Hello, NXT readers. Justin is relaxing on a private island without Internet access (at least that's what he told me), so I'll be your host today. My name is Mary Phillips-Sandy. I recently returned to Portland after a few years in New York City; these days I live, write and drink too much coffee in the East End. I'm also the proprietor of a website called Ruined Music.

Speaking of music, this spring I caught a documentary called Girls Rock!, a backstage look at the Rock'n'Roll Camp for Girls that takes place every year in the other, west-er Portland. Imagine: a whole camp full of girls ages 8 to 18, getting together to start bands under the supervision of counselors like Sleater-Kinney's Carrie Brownstein and the Gossip's Beth Ditto.

Why wasn't there anything like that when I was a teenager?

Anyway, the film got me thinking about women and the music community, and the importance of inspiring girls to pick up guitars and drum sticks. There's no need to define musicians by their gender, but it's certainly worth noting that Portland's music scene includes some fantastic role models for your little sister... or for you.

Mandy Wheeler, bassist for indie quartet Honey Clouds, tells me that Portland is simply the right kind of place for women who want to get involved in music. "Everyone is supportive in this city," she says. "I don't ever think, Hey, I'm a girl, so things are going to be different for me. The only thing that's different is I need my bandmates to carry my very heavy bass amp around at shows."

Lana Eddy, the guitar-playing half of the garagey duo Hot Tarts, agrees: this is "a great community" that brings out the best in "many talented individuals, male and female."

So are women in the minority in Portland's music scene? The answer seems to be "yes, but not for long"; or, "it depends on who you ask."

"I think it's changing," The RattleSnakes bassist and singer Tara says. "I know several women who are in bands. They're just not as well-known. They haven't gotten as much exposure, so women seem scarce."

Sarah Beaulieu, better known as Knaughty Sarah # Geno's booker extraordinaire # believes the gender balance in music is shifting, though it'll take a while for things to even out. "Portland has had many all-female or female-fronted bands in recent years, and I can see many more in the future," she says. But the music world, as a whole, "has had such a large percentage of males for so long, that even if a city has 10 rocking lady bands, that same city will have 100 male-fronted bands. We just have to take over the world one band at a time."

To that end, she says, "Don't let anything stop you. If you want to see something happen, if you aren't seeing the type of music you like # make it happen." And if you do encounter some Neanderthals along the way, go ahead and drown 'em out. Referring to her partner in rock, the Hot Tarts' Lana says, "When someone refers to Cyndi as being a really amazing drummer for a girl, it's so silly. I think she's just an amazing drummer flat out. Why don't we call all the other bands 'boy bands?'"

Mary Phillips-Sandy's writing has appeared in Bust, Metromix New York, Vault, Yankee Pot Roast and lots of other places. She currently blogs about politics at Comedy Central's Indecision 2008. She also performs in a musical party called DraculaZombieUSA Yankee Ingenuity, coming soon to a stage in Portland.

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