Essential Estrogen

Emma Rocks!, a musical competition held at the Englert Theatre on Saturday with proceeds benefiting the Emma Goldman Clinic, gave awards to three artists. In total, 11 performances were voted on by the audience before the top three popular vote getters were handed to a panel of judges for placement.

Blue Cat Alley, a blues rock band comprised of Kate Thompson, Tim Laughrin, David Bordow, Steve Jeffries and Mark Soth, earned first place honors. They performed an original piece written by Soth, entitled "That's What I Find." The band chose the production prize, which consists of a demo compact disc produced by Dave Zollo in the studios at United Action for Youth as well as a music video produced by Community Television Services.

Second place winners were Greg and Jean Thompson, a folk duo. They chose the promotion prize that includes 45 minutes on the main stage of the Iowa Arts Fest and a feature article in Creative Crossroads magazine. They performed "Drive to Fargo," written by Greg.

Family Van, a "noise-pop" improvisation group comprised of Laura Kelley, Liz Preciado, David Luthor and Lisa Kattchee, earned third place honors. They performed their original song "Nice Guys Get Funked." The group received an acoustic Arbor guitar with backpack case provided by J Frahm Music and guitar lessons by Bill Hook, co-owner of The Guitar House.

"This event was really fun for the clinic to organize, for the local musicians to perform and for the community to participate," said Karen Kubby, executive director of the Emma Goldman Clinic. "It reminds me how artistically rich we are in Johnson County."

Judges for the event were Mayor Regenia Bailey, musician Nikki Lunden and Sam Schliesinger, volunteer with United Action for Youth.

The Emma Goldman Clinic, the first women owned and operated health care center in the Midwest and the first out-patient abortion clinic in Iowa, was founded in September 1973 by a group of dedicated community women. Today it is one of the most highly regarded non-profit health care facilities in the country.