FEATURED PROFILE: AMBERLY HOWELL

I've never met Amberly. She wrote to me about correcting some errors she found in the Rockerchick Roster. I suggested she write new profiles. She did. Along the way, I found out she was 14. I couldn't help but ask for her story. Here it is, in her own words. * * * There is much to be said about rock n roll, especially by a long-time follower of it like myself. I was being pulled towards music such as Bob Segar and George Thorogood at a time when my classmates were still in their boy-band phase. Of course, being 8 or 9 at the time, I had a very, VERY, short lived liking for teeny boppers, though to this day I will  rarely admit it. I swear it lasted no longer then a month, after hearing 98 degrees I ran straight back to Black Sabbath! Girls in my class would drool over pictures of Hanson while I was living out an obsession with Gene Simons --this is before I saw KISS without their make-up! I don't even think I knew their names at the time. My musical tastes expanding as the years went on, I had my first taste of chick-rock with Cyndi Lauper (yes, Cyndi Lauper).  Not being too much of a fan at first, I stuck with the guys...Until a fateful day when her ripping vocals, and bad ass guitar riffs rang like a call from the gods -- I had gotten my very first Joan Jett CD, “I love Rock n Roll.” I listened to her night and day before I  discovered, *shock, gasp,* THERE WAS MORE! What was not to love about Joan? Her stunning beauty, her melodic riffs, her hard-core vocals (by the way it was a sad, sad day when I found I couldn‘t imitate her “OWW.“) I was in love! By 7th grade, I had bought a guitar, dyed my hair black, got the step cut, and caked on the eye liner, spikes, and leather!  Living on a strict diet of Joan Jett, and the Runaways, I thought it couldn't get any better, but indeed it did. I set out hunting for more chick rockers and was successful, finding Vixen, the Adverts, Suzi Quatro, and a new idol in Wendy O. Williams. (Now don't get me wrong Joan's always going to be #1, but Wendy was everything my mother hated and stood against, and everything I wanted to be!) I hunted down a few CD's, learned to play some songs, even went to my dad's shop a few times to swing around a sledge hammer and a chainsaw (It was fun!!). I wanted the Mohawk but I was afraid to do it myself.  These girls influenced me beyond belief! I got into later chick rock as well, like Bikini Kill, Babes in Toyland, L7, etc. Of course, I felt alone in my taste. I went to a very small school where the only people who thought they were punk rock were merely Green Day fanatics. Before I was a Joan Clone, I had long brownish hair with no bangs or anything and, *shudders,* I'd have to admit to liking Nsync in my one month teeny bopper faze, but I'll admit I shared a slight resemblance to Avril Lavigne. Once I found out about her existence, that had to stop. My Joan-like appearance made me more of a freak of nature. I was surrounded by Ashlee Simpson wanna-be's and, as her fan base grew in my school, and the bitch decided to dye her hair black, I was accused of being a fan of hers as well.