Giovanna Westwood

My first band was an all female band, but my goal was to work with men so that I could be as strong as they can be on their instruments and be respected as an equal. I have to admit that I do love to perform with men! So, my very first band, which was an all-girl band, turned out to be my last full-time all-girl band up until now! That’s just me. That’s the road I decided to take.

In some ways, it’s been to my advantage to be a female bass player and vocalist because of the way we, as females, can be perceived on our instruments – as not being as strong as our male counterparts, so when we are strong on our instruments and have a great work ethic, we are very unique.

All-in-all, my journey has been an interesting one and a constant adventure. I’ve performed blues in Pioneer Square in Seattle, I’ve played top-40 music over in Bangkok, Thailand and Hong Kong. I’ve played hip-hop and rap over in Sweden and Britain. I’ve traveled on a big ole Greyhound Bus going from gig to gig from Southern Califo ia to Saskatoon in Canada and every place in between! I’ve even played blues with Lou Rawls one night in Tacoma!

There have been many things that I’ve learned over time, and some things I wish I’d learned sooner, so I decided I would create Female-Musician.com as a musician’s resource with special attention focused on the female musician because that just happens to be what I am!

I felt like I’d like to encourage other female bass players, keyboardists, sax and woodwind instrument players, guitar players, drummers and all other female instrumentalists to come here to connect with other female musicians. We may not have all achieved that thing we call “fame”, but we’re still out here doing what we love, making hard choices and sacrifices to follow our passion. Possibly some of us who have already been there can help others get there through sharing our experiences.