Rock the Mission was held last week in Stanley Mission. (submitted photo/Eliza Doyle)

By Derek Cornet

Musical talent

Rock the Mission empowers northern girls and women

Feb 24, 2020 | 12:50 PM

It was an exciting week in Stanley Mission for all those who participated in the first annual Rock the Mission event.

It was held at Keethanow Elementary School between Feb. 17 to 21 and included 20 young girls from the community, six young adults, five women and three Elders. It was organized by musician Eliza Doyle, who said she was assisted by 11 instructors throughout the week.

“There were six bands, so we have six drummers altogether in the gym, as well as six bass players, six piano players, six electric guitar players and six vocalists,” she said. “They all got individual instruction on their specified instrument. The next day we moved into the bands, so we took one drummer, one guitar, one bass, one vocalist and one keyboardist and they formed bands and came up with a name, logo, T-shirts, posters and a song.”

Doyle mentioned each band was also given a season to write their song about, so lyrics are inspired by spring, summer, fall, winter, freeze up and break up. She was impressed with the quality of materials the bands were able to come up with, adding the Elders and women wrote a song she described as beautiful.

The idea to hold such a camp in Stanley Mission first came to mind after Doyle took a group of five youth from the community last year to Girls Rock Camp in Saskatoon. It’s meant to empower girls through music and those who attended really enjoyed themselves.

Riderville

Riders Have Options Heading into Tuesday CFL Draft

35m ago

health care

RBC Foundation gifts $7,500 to assist in training La Ronge nurses

Apr 24, 2024

town council

Strong opposition for downtown homeless shelter ahead of Tuesday public hearing

Apr 22, 2024

“It’s really about empowerment, and building self-confidence and self-esteem,” Doyle said. “We talk about ways to say no, sexuality and gender, and we really just want to build people up. That’s really what the music camp is all about. People gain so much confidence from doing something scary. Getting on stage and performing there was a lot of nerves.”

It’s Doyle’s goal for the camp to become a multi-year event and she said hosting one in future years should be easier with the framework complete. She hopes next year she’s able to find reliable sponsorships or funding, so cash isn’t an issue when it comes to planning.

“I’d really like this to be a framework for other communities to adopt, and I would like to help other communities learn how to find the funding and make this possible in any community that wants it,” Doyle said.

–

derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno