By: Valerie Milano
Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 3/5/2024 – Back in January, the NAMM Show rocked the Anaheim Convention Center to its bedrock for 4 amazing days, handing out awards, holding several fascinating workshops and basically rocking Southern California with 100,000 watts of girl power with its She Rocks Awards.
To say that a good time was had by all would be a wild understatement, as NAMM – the National Association of Music Merchants – brought the heat and had the crowd at a fever pitch.
And now, just a little more than a month after the four-day event’s last notes sounded, yet another workshop is popping up under NAMM’s flag. Hosted by NAMM founder Laura B. Whitmore, the “She Rocks: Guitar” panel brought four of rock music’s top female guitarists together to help celebrate International Women’s Day with a live-streamed panel.
Joining Whitmore for the panel were:
- April Kae, American bass guitar player, singer-songwriter, producer, model, social media content creator, and current member of FEVER 333.
- Destiny Petrel – Singer-songwriter and producer from New York now based out of Los Angeles.
- Jimena Fosado – PRS Guitarist from Mexico City, also now based in Los Angeles.
- Sophie Burrell – British guitarist, singer-songwriter and online personality.
The quartet of rockers were live streamed by the Women’s International Music Network on its Facebook page and YouTube channels. The panel kicked off at 2 p.m. Eastern/11 a.m. Pacific.
And for anyone who missed the 2024 NAMM Show, the whole event was streamed on the WIMN YouTube channel, and two of the inspiring workshops are available there as well.
Panelists:
1. Natalie Morrison, Sr. Segment Marketing Specialist at Yamaha Music
2. Britt Lightning, world renowned guitarist (Vixens) and Musical Director at Rock n Roll Fantasy Camp
3. Christine Tawnton, Founder/Co-Owner Sweet Taunts Music, FOH Productions Manager for the She Rocks Awards
www.sherocksawards.com
www.thewimn.com
The pair of panel discussions – “She Rocks It” and “Overcoming Roadblocks to Diversity” – were both hosted by Whitmore. The first panel’s lineup Christine Taunton, Founder & Co-owner, Sweet Taunts Music; Britt Lightning, “Vixen” guitarist and musical director for the “Rock n Roll Fantasy Camp; and Natalie Morrison, senior segment marketing specialist for Yamaha Music USA.
Overcoming The Roadblocks to Diversity panel included Julie Tan, CEO at AEA Ribbon Mics; Emily Wolfkiel, senior manager for diversity, equity and inclusion at Reverb; and Leanne Chu, director of supplier operations at Gator Cases.
1. Leanne Chu, Director of Supplier Operations at Gator Cases.
2. Jullie Tan – Owner at AEA Ribbon Mics
3. Emily Wolfkiel, DEI, Learning & Development at Reverb
And if you missed the NAMM Show in January, you can catch it on the WIMN YouTube channel, too. And you can check out the 2024 She Rocks Awards Gift Bag, which was full of contributions from the event’s generous sponsors. Follow along with Britt Lightning to discover what was inside.
