Hey, y’all, Shay here. thebuzzr after hours.

Welcome. Episode 12.

Tonight we celebrate Women in Rock.

Looking back at rock and metal history, women have been a part of it for as long as men have. They named Viola Smith of The Coquettes “America’s Fastest Girl Drummer” in 1939. The Rock-and-roll Hall of Fame recognized Rosetta Tharpe as being responsible for the careers of Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. And then there’s Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Joan Jett, and many others.

Women put out incredible music year after year. I am introducing you to three talented women in rock tonight. Gemma Dee, lead vocalist of the band The Banquets out of Leeds, United Kingdom. Emma Dark, lead in her band Dark, based in Los Angeles, California. Amanda Pajer, lead vocals for the Los Angeles duo Mike and Mandy.

Enjoy!

First up, The Banquets’ single “Black Mirrors” releasing May 7th. Rock, blues and pop band The Banquets hailing from Leeds join the podcast today. Gemma Dee, vocals and Leon Russell-Hills, guitarist are with us today. Catch the video on YouTube May 7th.

thebuzzr indie featured The Banquets this week. Check out Tuesday show. Learn more about this incredible band at thebuzzrpod.com

L.A. based artist Emma Dark joins us next. Emma formed the alternative rock band Dark. She is a singer-songwriter. Today we discuss her motivation to form her female-fronted band, and her latest songs inspired by the children’s poem “The Spider And The Fly”.

Last track of the night is “Ash Rain” by Mike & Mandy released late April of this year. The track is an aggressive hard rock original single reminiscent of the 80s.

Mike and Mandy are producer-writer-husband Michael Faulkner and singer-songwriter Amanda Pajer based in Los Angeles, California.

Closing tonight, a quote from Frank Zappa.
“Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid.”
And that brings us to the end. Thank you for tuning in. A huge thank you to the artists on tonight’s show.

When the show goes silent, take a minute to reflect on the messages told by these incredible artists tonight, through the power of music. Without music, our canvas is blank.

Night, all! Cheers!
Emma Dark | Dark
Provided by the Artist

Emma Dark formed the band, "Dark," and is an alternative rock singer-songwriter from the United States, writing songs inspired by her favorite children’s poem, “The Spider and the Fly."

At 13, she joined a small homeschooling group guitar class, where she discovered her ear for melody and writing vocal lines with her first 3 chords. After difficulty fitting into groups, she began writing music alone in her bedroom to heal from painful experiences. In a few short years, she recorded over 30 songs on her phone.

To start a rock band, she joined a music class for collaboration at the local community college, Norco College. There, she became the only female rock artist in a class of 30 males to 5 females. Before she could perform or record in the school's studio, Covid struck a month into class. Back at home, she resorted to passing tracks back and forth online with a talented lead guitarist with 15 years playing experience from class, Dillon Brown. Complementing each other's styles,