far between although not exactly a rarity.  With that said, the following is a list of some of the most notable female drummers of all time proving the tender gender is not so tender after all.

Terri Lyn Carrington
Shelia E
Meg White
Hilary Jones
CIndy Blackman

Torry C (from the Donnas)
Mercedes from kittie 

My advice: Ditch the ankle bracelet and get her a drumset!

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