Tulsa World
April 10, 1998
by Thomas Conner

"I Know What Girls Like - the newest word on the rock front on the eve of 'Girls! Girls! Girls!"
[a Cain's Ballroom Quadruple Bill]
Tex Montana is the ultimate chick to carry the banner for chick rock.

Yeah, not women in rock or female-fronted music, but good ol' unabashed chick rock. She's a chick and proud of it.

"I heard something the other day that I hope every girl in music hears," Montana said this week. "This girl rocker was saying 'It's not about us being girls, it's about us being musicians.' That's just a bunch of malarkey. I am a girl, I'm proud to be a girl, and I think it's an assett.

I don't like it when someone tries to minimize that as if it's a handicap because it's not. Not if you're cool."

Montana, in the Fireball 4, will head up this weekend's Girls! Girls! Girls! show at the Cain's Ballroom. The bill is its own fireball 4 of local gal-fronted bands to reckon with : Montana, the Sarah Wagner Group, Outside In (featuring Angie Devore) and Degage (featuring Melodie Lee).

Since just a couple of months ago we trumpeted local women in music in a special issue of the Spot - and thus I'm all out of questions - I turned the inquiry over to local fans and music biz mavens, asking them what they would like to ask our favorite local babes. The Q & A follows. (Unfortunately, Melodie Lee of Degage could not be reached for this interview.)

A lot of guys get into bands because they can get chicks. Do women get into bands so they can score guys?
(Don Jameson, drummer for Tulsa rock band Fanzine)

Devore : That's not why I got into it, but it does happen. There's
something about getting behind a mike that - wherever you are on the attractive scale - multiplies your desirability 10 times.
Montana : We do not have to be in bands to score guys. I do have good luck scoring chicks, though. I think I'm the only person in our band who can get chicks. I'm not offended by it at all, I just wonder why it is.

I love seeing women playing the guitar instead of something unexpected and acceptable like the piano. How did you discover and develop your skills on guitar?
(Debbie Campbell, a fellow Tulsa-based singer)

Montana : We had a guitar around. I learned one chord, then I heard a song with that chord in it. The next chord was either higher or lower, so pretty soon I'd learned three chords. I started writing songs. I just wanted to do it and I did.
Wagner : I play other instruments, as well, but I use the guitar as the tool to write my songs. I've still got the classical guitar of my dad's that I got started on. It's taken quite a beating; it looks like Willie Nelson's guitar...I don't practice a lot of technique. I just wanted to play guitar so I could get my songs out.

I've always been against the tramp factor - women trying to out-sexualize men in order to attract attention. Do you feel this way, and is this something you've had to decide on in your career?
(Bob Collum, Tulsa-based singer-songwriter).

Devore : It's a fine line to walk because one side of you wants to be pretty but on the other hand you don't want it to define you. I try to have a personality and image that really is me but hopefully is someone people will like and relate to. But sometimes, I'll wear an outfit and people think it's making some statement, when really it's me just wearing what I
put on that night.

Montana : I've never been trampy, but I can't deny that I have a certain sexuality that appeals to men. It's not a bad thing when you have something to back it up. I think I do.

I've learned more about singing like a man from Chrissie Hynde (of the Pretenders) than from any male performers. Does it work in reverse for women, too? What have you learned from male performers about writing, singing or performing?
(Randy Brumlee, singer in the Tulsa based band Square Force).

Montana : One man singer I really like is John Doe (of X). He has that country singing style and mournful, emotional voice that makes you feel really bad when he sings a sad song and really angry when he sings an angry song. I get more cues from men singers simply because there are more men singers, period.

Devore : I've learned a lot from Raine (Maida) of Our Lady Peace. His vocals are unbelievable. He has such control over his voice. I've listened to his CDs over and over trying to figure out how he does certain things with his voice that turn around and communicate so much more to a song - across gender lines.

Lilith Fair was the pinnacle of the new resurgence of attention for women in rock, but what started the increase in attention that made it possible?
(Brad Jeffers, programming director at KMRX)

Wagner : There are more women out there trying music as a career. There are more resources for them, they have more money and greater ability to do things on their own now. Things have just happened socially and economically that opened a lot of doors at the same time.

Lollapalooza (which announced this week would not tour this summer) kind of turned the alt-rock thing inside out. Is Lilith Fair in danger of doing the same thing for women in rock?
(Larry Brandt, Tulsa designer, soundman and raconteur)

Devore : too much of a good thing can be bad, and excessive capitalizing on the chick thing could hurt if people aren't careful. I think Sarah McLachlan has the wisdom to handle that. Same thing here in Tulsa - I wasn't afraid to be involved with this show because I know the women on the bill and I respect them all.

Other than cleaner restrooms, what are the advantages of being a woman on the road?
(Adam Miller, visitor development specialist with the Tulsa
Convention Center and Visitors Bureau)

Devore : When it comes down to the situation of enough beds in the hotel room, I know that I'm not sleeping on the floor. But then, I'm the one always having to pull over to pee.

Montana : Guys carrying your amp around, guys buying you drinks...