VICKI BLANKENSHIP had to literally almost die before her music could be reborn.
The lesbian singer-songwriter, who moved from North Carolina to Gainesville, Ga., last year and is on tour with the Indie Grrl showcase that hits Atlanta next week, was belting out her first notes by the time she was 5 years old. A professional musician by age 12, Blankenship also played solo gigs and rocked out as part of a college band while attending Elon University in North Carolina.
The crescendo of her adolescent music career was her membership in Carolina Cowboys, a ‘70s country band that played alongside such luminaries as George Jones, James Taylor and Conway Twitty.
In life after college, Blankenship settled into a career as a utilities engineer, dimming the spotlight that shone on her musical talents.
“I worked sun up to sun down, and my music career was in my living room, playing for friends,” says Blankenship, who for years resisted the urging of those friends to again pursue a performance career.
After a diagnosis of bladder cancer at age 40 in 1998, Blankenship defeated the disease with treatment, only to have it return. It was the second battle with cancer that Blankenship says her opened her eyes to the fact that her life’s journey was incomplete.
Operating in “death-mode,” racing against what she perceived as her limited remaining time on earth, Blankenship retreated to the beaches of Calabash, N.C.
“I decided I needed to get my songs down on recording, and so I moved to the beach to heal and write,” Blankenship says.
Blankenship’s cancer eventually flared up for a third time, but in addition to the standard chemotherapy, she was now fighting the disease armed with harmony and hope.
“When I was playing my guitar, I felt no pain,” Blakenship says. “Music transforms your body and make you forget about the pain and worries.”
Blakenship’s musical medicine isn’t showing any signs of wearing off.
“I just had a thorough examination — I mean, they probed everything in my body — and I was clean,” she says proudly. “I’ve been clean for about two-and-a-half years.”
AFTER RESURRECTING HER MUSIC career, Blankenship immersed herself in a host of independent musician networks, including the gay-themed Outmusic, and Indie Grrl, an online collection of female artists for which Blankenship serves as CEO.
Blankenship and five other artists plan an Indie Grrl showcase at Eddie’s Attic in Decatur on May 26. Artists must audition in front of their peers and others in the music industry to gain a spot on the Indie Grrl roster, which features folk artists, but includes all genres of music.
Kicking off the Eddie’s Attic set is Ronnda Cadle, an Atlanta acoustic guitarist who recently released her first solo album, an instrumental effort called “The River Runs.” Another relative local performing at the showcase is Julia Carroll, a lesbian resident of Gainesville, Ga., whose musical motto is “Folk me hard.”
Independent folk artist Lauren Fincham used to call Atlanta home before relocating to her native Jacksonville, Fla. She returns to Eddie’s Attic to play alongside cellist Carol Statella in the duo Rosary.
The Indie Grrl showcase also features talent from outside Georgia. Lesbian acoustic guitarist Susan Souza brings her unique voice from Baltimore to Atlanta, fresh off her nomination for Outmusic’s Outstanding Debut Recording award for her inaugural project, “Inside and Outside.”
Los Angeles rocker Adrianne returns to Atlanta to the delight of her many local fans, whom she cultivated with her first two albums and by winning Outmusic’s Outstanding New Recording Female award in 2005. In addition to winning countless song writing competitions, Adrianne also contributed to the soundtrack of the movie “Eulogy” in 2004.
THE UPCOMING SHOW IS THE sec-ond time Eddie’s Attic hosts an Indie Grrl showcase, as the female music network attempts to raise its profile in the Southeast under Blankenship’s leadership. The organization also hosts showcases in Columbus, Savannah and Dahlonega, and plans to host its 2007 national conference as a festival in a yet-to-be-determined Georgia city, Blankenship says.
Independent musicians must wear many hats, from handling their own public relations and booking their own gigs while still squeezing in time to practice and perform. The sometimes-grueling itinerary at first made Blankenship doubt whether leaving the corporate world was the right move.
“There was some hesitation, because you always have to put bread and butter on the table, and being an independent musician now — it’s not an easy life,” she says.
Performances and the grind of the business often take their toll on Blankenship’s chemo-weakened body, which also afflicted her with weak lungs, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, which deteriorates her immune system.
Still, Blankenship says it’s all worth it the moment she strums her first chord on stage.
