The Women’s International Music Network (the WiMN) has announced the in-person return of the annual She Rocks Awards, which will celebrate its 10th year and a new location at The Ranch in Anaheim on June 2.
Coinciding with the annual NAMM Show at the Anaheim Convention Center, the She Rocks Awards honors women in the music and audio industries. The 2022 award recipients include singer Dionne Warwick; musician Meredith Brooks; Covet guitarist Yvette Young; singer-songwriter Milck; Bones UK guitarist Carmen Vandenberg; music editor and podcast host Lyndsey Parker; EarthQuaker Devices CEO Julie Robbins; TV and film composer Sherri Chung; Mix Messiah Productions owner Leslie Gaston-Bird; EveAnna Manley of Manley Laboratories, Inc; and former artist manager and creator of the Girl Power! Women Working in the Music Industry Conference Kerry Fiero.
“It’s gonna be a big family reunion,” She Rocks Awards co-host and Halestorm vocalist-guitarist Lzzy Hale said during a virtual press conference on Monday. “I can’t wait to celebrate in person with all of you.”
Hale was joined by the WiMN founder Laura Whitmore along with honorees Brooks, Milck, Vandenberg, Chung and Parker to reveal details about the event. Following the pivot to a virtual experience due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year, the She Rocks Awards will be a hybrid affair in 2022 with an in-person ceremony including live performances, awards, speeches and celebrity guests. It will also livestream via AXS TV starting at 6:30 p.m. on the day of the show with a virtual red carpet and online silent auction.
The event is open to the general public, but space is limited. Tickets are $60-$165 and are available at sherocksawards.com. To attend the show in person, guests must provide proof of full COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within 24 hours of the event.
The 10th annual She Rocks Awards will be hosted by Hale and AXS TV’s Katie Daryl. Though she’s also being honored, Parker will host the virtual red carpet. So far, producers have announced that performances will include Brooks and Vandenberg. Country singer-songwriter Tenille Arts will open the show and the Command Sisters will serve as the house band for the evening.
During the press conference, Brooks reflected on her hit single, “Bitch,” which turns 25 this year.
“I look at ‘Bitch’ now as almost like a child that is now grown up and has its own life and I’m here to honor that life,” she said while noting that there are some special things in the works to celebrate the anniversary of the release.
Vandenberg, who will be soon heading out on tour with The Smashing Pumpkins, said events like the She Rocks Awards are important and also inspiring for women working within the music industry.
“At first, I was so focused on just being a guitarist and being good and not being considered for a job or not because of my gender,” she said of the beginning of her career. However, there was a point when that switched and as she gained success she said she was proud to be a woman and realized that she could use her voice and help uplift other women. She and Brooks also joked about being called “great … for female guitarists,” and Vandenberg added, “Nobody goes up to a male guitarist and says ‘You’re the best male guitarist in the world.’”
Coming from the realm of television and film composing, Chung said she felt a bit out of place among the other honorees since she’s not a singer-songwriter, but spoke about hiding or downplaying her femininity early on in her career as one of the only female students studying composition at her college.
“I feel very much out of my element,” she said of being a part of the show. She said she it was important for artists to consistently challenge themselves in situations they’re not familiar with, adding “But I’m looking forward to the whole thing.”
Milck echoed Chung in initially downplaying her gender and even said she’s encountered racism on top of sexism, sharing that before her song “Quiet” went viral in 2018 during the Women’s March, she was told that she should “go back to China.”
“Now there’s a space and it’s flooding with so many different voices,” she said of the music industry at the moment. “We do change the world; songs have shifted the world.”
