Pulse: Chatter: Rock: Phat Camp

While it may be a bad time to get into the business of selling pop music (see left), it’s a helluva time for those who want to make it — especially if they lack a Y chromosome. For that, we can thank Beth Warshaw. After working as a counselor at an all-girls rock-band camp in NYC two summers ago, Warshaw, 26, a WXPN producer, felt Philly chicks should jam out, too. So she started Girls Rock Philly, set to debut next summer. Though the venue is TBD, the concept is set: For one week in early August, Philly girls ages 10 to 18, from all walks of life — “We are looking for diversity” says Warshaw — will form small bands, write songs, take classes like History of Women in Music, and receive instrumental, voice and DJ lessons. At the end of the week, the girls will put on a concert to show their stuff. The experience will cost $400; financial aid will be available. Local female musicians will teach, and the girls will rock what they love, from Courtney Love angst to Britney Spears-esque ballads. Similar co-ed camps exist — Paul Green’s School of Rock and Gwynedd Valley’s DayJams come to mind — but Warshaw believes strongly in the all-girrrrl connection. “It encourages girls to create their own work in a non-competitive environment. We are careful to remind the girls how talented and creative they are, and stay away from words like ‘cute’ and ‘adorable.’”