International Women’s Week 2024:In a World of Taylor Swift Wanna-Bes, Be a Lzzy Hale Instead
(Expanded, updated and annotated from an earlier post)
“In terms of representing women in rock, I don’t think there is anyone stronger than Lzzy. She can send a knockout punch better than most guys,” says Tom Kiefer. “But I try not to look at musicians in terms of gender. Lzzy is an amazing artist and I think that energy is much needed in rock & roll, be it male or female. To me, greatness is what always resonates.”
You probably aren’t here if you are a Taylor Swift fan. But in case you are, and you’re still reading, you may be wondering, what’s my problem with Swift?
Well, let’s start with what’s right. Many women — Swift included — have taken charge of their musical careers, in contrast with the bad old days when they had neither creative nor business control and sometimes even had the writing credit for their recordings stolen. Most of the big pop stars today in the U.S. are women, deservedly so. That has to count as progress.
It’s not just that they are being recognized for their talent—that was always there. But they have more control over how they are marketed and what kinds of business arrangements they make—to the extent that artists have any control at all (very few do).
Yet, in some important ways, women have made little progress and may even have lost ground. Even as women have acquired more control over their marketing and business affairs, they have largely been excluded from other roles like playing instruments, composing and arranging, mixing, mastering, and producing music. Women used to play a major part in all of these aspects of the music biz. You might not know that, because many of them were erased from the standard histories of music, and discounted in music journalism.
Women Who Colored Outside the Lines: An International Women’s Week Tribute
In the early 1970s, a number of women became major figures in rock and roll, the ultimate bastion of male privilege. Suzi Quatro, Joan Jett, Pat Benatar, Chrissie Hynde, and the Wilson Sisters, among others, were legit rock stars. Then it all stopped, and women largely found themselves consigned to one lane: singer-songwriters and purveyors of songs about heartbreak (mostly over dudes). Even the volcanic Tina Turner, who in many ways transcended the expectations placed on female singers, stayed largely in that lane.
By the mid 1980s, progress had ground to a halt, at least in the U.S. I think our popular musical culture has sunk into a swamp of unbridled narcissism. And who is the Chief Narcissist? No major artist comes even close to competing with Swift for the title, though more and more seem to be trying.
Most troubling, at least to me, is that the music industry, and the critical world part of it, seem bent on keeping women in that lane. Women who sing about topics other than men are still viewed as transgressive, at least in the U.S. (This is decidedly not true in many other countries, including some that are stereotyped as traditional, even patriarchal.)
Female instrumentalists, no matter how good they are, have a hard time getting contracts or recognition. It is no accident that after David Bowie’s death, Gail Ann Dorsey moved to Europe to continue her career. It is particularly ironic that Fender and Gibson, two of the iconic makers of electronic instruments, openly admit that they could have gone out of business in recent years without female customers.
Girls now purchase a third of electric guitars. But women who are known and celebrated for their instrumental virtuosity or their composition and arranging skills remain few and far between. It is not because they can’t do these things; it’s because our music labels and press still operate on the cultural assumption that they can’t.
So, in this post, I continue my celebration of women who color outside the singer-songwriter box.
Meet Lzzy Hale. She is a true rock hero for our age and one of the few women carrying the torch forward. Hale’s inspirations include many rockers I’ve written about in earlier columns: Suzi Quatro, Joan Jett, Chrissie Hynde, Patti Smith, The Wilson Sisters, Tina Turner, Pat Benatar, and Tina Weymouth.
She is also inspired by some of the big-name metal bands, such as Deep Purple, Metallica, and Black Sabbath, which are not usually seen as role models for girls.
As mentioned above, women in rock did have a moment in the late 1970s and early 1980s. And then, at least in the U.S., the momentum faded. Most American female rock bands today are cover bands, like Zeparella and the Iron Maidens. I love Zeparella, but even though a couple of them are genuine beasts on their instruments, they don’t try to market Zeparella as more than a gimmick.
So, who is left, other than holdovers from the ‘80s?
Well, in 1997, storming out of a small town in Pennsylvania, came Halestorm, founded and led by Lzzy Hale. She writes their material, sings, plays multiple instruments, and generally kicks ass.
The band started as a family affair, with Lzzy’s brother Arejay on drums and their father (!) Roger, on bass. After years of touring and several lineup changes, they locked in their lineup in 2003 and released their first EP in 2006.
Since then, they have continued to be one of the busiest touring bands in the U.S. They have collaborated with almost all of the top American rock and metal bands. Lzzy Hale has been a guest vocalist on almost 30 singles by other major artists. Halestorm have even won a Grammy. I’m not sure exactly what that means — hard rock bands usually don’t win Grammys unless they sell out in some egregious way, and Halestorm did not sell out. But I digress.
Hale has admitted in interviews that despite the tough, defiant outward persona, she has had to cope with endless annoyances and occasional mistreatment while trying to be a recording artist in a sexist industry. She doesn’t dwell on it publicly but has said that only her early naïveté allowed her to keep going despite some of those setbacks. She tries to encourage and mentor young artists (both girls and boys) on navigating the sorrier aspects of the music industry.
She also dedicates airtime to supporting people with mental health issues after having had a close friend in another band commit suicide after years of depression.
Without being overtly political, Hale is a strong advocate for sexual self-determination. She is openly bisexual and revels in the diversity of the band’s fanbase. Unlike many hard rock bands, Halestorm’s audiences are around 50% female or non-binary. Yet they still appeal to traditional hard-rock fans and headbangers.
Check out the interviews in the notes below if you want more. Meanwhile, how would I sum up Lzzy Hale in two sentences? First, she’s not above singing about unhealthy relationships but does them without an ounce of self-pity.
Second, to return to the quote at the beginning of this article, she rocks harder than most of the dudes.
“I Miss the Misery”
This could have been just another song about a woman fixated on a guy who is bad news, except for this: “I don’t miss you. I miss the misery.” Against the backdrop of endless self-pity that is much of pop music today, I would call that refreshingly insightful.
“Love Bites (So do I)”
Jealousy without the whining. Be afraid, be very afraid…
…….
“I Get Off”
Here is a gleefully twisted take on gender dynamics. Note Lzzy’s complete lack of remorse…
“Freak Like Me”
This is what freedom looks and sounds like:
…….
By the way, before anyone comments that “Hey, you forgot so-and-so….”, I haven’t forgotten them. Some other North American bands worth checking out include The Pretty Reckless, The Warning and Plush. If you look further afield, there are hundreds of women rocking out. Check out some of my other posts for examples!
Sources:
Halestorm on Discogs https://www.discogs.com/artist/611591-Halestorm
“20 Questions with Joe Hottinger of Halestorm”, TaftMidwayDriller.com
https://web.archive.org/web/20120402092234/http://www.taftmidwaydriller.com/entertainment/x968921831/20-questions-with-Joe-Hottinger-of-Halestorm
“A Day in the Life of Halestorm, 2014”
Marisa Brown: “Halestorm Biography”, Allmusic
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/halestorm-mn0000662952/biography
Joseph Hudak: “Halestorm Talk Owning Sex on Their New LP and Why Heavy Music Is ‘Genderless’,” 2018
Halestorm Talk Owning Sex on Their New LP and Why Heavy Music Is 'Genderless'