In July of 2007, three generations of Central Coast women entered the local live music arena with the launch of a new company, Rock Sisters Productions. The company handles all aspects of live music production and promotion. The Rock Sisters are Leanne Phillips, Melissa Wren, Linnette Ganster and Nancy Dye.
Rock Sisters is an off-shoot of the Central Coast Musicians’ Exchange, started by Leanne in March of 2005. “Things really began to snowball in the fall of 2006,” Leanne says, “so I asked my daughter Melissa and my friends Linnette and Nancy if they’d help me and they said yes.” The women began doing more and more informal show promotion, as well as helping bands and venues with bookings. It seemed the natural next step was to start producing shows of their own.
The company got its name from local musician Ric Davis. “We were searching for a name for the company, something that expressed our love for and support of the local music scene,” Leanne recalls.
“One day Ric e-mailed me to thank me for some promo work I’d done for his band. He said, ‘You’re a true rock sister.’ I thought, ‘That’s it! That’s what we are, we’re rock sisters!’”
Supporting and enjoying live music isn’t anything new for these women, who share a common passion for music.
“My daughter Melissa and I have shared our love for music her entire life,” Leanne says. “Melissa calls herself a ‘professional music appreciator.’ Her freshman year of college, she surprised me by getting us both jobs working security for the Rolling Stones for two nights at Giants Stadium in San Francisco. The dates had been sold out for months and I wouldn’t have been able to go otherwise, but suddenly there I was getting paid to see the show from the front rows.”
Linnette was a punk rocker in the early 80s, sporting cropped, magenta-streaked hair, hanging out on the Sunset Strip and attending as many Southern California shows as she could. She feels fortunate to have seen both Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin at the peak of their popularity, and to have seen U2 at the Hollywood Palladium in 1981, before they achieved mainstream, commercial success.
Nancy is wise beyond her years when it comes to music. She spent six years of her life as a “deadhead,” touring with the Grateful Dead and attending over 50 shows. She fronts her own Led Zeppelin cover band, Roberta and the Nobs, which can be found on YouTube.com.
Between them, the women have three generations covered, which has turned out to be an advantage for them. “If I’m not familiar with a band, I can be sure one of the other ladies is,” Leanne says. “We all have different tastes in music.
I love the Stones and AC/DC. As far as today’s music, I lean more toward hard rock and alternative/indie rock. Linnette’s favorite band is Aerosmith, but she’s pretty much into everything from alternative and ska to jazz and blues. Nancy is the biggest Led Zeppelin fan I’ve ever met. She’s also very much into classic rock, like the Grateful Dead and the Allman
Brothers. Melissa is a huge Dave Matthews Band fan, but she’s also listening to a lot of MUSE, Jeff Buckley and Daft Punk these days. Between us, we keep each other informed and on our toes. And one thing we have in common is that we all
appreciate just about any genre of music – good music is good music!”
The women bring a great deal of varied experience and talent to the table as well. Leanne has been a paralegal for more than 20 years, experience which has served her well in dealing with music contracts and riders. She also has a background in planning and promoting large public events and has nearly 10 years experience in web design and marketing. Linnette has a 20-year background in public relations and administration, working one-on-one with clients in both the legal, real estate and municipal fields. Nancy has worked in night clubs and live music venues for the past 15 years, has a background in graphic arts and has probably been to more concerts than anyone on earth. Melissa has a great talent for event planning, thinking outside the box and mobilizing the troops in support of shows.
In July 2007, Rock Sisters Productions began booking and promoting live music for a local venue in Grover Beach, California, after the venue won a hard-fought battle to reinstate its live music permit. Rock Sisters Productions then put on its first big show on August 9th, 2007, at Downtown Brewing Company in San Luis Obispo, with headliner Devon Allman’s Honeytribe. The Rock Sisters followed up that show’s success with a second show at Downtown Brew featuring the Jeff Jensen Band, recently recognized as one of the top blues bands in the nation by Living Blues magazine, and with a rocking launch party for the Central Coast Musicians’ Exchange, featuring local bands Criticnue, Tropo and Axia.
In a relatively short time, the production company has earned the respect of artists, local venues and its peers. After working with Rock Sisters Productions on their first Honeytribe show, APA agent Frank Wing wrote, “I appreciate your tenacity and your professionalism. . . . “[Y]ou’ve displayed a remarkable attitude and spirit worthy of our wonderful industry. I won’t ever forget this. It would be my pleasure to continue doing business with you in the future.”
The Rock Sisters continue to expand their horizons, hosting shows at area venues including Downtown Brewing Company, Instinct Night Club and Z-Club San Luis Obispo. They remain loyal to the band who gave them their start as well, hosting Devon Allman’s Honeytribe every time they are able to come through the area.
This is what it’s all about for the Rock Sisters – being able to bring great artists and great music to the area and thereby making their own contribution to the quality of life on the Central Coast, as well as discovering up-and-coming local and out-of-area bands and helping them to get their start at local venues.
The production company has big plans for the future, including many more shows, the launch of its own line of merchandise, sponsorship of a weekly live music television show and charity events which will benefit music-related organizations such as Save the Music and Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls.
