By: Becky Firesheets

Starting out as a punk rock drummer inspired by the Riot Grrrl movement and now performing country-laden tunes led by her rich, twangy voice and steady guitar chords, Rosy Nolan’s wide spectrum of life experiences have brought her to New York where she currently fronts The Rosy Nolan Band. Though often categorized as Americana or alt-country, Nolan’s punk background adds a slight edginess missing from most other bands fitting those labels. On first look it may be easy to write her off, with her small stature and blonde hair, as just another chick singer. But think again. Her poetic lyrics, strong yet well-controlled vocals and onstage presence are powerful, not to mention the thoughtful and respectful way she communicates off stage. In a city where indie rockers seem to dominate, Rosy Nolan is shining.

For the first installment of this new column, Women Who Rock the Underground, Nolan was a perfect choice. She dove deeply and honestly into discussing concepts such as how gender has affected her songwriting and performance style, whether or not being female has affected her relationship with other musicians, and how important it is for young people to just pick up instruments and play. My point behind the creation of this column is not to spread my ideas, promote feminism nor ask loaded questions. I simply am interested in the role gender plays in music and the music business, particularly in a field like rock-and-roll that is currently and historically male dominated.

Nolan spoke not just about these ideas but also about her favorite venues, the random instruments she has been picking up lately (like the mountain dulcimer) and the joys of collaborating with musical friends. Read below for the full interview, and check out her upcoming shows, Saturday June 20th at Hank’s Saloon (with the HonkyTonk Angels) and June 27th at Rockwood Music Hall, where she’ll be celebrating 15 years as a musician.

For more information about the concept of this column, click here.

Q&A with Rosy Nolan

Where are you from?
RN: I’m from San Francisco. I grew up in the Bay Area, in Oakland and Berkley too.

When did you to move to New York?
RN: I moved to New York…it’ll be seven years on July 15th.

Oh wow. Did you come here for your music?
RN: I came for my music. I was living in L.A. for a few years, trying to do it out there, and I just wasn’t feeling it. Then I lived in London for a short period of time, and then just kinda decided New York was the next spot.

And have you found it to be a good city for your music?
RN: Yes and no. I feel like compared with Los Angeles, people really come out and see live music and are interested in checking people out. But I think it’s so populated with artists that oftentimes I feel like I’m competing to get in certain gigs or venues. There are just so many people doing the same thing here.

I’m sure there is a lot of competition. Have you found that you have been treated any differently by venues than your male contemporaries, or does gender seem to not play a role?
RN: That’s really tricky because I think sexism, if you want to call it that, is a lot more subtle these days, it’s not so overt. So you don’t necessarily know if somebody is, you know, if you’re getting the raw end of a deal or not based on that, because nobody is going to outwardly say something that specific. I hire out my musicians and most of them tend to be men. I do play with one banjo player who’s a female and is excellent, but I think it’s so male dominated. I can see how… (pauses) It’s just so male dominated. I mean, it’s not easy for anybody, I know everyone struggles, men and women both. But I think where there are more examples of men succeeding, it’s more encouraging for men than women. Oftentimes, I think just based on there being more male examples or role models of men succeeding, it can be a deterrent for some women.

Yeah, I think so too. I am a musician just as a hobby so I haven’t had the experience of trying to get gigs. But I think it could be discouraging for me because I have noticed when I go out, maybe one band out of five bands on the bill will have women. But it’s interesting because like you were saying, there isn’t outward sexism anymore, it’s not that male musicians won’t play with women.
RN: It’s so much more subtle and in some ways that makes it stickier ‘cause you can’t really pinpoint it. It’s certain attitudes. I’ve played with a lot of male musicians and I’ve come up against having to reassert myself consistently and having to be just really clear on what their roles are and mine. It’s really difficult to be constantly having to do this. I mean, you just can’t assume that people are going to be looking out for your best interests. In anything, but especially in the music industry. You really have to fight for yourself and stand up for yourself a lot.

You play around pretty often in New York. Do you play about once a month?
RN: I’d say like, twice to three times a month.

Do you have any favorite venues or places that you prefer to play in?
RN: I’ve really been liking playing at Spike Hill lately. I’ve played at The Rockwood a bunch, which is cool. Where else… I go through different phases of playing different places. I played Pete’s a lot in the beginning when I first moved here. Banjo Jim’s sometimes. Because I’m more of a singer/songwriter I tend to go to those types of places. I play other rock venues but not so frequently.

