By Judy Shields
The Ranch, Anaheim, California (The Hollywood Times) 06/03/2022
The 10th Annual She Rocks Awards to honor women with the music & audio industries during the NAMM Show in at The Ranch Saloon in Anaheim.
Honorees Dionne Warwick, Meredith Brooks, Carmen Vandenberg, MILCK, Yvette Young, Sherri Chung, EveAnna Manley, Julie Robbins, Kerry Field, Leslie Aston-Bird and Lyndsey Parker join The Women’s International Music Network (WiMN) for the tenth annual She Rocks Awards with hybrid of in-person and virtual components, to adjust to the current times and worldwide fanbase that was created during last year’s all-virtual event.
The landmark 10-Year Anniversary event was hosted by AXS TV host Katie Daryl.
Mandi Abair was also there as co-host to lend a hand. Additional performers included She Rocks House Band, Command Sisters, Charlotte and Sarah, along with this year’s opener, Tenille Arts, hosted by PRS Guitars.
A Welcome Note from Laura B. Whitmore, Founder, The Women’s International Music Network
“Wowee! Who would have thought 10 years ago our humble networking breakfast would grown into this energizing show of solidarity and inspiration.
Congratulations to all of our honorees – you rock! It’s been a great honor for me to share the stories of all the She Rocks Awards honorees. It is clear that our work here is not done! The Women’s International Music Network continues to champion opportunities and visibility for women in music. I hope you’ll join us for future events, workshops and sharing.
Let’s make this a year of forward-thinking, rolling up our sleeves and making it happen. Please join us as we forge ever forward!”
The red carpet was filling up with honorees, performers and the host for the evening. It was a beautiful evening and fans showed up to get autographs when they could. Carmen was having a great time checking out the photos they had of her and even these metal type frames they wanted autographed. She looked amazing in her white pants and blazer with black heeled boots and black blouse. Her sunglasses were super cool too!
The guest started arriving and after checking in they headed into The Ranch Saloon to find their numbered spot on the tables. They had an impressive spread of food, starting with Chicken Caesar Salad, Waldorf Salad, Grilled vegetables, the Most Amazing Mashed potatoes ever, delicious large size ravioli, well coated and seasoned chicken and rolls. A delicious meal indeed.
Once the invited guess were all at their seats with food and drinks, the opening act took the stage with the She Rocks Awards banner proudly hanging above the back of the stage.
That was Canadian born country singer Tenille Arts. After years of honing her craft and touring across Canada, Tenille made the long trip to Nashville to advance her songwriting skills. In September 2019, she stepped into the famous circle and made her Grand Ole Opry debut.
In 2021 she received her first U.S. award nomination for the ACM New Female Artist of the Year. She came out on stage holding her glittery guitar and gave us all an amazing mini concert to start the show off right and a huge round of applause. What a way to start the She Rocks Awards show for 2022.
The 2022 She Rocks Awards Honorees were introduced throughout the night by Katie or Mindi. Here is the list of the Honorees and a little about each of them. We will start off with the Legend Award which went to Dionne Warwick, who was on tour and not able to make it back due to travel restrictions. She appeared virtually to thank everyone and to apologize for not being able to make it and wished us all well and to stay healthy.
She is a six-time GRAMMY Award-winner and Lifetime GRAMMY recipient, music legend Dionne Warwick continues to regale audiences internationally. Ms. Warwick kicked off 2022 with a Gospel/Hip Hop single, “Power in the Name,” featuring Krayzie Bone (of Bone, Thugs & Harmony fame) and Damon Elliott, performing as NomaD. Find out more at officialdionnewarwick.com.
Dreaming Out Loud Award went to Lyndsey Parker. She is the music editor at Yahoo Entertainment and host the daily SiriusXM Volume show Volume West. She also hosts the Rhino Records podcast series Totally ’80s and is a recurring cast member on AXS TV’s The Top Ten Revealed. Considered an expert in music and pop culture, Parker is a National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award and Online Journalism Award nominee and has written for Elle, MOJO, Rolling Stone, NME, and Guitar.
