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SteveAJones

SteveAJones

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Zepparella: climbing the stairway to stardom

by Craig Gettman

The Oak Leaf

The Student Newspaper of Santa Rosa Junior College

Published: October 29, 2009

Four women dressed in white pants, dress shirts and platform shoes stroll on stage and take their positions under the spotlights. After a moment, the hard rock sound of Zepparella, an all-female Led Zeppelin tribute band, washes over the crowd.

In an instant, it's clear these women mean business. Anna Kristina, the band's lead singer, belts out Robert Plant's lyrics with her soulful voice that is both strong and seductive. Gretchen Menn, the guitarist, tackles Jimmy Page's riffs with ease. Her fingers fly over the frets as though she's channeling him. Nila Minnerock, the bass player, takes on John Paul Jones' role in the band. She uses her own slightly darker and more melodic style. Last is Clementine, who goes by that name only. As the band's drummer, her ability to mimic the late John Bonham is impressive.

The band formed in 2004 in San Francisco and tours often. They have played locally throughout the Bay Area but have also begun to branch out to venues across the United States and Canada.

Their current tour started out in Petaluma and will wind through Northern California and Oregon before finishing in San Francisco.

The constant touring doesn't negatively affect their relationships with each other.

"For four girls crammed in a van, poured onto a stage and then crammed in a van again [we get along] unbelievably, mind bogglingly, smashingly well!" says Anna Kristina.

Though Zepparella has now taken flight as a dedicated tribute band, the concept began as something a bit different.

"At first, I wanted to merge the visuals of the movie "Barbarella" with the music of Led Zeppelin, in an effort to stay away from the classic tribute band formula," Clementine said. "The only thing that stayed from that original concept was the name and the desire to always push the limits of being formulaic."

It has taken a while for the band to reach its current status.

The women had to go through "many dollars in licensing" to get permission from Led Zeppelin to record the band's songs, according to Anna. Zepparella has also dealt with gender issues.

"There is a tendency for first-timers to expect us to suck," Anna mentions. "I see the skepticism in a new audience for the first three to five songs."

The four women deal with this issue as any musician would: by bringing the rock.

"We generally get 'em and then they're calling their friends from the audience, holding the phone up to the band and telling their friends that they have to get down here and hear [us]," said Anna.

What the audience hears is four talented musicians who have a lifetime of experience.

"I remember falling in love with Creedence Clearwater Revival at 3 and staring at the 'Cosmo's Factory' record for hours," Clementine recalls. "I remember my dad teaching me to dance to it. I think that probably sealed the deal right there."

Anna thinks she could sing before she could speak. Gretchen says that she's been into music as far back as she can remember, though she only started playing guitar in her first year of college.

Eleven years prior to their current membership in Zepparella, Clementine and Nila played together for eight years in a metal band called Bottom. After Bottom, there was AC/DShe, the hugely popular all-female AC/DC tribute band, of which both Clementine and Gretchen were members.

"Music is always at the forefront of our lives," says Clementine.

However, she admits that she and her bandmates take jobs to pay the bills when needed. Nila says she has two flexible parttime jobs that permit her to play whenever she needs to.

All four members of Zepparella also have side projects. These are natural for any career musician but for now the women are dedicated to Zepparella.

As Clementine says, "I hope we just keep going until it's not fun anymore."

Being longtime fans of Led Zeppelin, each member of Zepparella has distinct memories of when each had first became a fan of the legendary band.

Anna says Led Zeppelin gave her an anchor when she was younger and her parents were divorcing.

Edited by SteveAJones
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SteveAJones

SteveAJones

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The girls of Zepparella make classics their own

These San Francisco rockers play Led Zeppelin songs, but don't consider themselves a tribute band; they play songs to celebrate, not to emulate

Matt Tiffany

Oregon Daily Herald

February 8, 2007

If it's not a tribute band, or a quartet of groupies pining to peel off Jimmy Page's pants, or a bunch of rock 'n' roll wannabes, or Howard Stern's favorite band, what then, is Zepparella?

Serious.

The San Francisco-based quartet of women rockers came together in summer 2005, when jazzy singer Anna Kristina joined guitarist Gretchen Menn, bassist Nila Minnerock and drummer Clementine, who in great rock fashion simply goes by her first name. Separately, each has her own musical interests, which range from prog rock and metal to electronica and jazz, but together, it's all about Led Zeppelin, baby.

"It's a tribute to the music," Clementine said when reached in San Francisco before their current tour, which sees the band at Sam Bond's Garage on Friday. "We're a tribute band in that we're playing one band's music, but we don't really care about Jimmy Page's pants."

Apparently, a lot of other bands do care about his pants. They're everywhere: Black Dog, Stairway Denied, Led Zepland, Hammer of the Gods, The Immigrants (an Italian Led Zeppelin tribute band)or The Vibe Remains the Same.

But just because other bands play out their fantasies of being part of one of the greatest rock bands ever, if only for a night at a time, doesn't mean the ladies of Zepparella are going to follow suit. "To me, tribute bands look like the players and sound just like the players - and that's really fun. I'm not putting it down," Clementine said. "But for Led Zeppelin, I feel like we wouldn't be doing the music justice if we did that."

To do the music justice, Clementine said, the band, which takes its name from Led Zeppelin and the campy Jane Fonda film "Barbarella," learns the songs exactly as they sound on the album. "But as we play together, things happen and the songs start to breathe and our own music starts coming through." There are guitar riffs and grooves on the drums the band wants to hit, but they leave a lot of room for the songs to have a life of their own.

"These songs are built for different interpretations," she said, "so it'd be kind of a crime to stick to the record version."