Yes, often I’ve heard that label of singer/songwriter or Americana when people talk about your music. There’s definitely a twangy flair and the slide guitar seems to play a prominent role in a lot of your songs. How do you feel about the label of Americana? Because there are so many straight up rock-and-roll bands in Brooklyn, as an Americana musician do you feel isolated from that or connected to a group of musicians?
RN: There’s definitely a small, Brooklyn country resurgence. There’s a group of country/folk/bluegrassy bands and, you know, there are small cliques almost of people who play more rootsy music. It’s funny because when I first moved here I was definitely more into playing rock and more into the indie scene, and I’ve slowly weaned myself off of that (laughs). Or have evolved into something else, a more rootsy vibe. Sometimes I wonder if New York is the best place for me in terms of playing this kind of music, especially in Brooklyn since it’s so geared toward indie rock and that’s really what’s happening. I definitely think there’s a lot of Americana though, or people who consider themselves Americana, out there playing and performing and doing well. Playing Rockwood and The Living Room and who get people to come out. But I don’t think it’s as big of a scene in general.

As far as other bands that you play with go, do you guys tend to book shows together or do you individually approach venues for a gig?
RN: Mainly individually. I recently got involved with this woman named Jamie Lyn who started a show called HonkyTonk Angels. It’s all female fronted, country-ish bands that perform. She produces a show once a month, usually the last Saturday of every month. What’s really great about that is I spend so much time promoting and marketing that it’s really nice to be a part of some encompassing event. She’s got great ties with the media and stuff so usually we get a lot of great people, a good audience, out. It’s just more of a cohesive event, it’s not so random, people stay for the whole show.

In addition to singing, do you play other instruments?
RN: I play guitar and I’ve been picking up other weird instruments like the autoharp and mountain dulcimer. I’ve been getting into that stuff, it’s so fun. But my first instrument was the drums. I started playing drums when I was a teenager.

Oh cool! Do you ever drum anymore?
RN: No, I’d love to. I kind of have this dream of doing a side project where I’m just the drummer for some band (laughs).

Currently, what are your favorite instruments to play?
RN: I mainly play guitar, so I would say guitar.

Have you had any formal musical training or did you just pick it up and go on your own?
RN: No, I kinda just picked it up. Well, in high school I got involved with the Riot Grrrl movement in the early ‘90s and that really inspired me to just pick up whatever and play it without having any training. I think if I hadn’t been encouraged in that way, I don’t know that I would have started playing music. That really spawned my music career.

Do you ever play with other bands or are you just focusing on The Rosy Nolan Project?
RN: That’s where the majority of my attention is focused but sometimes I’ll sit in and do backing vocals for friends. Harmonies or percussion, or whatever. Autoharp. I’d love to do more of that actually, it’s really fun. I really enjoy playing with other people, and playing other peoples’ music. It takes a lot of the pressure off, you can just be there to support someone else, which is liberating.

What’s your songwriting process like?
RN: I think usually I’ll sit down with a guitar and strum out a few chords and just come up with a melody line. Generally the lyrics come later. I rarely write lyrics and then music to lyrics. In fact, never I would say (laughs).

So you usually write the melody first and then add lyrics later. As far as the other musicians go, you said you hire some of them. Do they add their own parts or do you write the bass and drums too?
RN: I don’t, I really feel like playing with other people is an opportunity for me to work with other peoples’ ideas and have them contribute musically. I think if I were controlling everything it would drive me insane. I’ve gotten to a point now where I’m playing with some really wonderfully talented musicians and there’s just a nice flow to things. I’ll bring in new material and we’ll just jam on it. Usually everybody comes up with really excellent stuff so that’s where the collaboration takes places.

And do any of the other members of your band write songs to bring to you?
RN: Not for this band but everyone else has their own projects.

Do you think your songwriting process and the music you make in general is influenced by being female?
RN: Definitely, definitely. I have to say, and it’s interesting because I’ve been thinking about this a lot, that so much of the Riot Grrrl movement was about kind of reclaiming your rights, encouraging young women to go after what they want and create a musical community of their own. I think that has been really inspiring for me. I was a Women’s Studies major in college. One of my biggest influences is Lucinda Williams, who sings a lot about heartbreak but also sings about the daily struggles of women and being in music and what it’s like to be a woman in music. So I’ve always been really interested in all of that... (pauses) I don’t know if I answered that question completely.

No, that was good, that was a good answer (laughs).
RN: Good, I’m glad.

