The interest in Ladyfest has been kept alive by the event's two organizers and a few local artists who dedicate themselves to the female talent showcase.

Studio art senior Latricia Horstman and Lansing resident and Millenary guitarist Sarah Stollak were so impressed and inspired by Chicago's Ladyfest Midwest in 2000 that on the way home, they took the chance of starting their own.

"We set up a Web site and a P.O. Box, and the entries to play just poured in," Stollak said. "That is motivating enough to keep it going, seeing the interest that women have in wanting the exposure and wanting the camaraderie that Ladyfest provides."

The event kicks off today with live music at the Creole Gallery, 1218 Turner St. in Lansing, and later tonight at Mac's Bar, 2700 E. Michigan Ave. in Lansing. Other live music and art exhibition events will take place over the weekend at Bare Bone Studios, 1236 Turner St. in Lansing, Spiderhouse Antiques & Gallery, 515 E. Grand River Ave., and at Club X-Cel, 224 South Washington Square in Lansing.

Ladyfest will involve live music, art exhibits and workshops - all of which promise to provide festival-goers a unique view of area art forms. The music will range from solo-acoustic music to full-blown electric rock.

Detroit-area, all-female hard-core punk band Broadzilla, along with local rock group Bit and funky newcomers The Mad Note, will spice up the venues with their loud tunes.

Local acoustic guitarists Kate Peterson and Carmen Paradise will provide mellow tones, along with many other national acts. "It's such a broad range of performers, women are really all over the place musically," Paradise said. "It's just not as noticed as men. It's nice to get noticed as musicians, because we often get overlooked and underestimated."

And while there's a great deal of support for the local female musician scene, Paradise said it has been kept alive by a few core musicians.

"It's kind of sparse, but we all know each other," said Paradise, who also plays bass guitar in the local group Calliope. "There's not really any competition because we love each other. A few years ago, there really weren't too many of us, but now there's women musicians coming out of the woodwork."

Peterson said Ladyfests usually are attended by a predominantly female audience, but the creative inspiration it offers the community's women can benefit all.

"There's definitely an audience for women musicians in Lansing. There's that huge Women in the Arts Festival in East Lansing in the fall that has been around for like 20 years or something," Peterson said. "There's a really huge queer community, too, that's really out there to support female musicians. There's just a huge lesbian community."

Peterson and Paradise have performed at both previous Ladyfests.

"I think people should feel lucky that there's a Ladyfest in Lansing," Peterson said. "It's a great thing for people to get out and experience the strength of the local scene."

Ladyfest is a chance to enjoy not only musical diversity, but the diversity of people in general, sje said.

"We're having transgender acceptance workshops, because it's really important for people to understand diversity," Horstman said.

And while the women say Ladyfest Lansing is a whole lot of fun and inspiration, it's not only a showcase for women's talents, but a benefit for local female-oriented charities.

"When we first started, our goal was to have a lot of fun and raise some money for our charities, but right now, it's the charities that come first," Horstman said.

This year, the money generated from the weekend event will go directly to two area charities, Women's Services at the Refugee Services center in Lansing and the Neutral Zone teen center of Ann Arbor.

Previously, the proceeds had gone in part to benefit Planned Parenthood, but because of the many complaints Horstman and Stollak received about their sponsorship of what some consider to be a controversial help center for women, they decided to focus on charities that would not offend some community members.

Since the inception of Ladyfest Lansing, Horstman and Stollak have donated the profits to Neutral Zone.

"We continually pick them because Sarah and I go down there and visit, and we see that the money we give them goes to incredible use," Horstman said. "Just seeing what it's like down there, it's so uplifting to see there's a place that's healthy and open to everyone and their problems."

Last year, the money raised for Neutral Zone was used by homeless teenage girls who were inspired by the two women to learn to play musical instruments and produce an album that's proceeds will help the girls receive more money for their personal welfare.

"Basically, we funded a rock 'n' roll summer camp," Stollak said.

Proceeds for Women's Services will help refugee women in Lansing be placed in jobs, provide them with daycare for their children and improve their health.

About half of the many musicians who will perform this weekend at Ladyfest Lansing also will donate their share of the gig money to these charities.

The Mad Note vocalist and jazz studies senior Meghan Snide said the exposure for local artists is fantastic.

"My band is new, so this is all really exciting for us," she said. "There's just this huge music scene in Lansing right now."

And because of a lack of solid, consistent music venues in East Lansing, heading out to the Ladyfest shows would be a great way to learn more about what's going on in the local music scene.

And it's not just for ladies.

"There are a lot of male musicians performing there, too," Snide said. "The band I'm in is all male. And they're very guy guys, you know, spitting."

Snide said female musicians face constant pressures to prove their abilities to their male counterparts, which she said is another reason guys should attend the events as well.

"As a vocalist and a female, you're immediately assumed to be silly or not know anything about music," she said. "But just because I'm a girl and a singer doesn't mean you can ignore me. Sometimes, you end up having to be a bitch to prove that, but once you prove yourself, people forgive you for being a bitch."

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Ladyfest Lansing music schedule:

Today:
Creole Gallery, 7-9 p.m.	Mac's Bar, 10 p.m.-2 a.m.
Kailee Krupa	k.o. My Love
Sarah Cleaver	Millenary
Kate Peterson	Violet Skin
	The Mad Note
Friday:
Creole Gallery, 7-9:30 p.m.	Mac's Bar, 10 p.m.-2 a.m.
Sistrum	Burning Sage
Dana Scott	Scarlett
Emma Slachta	Monogatari
Emily Bate	Skarlet O'Hara
Bora Yoon
Saturday:
Club X-Cel, 4-7:30 p.m.	Club X-Cel, 8:30 p.m.-2 a.m.
Sarah Leicher	Trailer Park Barbie
Hailey Wojcik	Noxus
Carmen Paradise	Burning Idols
Tamara Bedricky	Bit
The Milkcrate Rustlers	Broadzilla
Shelley Miller
Ellis
Sunday:
Club X-Cel, 2:30-6 p.m.
JoAnn Riedl
Sam Shaber
Urban Folk Collective
The Spagettes

Source: geocities.com/ladyfest_lansing