The band's album, "Live at 19 Broadway," gives a taste of the similarities, and differences, between the two Zeps. One difference is the vocals. If anything, Robert Plant is more effeminate than the lustrous Kristina, whose jazz-influenced voice shines through.

"She's a jazz singer more than a rock singer, so it's tougher for her to do this," Clementine said. "She's really gotten into learning the whole rock thing, and Plant is such a great place to start.

"She's not really trying to sound like him. It's more the phrasing and the delivery."

But there are times when Kristina definitely conjures up memories of Plant. The beginning of the band's cover of Zeppelin staple "Whole Lotta Love" sounds as if Kristina ate Plant for breakfast and he's trying to escape from inside of her. And the wails at the start of "Immigrant Song" are just as haunting and powerful as the original. The rest of the band does Zeppelin justice as well. Menn's powerful guitar riffs, Minnerock's steady bass and Clementine's thundering drums capably carry Zepparella through Zeppelin's oeuvre.

Even Howard Stern had nothing bad to say about the band's take on Zeppelin.

Zepparella is on a compilation record of all-women tribute bands, and Stern - that champion of feminism everywhere - was talking about the album in less than flattering terms on his show. "They chose one song to play, and it was one of ours," Clementine said, laughing. "But they were like, 'Hey, this is pretty good,' and we were happy they were saying our name on the radio."

The band learned Led Zeppelin has heard of Zepparella, Clementine said. Robert Plant's question: "Are they any good?" Yes, Mr. Plant, they are.

Edited by SteveAJones
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kipper

kipper

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On 1/16/2010 at 4:26 PM, SteveAJones said:

Upcoming tour dates:

 

Jan 22 - Tractor Tavern in Seattle, WA

 

Feb 13 - Humboldt Brews in Arcata, CA

Here are two "beauties" one black (not quite like Jimmy's) and one red...red haired that is--- The incomparable Gretchen Menn

They will be playing at the famous ROXY on Sunset Blvd this July. Should be a good one and great venue to see Zepparella at.

 

And one more, probably my favorite cover of  Whole Lotta Love. Here Zepparella channels the spirit of a true Zeppelin improvisation in that tight but loose tradition. Like no version you have ever heard before.

It doesn't get much more sexy than this...

 

 

Edited by kipper
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76229

76229

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6 hours ago, kipper said:

And their latest video. Their drummer 'Clementine' really HITS the drums in true Bonzo fashion. She does better than almost of the men who try to do this IMHO.

 

I prefered the previous bass player. That said, a Zep reunion with Page on rhythm & Gretchen on lead guitar would be a lot of fun! 😜

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Mithril46

Mithril46

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Yeah, they are pretty good. Nothing sounds cheesy, good musicianship. However, don't  expect anything like Page's 16 !?!?

different stylistic techniques in a single song. But men guitarists can't quite get the whole enchilada either, so my judgement is not based on sex. I actually saw them, no desire to leave after 15 minutes, no heavy exodus from the chrowd

either. I don't know how many people realize that touring with just a van is very taxing. It's not so much not being able to

afford a motel, it's that the next day you may have to drive 500 miles, and you have to wake up early anyway. Turned down

a Zep tribute exactly for that reason, can't sleep in a moving vehicle, and 4-5 hrs sleep most nights, straight into Peruvian

marching powder land.

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kipper

kipper

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 4/14/2019 at 11:14 AM, Mithril46 said:

Yeah, they are pretty good. Nothing sounds cheesy, good musicianship. However, don't  expect anything like Page's 16 !?!?

different stylistic techniques in a single song. But men guitarists can't quite get the whole enchilada either, so my judgement is not based on sex. I actually saw them, no desire to leave after 15 minutes, no heavy exodus from the chrowd

either. I don't know how many people realize that touring with just a van is very taxing. It's not so much not being able to

afford a motel, it's that the next day you may have to drive 500 miles, and you have to wake up early anyway. Turned down

a Zep tribute exactly for that reason, can't sleep in a moving vehicle, and 4-5 hrs sleep most nights, straight into Peruvian

marching powder land.

Zepparella does exactly that. Travels in a van (just the 4 women) and sets up and takes down their own gigs---although a few good fans often help them.

Stylistically they are smart to not try and be a total cover version attempting to match on stage mannerisms and costumes which gets really boring and really old really fast.  Gretchen Menn is a very well trained guitarist--- she gets really inside the actual MUSIC in a technical way. She can actually read music unlike many tribute players.

There is also something to be said about a woman's hands and fingers which for this type of playing I think is a benefit. I think the better guitar players be they men or women share a type of hand structure which divides some of the greats from others.  My hands are huge ham like blobs of meat and bone much better suited to a brick layer than a guitar player. Jimmy Page would have been a terrible mason, but probably a great proctologist.... :)

 

 

 

Edited by kipper
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Stryder1978

Stryder1978

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On 4/13/2019 at 5:36 AM, 76229 said:

I prefered the previous bass player. That said, a Zep reunion with Page on rhythm & Gretchen on lead guitar would be a lot of fun! 😜

Saw them two years ago at Copper Mountain and I agree about their bass player.  Met them before the show...they are as nice (and beautiful) as they are talented.

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76229

76229

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Those ladies of Zepworld have just posted some instructional vids on YT, thought you'd all be interested.

"Jimmy Page" on guitar

"Robert Plant" on vox.

and "John Bonham" behind the kit

 

Not sure where Jonesy is but I'm sure more will be added soon!

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kipper

kipper

Posted
Posted
On 4/13/2019 at 4:36 AM, 76229 said:

I prefered the previous bass player. That said, a Zep reunion with Page on rhythm & Gretchen on lead guitar would be a lot of fun! 😜

Here you go....

 

Clementine their drummer hits HARD which is nice in a Zep cover band. Most lose it with the drummers not playing like Bonzo.

 

 

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