“WOMEN WHO ROCK”: A free Femme Music Event benefitting The Reynolds Home
By Larissa Reyes Arzate
Photography by Papa Joe Photography
An unlikely friendship and alliance formed between Reynolds Home’s Community Outreach Coordinator Starlynn Lucero and Alive Audio’s own Alex Vargas, by complete happenstance, birthed “Women Who Rock”: An all-local, femme-forward music festival that has been loudly serving, spotlighting, and benefitting both the El Paso music scene and all our femme musicians as well as around 150 women and families who reach out to the Reynolds Home every year to receive the vital help and care they need to escape homelessness or domestic violence situations.
To The Moon and Back
“Women Who Rock” music festival first knocked our socks off in 2015. Featuring two stages packed with outstanding local femme musicians of all genres (previous performers include The Chamanas, Mia Antifa, and Rosa Sparxx), this music festival was a raging success every year until 2019, after which the COVID-19 pandemic put the project mostly on hiatus. Four years after their last music festival, Reynolds Home and Alive Audio are ready to raise the stage again, and this time, amp it up.
Rosa Sparxx
Mark your calendars: This year, the date is November 15. The time is 2 p.m.-8 p.m. The location is Old Sheepdog Brewery in Central El Paso—a stellar spot for live music. This edition of “Women Who Rock” will feature a lineup of fourteen artists and bands, including established favorites like Jordan Taylor (R&B), the PIE Sisters (soul), and Era Snow (folk), as well as rising talents like Christa Briana (singer-songwriter) and Amelissa (soul pop), and even performances by youth band 915LGNDZ and by students of music school Let There Be Rock. The event is family-friendly, and the hybrid indoor-outdoor venue will hold two stages for both acoustic and full-band sets.
Pilots of Venus
While there is no entrance fee, attendees are heavily encouraged to bring a donation of feminine products and/or toiletries to the Reynolds Home. Every day items like menstrual products, toilet paper, trash bags are highly encouraged, but donations such as gently used luggage or towels, or monetary donations, are always welcome. The Reynolds home specifies that opened boxes of toiletry items are welcome, as they are inspected before distribution.
Memoria
The Reynolds Home is a nonprofit organization that has been operating for over 35 years in El Paso, Texas. Serving up to 13 mothers at a time, of any and all backgrounds, Reynolds Home offers families safe shelter and helps them get on their feet by assisting them in finding jobs, saving money, and eventually securing their own apartments. Supporting such valuable work and entities is a crucial part of community engagement. This is a sentiment that Vargas, founder of the live event production company Alive Audio, strongly believes in—hence, this event.
Los Chucanos
Attending the “Women Who Rock” music festival will not only provide an afternoon of excellent live music by awesome local musicians—it will also directly help our community keep families safe and happy.
Let There Be Rock
REYNOLDS HOME: https://reynoldshome.org/
WOMEN WHO ROCK INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/womenwhorockept/
