GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

AUGUST 7, 1998

Evenings Out

Not all lesbian music is

folk rock, acoustic guitar

Marys mixes old-time punk with rock and roll

by Jeffrey L. Newman

The Hail Marys may be a band of singing dykes, but the Indigo Girls they're not.

"We've got strong guitars and heavy beats. A lot of dykes love it. It's about time they had a hard-rock dyke band that they could get into," says Jackie Strano, the band's founder and lead vocalist. "It's a stereotype that all lesbians sit around and listen to acoustic music and k.d. lang. They want to get out and shake their booty too."

"We come from the philosophy that we'll do it ourselves. We're not going to wait for a record label to discover us.”

With a hard rock sound, fused with elements of punk and pop music, the Hail Marys are one of the brightest up-and-coming bands on today's indie circuit.

Mixing an essence of old time punk and good time rock 'n' roll, they're a cross between Concrete Blonde and Alice in Chains.

"We are three butch dykes and one femme dyke and we are all very out and proud and have no secrets. I don't use gender-neutral pronouns when I sing about love and sex," says the 33-year old singer. “We are outlaws in this society for being in your face about our sexuality,"

"Throughout history the love and the lust

for the feminine and the passions inspired by such love has long inspired male artists,” she adds. "So when I write how my sex is my religion in my lyrics, that passion not only inspires queers to not commit suicide, but it also crosses over and speaks a universal language. Those who are inspired by honest passionate music with conviction that doesn't sugar coat the truth and that celebrates the beautiful brutality of life dig our music."

Being hard-edged, non-conforming lesbians in a closeted, predominantly male industry makes it more difficult to be commercially successful.

"If you sound like Sarah McLachlan and you're not too political, maybe you can have a career. Otherwise the music industry itself sucks. But we come from the philosophy that we'll do it ourselves. We're not going to wait for a record label to discover us."

The band is currently on a self-financed U.S. tour, which lands at two Ohio gay clubs: the 5¢ Decision in Cleveland on August 13 and the Dock in Cincinnati on August 14.

They are also promoting their independently produced second CD, California King, a collection of songs inspired by things going on in the band's lives, including homelessness, major surgery, family deaths, break-ups and other life-altering experiences. It can be purchased through the band's web site at http:// www.thehailmarys.com or by e-mailing panicstrkn@aol.com.

"When I write, it comes from a pretty emotional base. Whether I'm taking on a 'persona for the moment or not, it's pretty there," says Strano. “If you read the lyrics. you would know a big part of me and be able

3

Hail Marys' sound is powerful, but melodic

California King

The Hail Marys

Panic Stricken Records

Reviewed by Harriet L. Schwartz

Packing the lyrical punch of a Tribe 8 or L7, the Hail Marys are ready to rock your world. Forgoing a pure punk aesthetic, this California dyke band prefers a more melodic, yet equally powerful brand of rock 'n' roll.

“Pornication” opens the Hail Marys most recent release with plenty of sexual energy, driven by irresistible groove. “Emotional Sears” takes a different musical

furn

that is full of grabay

dave for starts album in the spirit could match

a dose of musical unease.

moving rock ballad..

the national scene.

to restram, creating a range les, Guitarist Debbie Torrey eful bridges that move the songs

gives color and texture to the along rather than becoming chops indulgent. And finally, drummer Shawlene Ross and bassist Veronica Savage give the Hail Marys an essential groove.

to channel what the band is about."

The gals maxed out credit cards and used money the band's guitarist inherited when her father passed away during the making of the album to finance the sterling opus.

"We definitely put ourselves in debt doing this," says Strano. "But it's nice not to be in debt to some company that would dictate to us what we could and couldn't do."

Adding to the mix is Strano's outspokenness on sexuality.

"I'm very open about sex, sexuality and the spirituality of sex, in my personal work, not just music," says Strano, who works as a sex education counselor at Good Vibrations in San Francisco. Her partner of five years, Shar Rednour, whom she met in a sex club, is an author, editor and public speaker on issues relating to sex and referred to as the “queen of non-monogamy."

The two are very outspoken about their sexual lives. On a recent interview for GLO Radio, a national gay and lesbian Internet broadcast, the two spoke about their sometimes-open relationship.

"Well it's kind of like ordering take out. Sometimes it's kind of like I want to fuck a femme-bottom... And it's like: 'Well honey I'm not a femme-bottom... maybe you need to order out for that one. You can't be everything to one person.” Strano says.

But not everyone embraces that sentiment. "It's really hard to find your sense of community around that," she adds. "Just because we're all big homosexuals doesn't mean you're going to find validation for wanting to experience sex fully."

Being so blatantly open is very important to Strano. "I believe if you are open about sexuality you lead a better life. Music to me has a direct correlation," she says.

Still, Hail Marys' songs aren't necessarily about sex. A few are, but "it's not like I sit down and say: Oh, I have to write about this or that. The songs are an extension of the band, and me and who we are. Some of that is sex, but a lot of it is not."

While the band takes pride in being a band of singing lesbians, their music isn't limited to just women. Strano says the band's music is very universal.

"It's for everyone. Being a butch dyke I'm not going to change pronouns and hide genders. But our music is straight up rock 'n' roll." she says. “Our audiences have been full of drag queens and frat boys. At a recent concert a bunch of the frat boys came up to us and said, 'you're not going to play any of that Indigo Girl's lesbian music,' but by the end were having a good time and really digging the

music.

Jeffrey L. Newman is a freelance writer living in New York City