Leading Lady: Kate Nash Rocks Out with Teen Girls

UK singer-songwriter Kate Nash is all about empowering teen girls! Her international youth outreach initiative called Kate Nash's Rock 'N Roll for Girls After School Music Club is designed to provide an environment that facilitates mentoring teen girls musically. Kate recently partnered with Music Unites, a NYC-based non-profit aimed at inspiring the next generation of musicians by providing in-school and after-school music curriculums and programs in inner-city and under-funded communities. In February 2011, Kate and Music Unites launched the Rock 'N Roll for Girls After School Music Club in Los Angeles at the GRAMMY Museum where she met with a group of LA-area high school students and signed a number of guitars donated by bebe stores. The guitars were to be auctioned off to raise money for Music Unites' Nationwide Instrument Drive and music curriculum program. After speaking to students from the Women's Excellence Academy in the Bronx, followed by an after-school workshop at the Project All Stars in Manhattan in March, Kate Nash has now brought her Rock 'N Roll for Girls After School Music Club to the U.K., where she hopes to continue to musically inspire teen girls so that they, too, can ignite their own creativity!

Kate actually started playing music as a kid, and when she got a little older, she played a few local gigs and then started uploading her music to MySpace."  Since then, she has increasingly gained popularity! Made of Bricks, her debut album, was released in the UK in 2007 and in the U.S. in 2008. This album went platinum and she won The Brit for British Female Solo Artist, the NME Award for Best Solo Artist, and the Q Award for Breakthrough Artist. In early 2010 Kate released her sophomore album called My Best Friend is You. Now Kate is continuing to create music while encouraging teen girls to rock out their own dreams.

Teen Voices' Michelle Golden got to speak briefly to the busy UK rock star in March 2011 about why music is so important to her—and why it should be for all teen girls out there!

Who was your role model as you made your mark in the music industry?

I was really into Regina Spector and after that The Riot Girls music scene became really important to me.

In what ways do you hope to serve as a role model to others?

I'd like to encourage teen girls to be an individual. Be yourself and don't let other people control your confidence and self-esteem!

How does music empower young girls?

It makes you feel like you've achieved something when you create a song. You can get out of your body what you're feeling in a positive way. When someone else relates to that—and rejoices it—it makes you feel great.

What have you learned from your successes and disappointments?

You learn things all the time. I learned to just take my time on things and never feel pressured to do anything or agree to anything that I don't feel comfortable with. You've got time and you should be in control of what you're doing. The world isn't going to end if you don't make a decision straight away.

Why is music education a fundamental aspect of a teen girl's regular education?

Music is a way of expressing oneself—especially for a teenager. It's good for anger that you need to get out of your system. You can understand yourself better and understand others. It's also been proven that kids who are exposed to music do better in school. If a teen gets a poor grade on a test, that may lower her self-esteem, and then she thinks that she isn't smart."  But when she does something creative and is good at it, then she has more confidence. [Teens] can then use those skills and that confidence to go into whatever career that they want to create for themselves.

What's one piece of advice you wish someone had told you in high school that you would tell to a teen girl today?

I wish someone had told me not to care about what other people think about me and to feel comfortable and be free.

To learn more about Kate Nash visit: www.katenash.co.uk/

To listen to Kate Nash visit her MySpace: www.myspace.com/katenashmusic

For a review of Kate's debut album, Made of Bricks, by Teen Voices' reviewer Laini Cassis, click here.

Note:"  Thanks to Music Unites photographer Gene Bradley for sharing with us this image of Kate Nash.