ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I t goes without saying I couldnt be a rock star mommy if I didnt have children, so my biggest debt of gratitude goes to my wonderful husband, John Davids, for giving me two incredible sons. My greatest joy is having John beside me watching the boys growbe it on the playground, the soccer pitch, in church, at school assemblies, or in the front row at a Mydols show.
I would like to thank my darling sons, Dylan and Willie, for being patientor at least tryingwhile I wrote this book. (I know I hogged the computer.) My boys are truly the inspiration for everything I do and my greatest accomplishment.
My parents, Ellen and Tony Cianfarani, have always been around for me. I owe them many thanks, not just for telling me they support me, but showing me. Every crummy little thing I have ever triedfrom elementary school to the presentthey have been the ones who applauded the loudest.
Id like to thank my sisters, Kim and Terrytogether we are like the Supremes. Kim was the first individual whose personal style I tried to steal. I apologize for pilfering her clothes in high school. (There, I finally admit it.)
And then there are my other sisters Kara, Paige, and Patthe Mydols. I am so glad they dared to dream the impossible dream with me. I couldnt ask for better partners. I have much respect and love for them.
Thanks to all my family: the Hoovers, the Onicas, the Willers, the Genthes, the Johnsons, and all the Davidsespecially my mother-in-law, Joy, and father-in-law, Lee. And much gratitude to my NTH Consultants family tooespecially Rick Burns, Kevin Love, Dawn Prell, Patti Bowman, Don Morton, Ken Lozen, Peter Margules, Margarite McKiever, and John Vekoff. I am proud to say I work for one of Metro Detroits best and brightest companies.
I will forever be grateful for the nurturing of my agent, Kate Epstein, who held my hand as I took my first baby steps toward being a writer. Likewise, I am indebted to my Citadel Press editor, Danielle Chiotti. With patience and guidance, she inspired me to take my ideas and run. I have the deepest respect for both women.
Very special thanks go to Ellen Piligian for helping me with my early manuscript and believing in this book. Her expertise and friendship mean so much to me.
Please give a big round of applause to all the musicians who helped four mothers transform into a real-deal rock band, especially: Len Puch, John Rasmussen, Jim Edwards, Brian Muldoon, Tim Pak, Johnny Miller, Joel Martin, Jeremy Kanouse, Rick Ruiner, Wensdy Von Buskirk, James Mott, Matt Wroth, Liz Scaris, Joy Rose, Kathy Valentine, The Supersuckers (the greatest rock and roll band in the world) and the entire gang at The End of the Park. We couldnt have done it without their encouragement or inspiration.
Thank you to everyone at Daisy Rock, especially Tish Ciravolo, for designing adorable, affordable, and great sounding guitars for girls. (And their mothers too.) My pink Daisy is my most cherished possession next to my Dodge minivan. Id like to thank the geniuses at Chrysler for coming up with Stow n Go seats. How else could I drop off six kids at Teen Night at 7:00 p.m. and still be on time for band load-in (with cargo that includes amps, guitars, and pink boots) by 9:00?
I must also thank Bill Dow, Mike Zonyk, Karen Kalbaugh, Stacy Mandelburg, Tom Patricia, Kevin Beggs, Jee Yeon Kim, Frankie C., and Kate Perotti for their endless support and kindness.
A big shout-out to the other Mydolsmy over-30 womens soccer teammatesand the gang at Total Soccer, especially Dan Kelly and Eric Scicluna, who hung our very first gig posters in public view.
Lastly, thanks to Jack White. His guitar playinghe made it look so easy that anyone could do itchanged my life forever.
AFTERWORD
T he Mydols have been on a long roller-coaster ride since 2002. Sometimes it makes us a little dizzy, but more often than not it is thrilling. Being in People was certainly one of the high points, but it didnt end there for our group, affectionately dubbed the little band that thought it could. We continue bravely puffing along to places our own mothers never imagined.
I can still recall getting goose bumps when Rick Ruiner asked us to play our first out-of-state concert in Chicago and how it was such a big deal. Since then, the Mydols have performed across the country in places like St. Paul and Nashville, where our shows were touted in the press as the pick of the week. In the Big Apple we performed at the Mamapalooza Festival, and Paige and I played live on the radio in Salt Lake City. The band braved a blizzard to be on a local late night television show called Night Shift with Kevin Ferguson, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, took a train to Toronto to be in the North by Northeast Festival and flew to Oakland, California, to play at the Art and Soul Festival. Trains, planes, and minivans. The Mydols have done them all.
In 2005, I flew with my family to Seattle to participate in the Rockrgrl Music Conference. I was invited to participate in two panel discussions: Ho, Ho, Ho: Humor as Lyrics and Life After Birth: Can You Be a Mom and a Musician Too? Imagine that. In the fifteen-plus years I have held my present office job I have never won a Wow Award (recognition given for outstanding performance on the job), but I am an expert in my hobby. A bigger surprise is who sat with me on the mom panel. Kathy Valentine, the bass player for the GoGosthe most famous all-girl rock band in history. I tried not to stare at her, but I couldnt believe my eyes. I love the GoGos. I still remember the first time I saw them on MTV in the early 1980s. I recall how weird it was. I grew up with bands like Heart (Ann Wilson was also at the convention but on a different panel), so I was used to female singers and guitaristsbut a female drummer? A female bass player? As a twenty-something, Id never seen anyone like Kathy before. Twenty years later, I was sitting next to her on a paneland all because I followed my crazy dream. We ended up trading e-mails, and I convinced her to come to Detroit and headline at Mamapalooza with her own band, the Impossible. The Mydols opened for Kathy at the Royal Oak Music Theatre, and she invited us all onstage when she sang the GoGos classic song Vacation. Rock and roll hall-of-famer Clem Burke (Blondie) was her drummer. I danced around the stage like I was in college again. Those were three of the most exhilarating minutes of my life.
Another high point for the band was flying to Los Angeles to be on The Greg Behrendt Show. I got a phone call at 11:00 p.m. on a Sunday night from a producer asking if we wanted to be the guests for a show themed Second Chances. (Greg had seen us in People two years earlier and recommended us.) We taped his show at the Sony Studios three days later. It would be our first appearance on a nationally syndicated talk show.
Then there was the thrill of opening for the Supersuckersthe self-described greatest rock n roll band in the worldat the notable Magic Bag theater in Ferndale, Michigan. These Seattle hell-raisers have played with everyone from Pearl Jam, Ramones, Social Distortion, Rolling Stones, and Aerosmithto Kelly Clarkson, 50 Cent, and Neil Diamond. And it might not say it on their website, but they played with the Mydols too. In one of the most memorable phone calls of my life, the boys manager, Chris Neal, rang me from somewhere in Canada. He told me that wed edged out some of the best tattoo- and leather-covered guy bands in the city of Detroit for the coveted opening spot. We were definitely an interesting contrast in bands. They played songs from their CD Motherf-ers be Trippin and we played songs from ours Born to Iron .