Bold Star Award – Carmen Vandenberg. She is lead guitarist and one half of the GRAMMY-nominated rock duo, BONES UK. Having toured alongside Jeff Beck, Tom Morello, Highly Suspect, PVRIS, Smashing Pumpkins and Korn, to name a few, Carmen has made quite the name for herself since arriving stateside less than five years ago. She served as a collaborative writer and performer in the making of Jeff Beck’s 2016 album Loud Haller.
Together with bandmate, Rosie Bone, their self-titled debut album confronted everything from the beauty industrial-complex to toxic masculinity and music-scene sexism; embedding each track with choruses primed for passionate shouting-along. Find more out at bones-uk.com
Julie Robbins received the Powerhouse Award. She is the chief executive officer of effects pedal manufacturer EarthQuaker Devices, counted in the top-six of pedal manufacturers in the U.S. and one of the top-10 in the world, which she owns with her husband, EarthQuaker Devices President Jamie Stillman. Robbins is responsible for stewardship of the production, management, marketing and international sales for the company.
She is also a champion of female and LGBTQ musicians and entrepreneurs. The company now occupies three buildings in Akron, OH and distributes their unique products globally. She has three amazing children and notes that Eleanor Roosevelt is her personal hero.
Sherri Chung received the Spirit Award. She is an award-winning composer and internationally recognized trailblazing composer for film and television.
Her music transcends genre, and fuses inspirations, both traditional and emerging, in support of filmmaker’s visions worldwide. Sherri currently composes the scores for Kung Fu (CW), HBO Max/Amblin’s upcoming animated series Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, and most recently, Episode 4 of Amazon’s The Boys Presents: Diabolical. Not only a composer, Sherri is also a pianist, vocalist, performer and songwriter.
As a vocalists, she has recorded for films commercials, trailer music, and television (CS’s Arrow, NBC’s Blindspot and Netflix’s The Keepers). An active member of the film music community, Sherri has also recently been elected Governor of the Music Branch of the Television Academy.
Yvette Young received the Inspire Award. She is the guitarist and writer for the band Covet. In additional to her band, she has a solo project where she plays piano, acoustic guitar, and violin. Yvette grew up classically trained in piano and violin and taught herself guitar while in the hospital.
After completing a Fine art and Visual Performing Arts education degree at UCLA, she worked s an art teacher awhile before transitioning to a full time musician. Because of her own personal experiences with using art and music as her own personal outlets, she is a huge advocate for music as a source of therapy and songwriter as a way to build self esteem and find a voice. Follow her at @YvetteYoung.
EveAnna Manley received the Mad Skills Award. She is one of the rare women who own and operate an audio manufacturing company. But that’s not all she does! Upon graduating fronm Columbia University with her degree in music, EveAnna took the reins upgrading operations and fine-tuning product design from within Vacuum Tube Logic of America, Inc. before she and David Manley split off to create Manley Laboratories, Inc. in 1993.
Having started on the production line assembling power amplifiers and working her way up through quality control testing, production engineering, and customer service, when EveAnna Manley took over operations solo in 1996, she redefined the Manley brand embracing creativity, technology, and people first above soulless profitability. EveAnna leads her design team to produce legendary designs such as the Manley VOXBOX® and Manley FORCE® 4-channel microphone preamplifier. She also drives the sales and marketing efforts which have led to impressive growth for the company in the past several years.
Leslie Gaston-Bird received the Champion Award. She is the author of the book Women in Audio, part of the AES Presents series published by Focal Press (Routledge). As owner of Mix Messiah Productions, Leslie specializes in re-recording mixing (dubbing) and sound editing and is an Avid Certified Dolby Atmos® Professional and Dante Level-3 Certified audio engineer. She is a voting member of the Recording Academy and its Producers and Engineers (P&E) Wing. From 2016-2018, she was Vice President for the Audio Engineering Society’s Western Region, followed by a term as Governor-at-Large, and was the inaugural chair of the AES Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Prior to that, she was a tenured Associate Professor of Recording Arts at the University of Colorado Denver (2005-2018) where she also served as Chair of the Department of Music and Entertainment Industry Studies. Leslie has done research on audio for planetariums, multichannel audio on Blu-Ray, and a comparison of multichannel codecs that was published in the AES Journal. Her newest initiative, “Immersive and Inclusive Audio,” aims to provide immersive audio training for women and minorities.
