Laura Power
Northern News Services
Published Friday, August 24, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - Women in Yellowknife's music scene will be celebrated this Saturday during a night of song at the Top Knight.

Mary Cox, who is leaving town for the winter, came up with the idea for such a celebration when she was trying to plan a show before her departure with her band Mary Caroline.

Mary Cox performs at Music in the Park earlier this summer. - NNSL file photo

"I was going to play a show with Esker and the Greasy Twigs but then neither band could play that day," she said.

Having spent some time in Yukon earlier this year, she was familiar with the territory's efforts to promote its female musicians, and thought she could bring something similar to Northwest Territories.

"I think that there's a lot of female musicians in Yellowknife compared to other places I've lived so it's really great to bring that to the forefront," she said.

Along with her band, three other acts will be a part of Saturday night's mix. The newly formed band The Dawgwoods featuring Becky Davis will play along with Azure DeGrow and Transience, featuring Jen Walden. Dana Sipos was also invited to play but will be out of town.

Walden, whose band has been out of town to work on a new CD, said it will be good for them to get back onstage.

"We've been away for the summer," she said. "We haven't had a chance to play a whole lot."

She said she thinks the idea of a women's music night is fantastic.

"It's a venue and a voice, somewhere to be heard, and it's a good idea. It'll help just getting the exposure," she said.

Cox said she would like to see this turn into an annual event. If that turns out to be the case, she envisions it becoming a bigger deal in years to come. Some ideas she has include some outdoor entertainment earlier in the day and getting acts from outside Yellowknife to attend.

"I think it would be really cool to have this once a year, kind of like what they have in the Yukon," she said, adding that bands from Yukon could be welcome. "We both have really good music scenes but the two never really cross borders."