Indie guitar goddess Marnie Stern has been busy making T-shirts to match her Best Coast/Wavves headlines, all while wrapping up a US tour in support of her self-titled third LP. But let’s not forget the hammering, trilling guitar powers she wielded to make it happen in the first place. Stern had some time before trekking to Europe to work with Flavorpill on her top ten list of female guitarists — pleasantly surprising in light of her tongue-in-cheek track “Female Guitar Players are the New Black,” which she explains was written in response to “being asked so many times what’s it like being a female guitar player and having the focus be my gender.” Click through to find out who made the cut.
1. Nancy Wilson of Heart
Marnie says: “Nancy Wilson wrote the intro to ‘Crazy on You,’ and that beginning guitar is so intricate. I’ve seen her do it live and it’s really neat. I don’t think I really paid attention to that intro until 10 years ago. I’d say she’s my #1.”
Comments (16)
Gabriela of Rodrigo and
That was beautiful. thanks for enlightening me with this video…I loved it.
Oh MY GOD! I love this woman….kaki
Ani Difranco.
Huh? Where’s Jennifer Batten??
Annie Clark of St. Vincent deserves consideration.
why is everyone on this list white? expand your palate.
dreameater is right–why hasn’t Marnie Stern’s personal favorites list been subjected to racial quotas? How can it be someone’s personal favorites if it doesn’t have something for everyone?
For the record, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Elizabeth Cotten rock, but I’m sure dreameater’s already there.
where the hell is Bonnie Raitt?! Queen of Slide, anybody?
Would love to have seen Jen Turner of Here We Go Magic on this list.
Folks, Chill. This is one person’s list. It’s put and it triggers other suggestions. I always learn of new artists when I look at the list AND when I look at the comments. @dreameater, who would you put on this list?
[...] soon as I spotted it on Flavorpill, I’ve been playing on repeat this playlist: indie rocker Marnie Stern’s list of the top 10 female guitarists. The accompanying YouTube clips don’t begin to do these ladies justice, but anything is a [...]
[...] Of course, the list is already being nitpicked. At Stereogum, they’ve suggested a few oversights, but they’re all dudes, too. So, let’s play this game for a minute, shall we? Aside from the ladies on the voting panel, all of whom would have made good picks for the list, which other women should have been considered? How about Joan Jett, Tanya Donelly, Carrie Brownstein, Lita Ford, Ani DiFranco, Poison Ivy, Kaki King, Dolly Parton, Etta Baker, Donita Sparks, Wanda Jackson, PJ Harvey… And that’s just off the top of our head! Add your picks in the comments, and if you’re still depressed, check out the list Marnie Stern made for us last year of her favorite female guitarists. [...]
Allison Robertson of The Donnas is bad ass.
How about Louise Post? She’s got stubby fingers like me, ‘cept she can do anything on a guitar with hers! She plays some pretty fast~squiggly solos.
=J
[...] Of course, a list is already being nitpicked. At Stereogum, they’ve suggested a few oversights, though they’re all dudes, too. So, let’s play this diversion for a minute, shall we? Aside from a ladies on a voting panel, all of whom would have done good picks for a list, that other women should have been considered? How about Joan Jett, Tanya Donelly, Carrie Brownstein, Lita Ford, Ani DiFranco, Poison Ivy, Kaki King, Dolly Parton, Etta Baker, Donita Sparks, Wanda Jackson, PJ Harvey… And that’s only off a tip of a head! Add your picks in a comments, and if you’re still depressed, check out a list Marnie Stern done for us final year of her favorite womanlike guitarists. [...]
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