Starting a rock band is the pipe dream of many. For some, it’s a well-organized and heady fantasy that has likely found dreamers on an imaginary stage singing to imaginary thousands, a day- or night-dreamed whim played out whether those fantasists are musicians or not.
Sadly, few follow through on this fantastic pursuit, with the exception of a minuscule percentile of those dreamers, the people who aren’t afraid to follow those teenage imaginings in an attempt to turn fantasy into reality.
It had been a teenage vision for Ursala Hudson and Kirsten Andrews, two members of the four-piece, all female rock ’n’ roll outfit Pussyfoot. Pussyfoot, who in addition to singer Hudson and guitar player Andrews are Kelli Merriman on drums and Tracy Korb on bass, will perform Saturday at The Subterrain in downtown Durango. Billed as “The Cats Pajamas Party,” it’s a fundraiser for La Plata County Humane Society.
If you go
WHAT: Pussyfoot, benefit for La Plata County Humane Society.
WHEN: 7-10 p.m. Saturday.
WHERE: Subterrain, 900 Main Ave., Suite F.
TICKETS: $20.
MORE INFORMATION: www.thesubterraindurango.com.
Your early teenage years are the appropriate time to start with those aforementioned dreams.
“Kirsten and I had been talking about starting a girl band, actually since high school,” Hudson said. “We’ve been friends for 25 years, she moved back to town, and it was time. I live in Pagosa Springs, Kirsten lives in Durango, and I was willing to drive over once a week to practice if she could compile a band.”
Compile a band they did, an action likely aided by the reality that all the ladies in the band spent time with musicians. That, along with a youthful pursuit of music, put the wheels of Pussyfoot in motion.
“My mom played, my brother played, and we lived off the grid,” Andrews said. “With no electricity or things to do, I had my acoustic guitar, that was my thing. We’d joke, ‘let’s start a band one day,’ but that never really progressed until I was 19 or 20. But then being in a band and playing with other people, open mic-nights, so yeah, just playing with others is what helped me grow as a musician.”
“I was in choir in middle and high school,” Hudson added. “Lots of theater, my dad’s been in several rock bands. My mom was more inclined to do more native singing, but they modeled to me how to use your voice. I really wanted to be in a rock band, so that’s what I offer Pussyfoot.”
Described as a “soft-punk” band, future plans include writing new, original material. But for now, they’re amassing a vast repertoire of solid covers. This isn’t a typical bar band digging into the low-hanging fruit that is the classic rock canon. Pussyfoot are products of the 1990s, reared on “alternative” sounds typical to that decade. But they’ve also got an outsider’s ear for music, fans of left of the dial sounds from bands that fly below the radar. As a result, their set-list will include cuts from bands like The Murder City Devils and Imperial Teen, Elastica or Wet Leg.
Outside of making great music and being a solid and sturdy presence on stage, they’re motivators. While some may think rock ’n’ roll is a men’s game, it’s not. Watching four females rock out on stage is serving as inspiration for other women in the audience to step out and confidently follow aspirations, no matter that they may be.
“After our first show all these other women from the audience came up to say, ‘thank you, you’ve empowered me.’ A lot of them were inspired by seeing us,” Hudson said. “We’re up there just loving it, and they are seeing a bit of themselves in us. And seeing there’s things that they’ve never pursued in life that they still can. All you have to do is do it.”
Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. Reach him at liggett_b@fortlewis.edu.
