GIRLS WITH GUITARS

By Lindsey Bosse
Editor-In-Chief

    Fabi Reyna is a guitarist in Portland whose love of shredding has been deeply impacted by one thing: too much man. Being in camps and a part of bands, she has looked to the media from time to time to ooh and ahh over her favorite pastime only to find out that the majority of magazines are male-centered.     
“I’d read magazines that were just filled with dudes playing the same songs over and over and sometimes it feels like people just ignore that women play music at all!” said Reyna. “I mean, why are there half naked girls holding guitars on the cover of Guitar World when Nancy Wilson [of Heart] could be teaching us how the hell she came up with that AMAZING guitar solo at the beginning of ‘Crazy on You’?”

She Shreds, a magazine about female guitarists,  is Reyna’s solution to the lack of emphasis on female influence in the guitar world.  The idea popped up during a show Reyna was at during the winter of 2010, where she recalls watching the guitarist and thinking, “Woah, she shreds.” At the time, she had also been working with Tom Tom Magazine, and thus her project began.  Her dream began unraveling as she tackled the endeavor of planning Shred Fest, a festival to raise money to start the magazine.  

“The amount of talent at this show is so awesome,” said Reyna.  She has asked many of her favorite musicians to join her.  The show starts off with Cat Fancy!, whose music includes addicting bass lines, quick beats and sultry lead vocals. Shred Fest will be one of the last shows that Cat Fancy! will ever play, so if you haven’t found yourself jumping enthusiastically to “Tattooed Insecurities,” you better see them before it’s too late.  The festival will also feature Forest Park, another ridiculously great band whose lead singer graduated from Lewis & Clark last spring.  Katherine Paul (’11) and Maya Stoner are both lead guitarists who make your lower vertebrae tingle any time they coo their “Ooo, ooo” in “Portland”—not to mention the effect of their irresistible, body-swaying guitar beats. The lineup also includes Tender Forever, Stag Bitten, Reporter, Lozen, Palo Verde, Fucking Lesbian Bitches, Like a Villain, Tombstalker and Reynosa.

The fest has taken remarkable work on the behalf of Reyna, who began this project in July and claims she is still not done organizing.  Nonetheless, everything is set up for the show, and now it’s down to merchandise and veggie burger preparation.  She has enlisted the help of many friends to help her realize her vision, from the zine that will be distributed to designing t-shirts.

“I’ve made lots of phone calls that are like, ‘Hey, if I buy you a burrito, will you help me do this?’” said Reyna. “People will do anything for a burrito or a beer.”

The process, though exhausting and demanding, has not scared Reyna away forever.  If all goes well, she hopes to take Shred Fest to Seattle as well as her hometown, Austin, TX. The festivals should raise enough money to start production on She Shreds, the anticipated female-focused guitar magazine.  In the long run, Reyna hopes to see the magazine distributed nationally, but until then, it’s about promoting female musicians in an epic festival.

Saturday, Oct. 22, 3 p.m., Troubadour Studio, 1020 SE Market St