IT'S A CHICK THING....t-bird's first bit of press......

What follows is the text from part of that i article from THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE on female musicians of note in the area..........Tracy makes for good copy.........thanks go out to Steven Uhles for the fine work........


It's a chick thing
By Steven Uhles| Staff Writer
Thursday, October 12, 2006

Athough still seen as something of a novelty, the girl with a guitar or the woman who wails has long been an important part of rock music. Whether its Ma Rainey laying down an early blues blueprint, Janis Joplin redefining Texas roadhouse tunes or Chrissie Hynde and Debbie Harry's post-punk revolution, the sights and sounds of rock music have always featured a strong female component.



It makes sense, then, that Augusta's music-makers are not exclusively male. Here's a look at some of the women who have found their sound playing in and around the Garden City.


PUNK ROCK AND PREGNANCY

The first few times Augusta audiences were able to check out Tracy Steele, the bass player for Joe Graves and the Dirty Left Hand, they were greeted by a well-rounded musician, clearly pregnant with her son Aidan and still willing to pour tremendous energy into the Dirty Left Hand's raw rock sound.

"Women in particular seemed glad to see me up there representing - particularly when I was pregnant," she said. "There was a lot of 'Yeah! A pregnant girl!'"

Encouraged by her significant other, Augusta drummer Brian Allen, Ms. Steele began entertaining the idea of joining him onstage after receiving a bass as a Christmas present.

"Really, music is the reason Brian and I got together to start with," she said. "We both love music, love the same kind of music. It's important to us, important in this band. I wouldn't want to play with people that I don't get along with, that don't enjoy the same sort of music I do."

With a newborn in the house, Ms. Steele said, playing with Left Hand gives her the motivation to practice that might have easily evaporated with Aidan's arrival.

"It really has become my outlet, my excuse," she said. "Now I have a reason to do this, something I might have put off otherwise. With a baby, it's very easy not to do something that doesn't really need to get done."

As a music fan, Ms. Steele has spent a significant part of her life looking up to the female rockers who have come before. Though she isn't willing to put herself in the pantheon occupied by some of her heroes, she said that being the woman onstage in front of an audience has its appeal.

"It is kind of neat," she said with a laugh. "I'd like to think that someone might look up to me the same way they look up to (Pixies bass player) Kim Deal or someone like that."

HEAR HER LIVE: Joe Graves and the Dirty Left Hand perform tonight at The Soul Bar, 984 Broad St. For more information, call (706) 724-8880.





Reach Steven Uhles at (706) 823-3626 or steven.uhles@augustachronicle.com.

From the Thursday, October 12, 2006 edition of the Augusta Chronicle