Do you think that being female affects the way you perform, or your onstage presence?
RN: Yes. I mean, I don’t think I can separate it, honestly, it’s who I am. It’s funny because there are times where I feel like I’m being girly onstage or being more effeminate. There are also times where I feel like somehow it’s a novelty, it’s something I need to use to sell my music, like, being a chick singer, cutesy blond girl or something. It might be a selling point but it can also be very belittling and pigeonholing. I tend to find when I’m most “on” performance wise is when I don’t… I’ve kinda had these weird moments performing where I feel like this sense of being, this might sound weird, but being genderless. Feeling connected to both masculine and feminine sides of myself and not really identifying in that moment completely as, “I’m a woman singing this song,” but kind of encompassing both traits. I don’t know, it’s kind of like this funny spiritual feeling of breaking out of any sort of role.

That sounds incredible. I feel like it’s especially hard to do that as a female singer, because a lot of singers are sex symbols. I feel like it’s really easy to fall into that, even if you don’t want to or do want to.
RN: Yeah, and that’s how a lot of people might just perceive you whether you’re trying to or not.

Exactly. Okay, have you felt like any of the people that you play with at shows have treated you differently because you’re a female, or has it been an open community?
RN: People like, audience members, or the club?

Let’s say fans and then separately, other musicians that you share bills with and interact with.
RN: I think that has definitely come up. I’ve definitely had other men in the music world kind of talk to me or treat me with kid gloves. Like, they wanna tune my guitar or something, or think they need to carry my instruments around…which I actually don’t mind (laughs). Or, you know, kind of treat me like maybe I don’t know what I’m doing. I’ve certainly had people talk down to me or tell me after shows what they think I should be doing, that I should maybe play a different chord for this song, just give me unheeded advice. Which they would never give a guy. I’ve definitely gotten a lot of that. Yeah... definitely.

And how do you react to that and handle those situations?
RN: It depends completely on the situation. Usually I just try to be (pauses)… it completely depends on what’s going on. I just try to be clear with them. Sometimes there’s no point. Some people are just ignorant and don’t know any better or don’t know what they’re doing. Usually that’s what’s going on, I don’t think anyone is out to suppress me. But if I can I’m just clear with them that maybe their advice is not welcome or inappropriate.

What are your current projects with The Rosy Nolan Band? Your current focuses?
RN: I’m working on another album, on recording and finishing that in the next six months. And then doing a follow up tour. What else… just playin’ out. I really enjoy playing out of New York. I’ve been doing these little gigs up in Connecticut or upstate, these little one-nighters. I have such a great time. It’s such a funny difference between playing a show here and then going upstate and playing a gig at some coffee house or small venue. People buy CDs, they buy merch, they stay around and ask questions and ask me to sign their CDs. It’s really sweet. You actually feel like you’re connecting with people. Here that happens but it can feel a lot like… there’s just so much going on, it’s hard.

Yeah, and I think like you were saying, there are so many musicians that it’s almost like we’re all spoiled. We can walk down the street and see some live music and not even stop really to enjoy it, it’s just a thing you do to go out. I think New Yorkers take that for granted.
RN: Yes, and there are so many talented people, there’s this high concentration of really amazing talent. Like, I saw some people play the other night, really brilliant beautiful stuff, and then the next night I saw someone else, and I can barely hold the information in my head long enough to digest it before I’m up against something else. You know?

Yeah, that’s totally true.
RN: It’s hard to even remember who’s playing when or where they’re playing next ‘cause it’s just so much.

Okay, so the last question… I know that Hilary Hawke is in your band and she also has her own band and is a strong, female lead. How do you guys work together? Do you feel like it blends well or that you’re both front women so there can be a conflict?
RN: You know, it’s funny because when I was younger I played in a lot of all girl groups, punk groups and stuff, and inevitably that issue came up, this competition or cattiness, I don’t know what you want to call it. Hilary is such an amazing musician and such a grounded human being that for whatever reason, our energies blend well with each other. I think also when you have a band that’s called The Rosy Nolan Band, it’s pretty clear who’s in charge (laughs). And everybody I play with is so respectful that it really has never been an issue.

That’s great. I hate seeing women musicians get at each other. It defeats what they’re trying to do.
RN: I know, it breaks my heart. That’s why I’m really happy to be playing with her, I feel like it’s a successful example. And like, I sang on her album and it’s really nice to help her out, too. She’s a really talented woman. She’s a really good banjo player, so I’m all about it.

That’s really great. Well yeah, so that’s all I’ve got for ya! The main thing throughout the interview was that I didn’t want to push my ideas on you, but it seems like we have a lot of similar ideas and were able to talk about things. I really enjoyed it.
RN: Cool, me too. I’m really looking forward to reading it. Thanks!