Kerry Fiero received the Motivator Award. In 20123 Kerry Fiero created her signature event: Girl Power! Women Working in The Music Industry Conference. Her conference is recognized nationally as one of the premiere entertainment industry educational and networking events of its kind to spotlight female powers players while also empowering women who work or desire to work in the music industry. Kerry worked in the Music Industry from 1996-2009 as an Artist Manager, running her company, Strive Management. She toured with many acts while tirelessly promoting their careers. In 2009, Kerry pivoted her focus to Event Planning, booking talent for festival stages, producing events, and stage managing, For ten years Kerry was an adjunct professor at San Francisco State University in the Music/Recording Industry Program and the Event Planner program.
MLCK was awarded the Vision Award. She is a singer, songwriter, producer, and advocate who has been an impactful voice in the advancement of human rights since the well-known 2017 viral performance of her song “Quiet” during the Women’s March led the song to become the unofficial anthem of the movement. In 2020, MILCK’s single “Somebody’s Beloved” came out during the Black Lives Matter protests and chronicles the life-shattering effects of systemic racism in America. MILCK was then invited to participate in The Kellogg Foundation’s National day of Racial Healing and performed a powerful duet of “Somebody’s Beloved” with acclaimed poet Amanda Gorman. Following the song’s release. MILCK established The Somebody’s Beloved Fund, to use her music to generate resources for ten grassroots beneficiaries that build power around racial justice, feminism, LGBTQIA+ rights, criminal justice reform and mental health. Her 2021 song “I Belong” was written to honor the AAPI community in the wake of the Atlanta shootings that took six Asian women’s lives. The song is features in the GRAMMY Museum’s exhibit Songs of Conscience, Sounds of Freedom alongside H.E.R., Mickey Guyton, Ziggy Marley, Chuck D and more.
Her latest single “Power” an anthem about self-love and inner strength, was featured in ABC Network’s programming for Women’s History Month, “Power” follows her recent single “Steady as We Go” launched as part of OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network’s primetime special highlighting women around the globe who are impacting change in their communities. MILCK’s new full-length album arrives later this year. Find out more at milckmusic.com
The last award recipient for Trailblazer Award was given to Meredith Brooks. It was awesome to see her live and say hello at the red carpet. For 25 years, Meredith Brooks’ GRAMMY-nominated song “Bitch” from her multi-platinum album, Blurring the Edges, has served as an empowering anthem for women around the world. She was among the fist to reclaim the once derogatory term, and in doing so, pushed back against the stereotype of what a female Rock and Roll artist should look like, sound like or act like. That same year, Brooks played an integral part in another first – a movement looking to place women at the center of the music industry (and out of the margins) as a featured artist in the all-women music festival, Lilith Fair, while also going on tour with Rock legends, The Rolling Stone, Recognized for her guitar playing prowess and blond Custom Shop Fender ’57 Telecaster Relic, Brooks is among a select few women to grace the cover of Guitar Player magazine.
An early adopter of ProTools and multi-effect units, she leveraged technology alongside classic guitars and amps, doing al the guitar work on her album. In the years since topping the Billboard Top 40 chart, Brooks has set about her work in the industry with intention: Working with artists like Hillary Duff, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Katy Perry; serving as a mentor, helping to bring creativity out in others, “We have to honor all sides of ourselves. I want to help others build a foundation of confidence and fell good about their art.”
The entire show was full of great and inspirational speeches, talented women who played their heart and souls and sang like angles. It was such an experience to be there in person at this amazing award show and live concert. Welcome back to live music and entertainment. I can’t wait to see next year’s show!
Thanks to all the sponsors that helped out with auction items and for the cool gift bags that where given out as we left the event. Here is a photo of the sponsors for the event.
Here are some more photos to enjoy.
