HISTORY is written by the victor. Fuck that! Rock & Roll is filled with unsung heroes that only the faithful know, and yet their victory is far more glorious than the plastic stars that light the modern POP sky.

One such hero left Canada to follow a dream after forming her band in a smoke filled bathroom in Thin Lizzy's hotel room. The year was 1976 and the world was ripe with heroes who wanted to kick the super sound of the 70's music establishment in the balls.

The 'B' Girls would only release a 45' on Bomp. CBGB and Max's would come to be called their home, with Warhol, Ginsberg and Burroughs in attendance. Their influence was felt from The Go Go's to Blondie. They hung out with other well-known icons including Mick Jones, The Ramones, Johnny Thunders, Sid & Nancy, The Dead Boys, and Joan Jett. They would even sing on Blondie's hit song "The Tide is High". 'B' Girl Cynthia Ross deserves to be recognized in the historical narrative of Rock & Roll - for the 'B' Girls took the action to change it! Just listen to the bands post breakup release "Who Says Girls Can't Rock." Take it away Cynthia!


What does music mean to you?

Music is the embodiment of passion and language passed on throughout time as we know it and beyond. For me ... music is the only place I'm not thinking; just being. At it's best, music is a messy connection of emotions and sounds. It's the art of listening, expressing and being at the same time. It's the last thing we have that technology can't kill... no matter how hard they try. The blues? Much better than sex. Great music stands the test of time and can make me cry. Music is a primal energy source. I'm a minor key girl. I don't like anything too happy or trendy. The eighties were the worst. Music is a form of rebellion, revolution, art and history. Oh ... I could go on forever answering this question. Music is my heart and soul, my lover, my true self and my escape from the world, as we know it.




We would love to hear about your current projects?

Right now I'm in two bands. The first one, NEW YORK JUNK was my re-entry into rock & roll after not playing at all for 20 something years. We formed in 2008.We play The Bowery Electric regularly and tour Europe once a year. We're pure NYC rock'n roll like The Velvet Underground and Johnny Thunders. We lived the mean streets before gentrification and corporate greed. It consists of me on bass and backing vocals, Joe Sztabnik on guitar and lead vocals, Jeff Ward on guitar and Gary Barnett on drums. My deceased husband Billy Rogers
http://www.oocities.org/sunsetstrip/underground/6514/rogers.html was an amazing drummer ... Ramones, Heartbreakers, Robert Gordon, The Senders, The Heroes, The Dragons, Dee Dee Ramone and more. The last band I played in before leaving New York (and after The 'B' Girls www.girls77.com broke up) to raise our children in Toronto was called The Renegades. Joe was the singer/songwriter in that band along with me on bass, Billy on drums, Jim Stout on guitar. Great band!! We played two nights at CBGBs and opened for Johnny Thunders at Irving Plaza the day after my daughter was born. I signed myself out of the hospital to play the gig. No way could childbirth be a barrier for a girl being in a rock'n roll band! Doctor thought I was crazy. Maybe? Maybe not.

Joe and I stayed in touch. His wife Hilary was one of my closest friends. I met her early on in the 70's through our mutual best friend Johnny Thunders. Then we got pregnant at the same time and had our children Amanda and Maxwell in the same week. That, of course, is a whole other story. The point is ... when my kids grew up ... I needed to play again. Go back to being myself. I spent many years denying my creative side. Art and music. I went and visited Joe and Hilary. We went down to the basement in Queens. It was the same as it ever was.NEW YORK JUNK emerged. We have a CD out Passion of the 10th St. Blues and we recorded an EP in Prague last March that will be released in 2015.

My second band is The KEE Kartel with Jeff Ward (originally from the UK band Gunfire Dance and also now in NEW YORK JUNK) writing, singing lead and on guitar with me and my 22 year old best friend Sam Hariss both playing bass, Dahm Cipolla on drums and Sarah Amina on violin. It's quite experimental and we are just getting going. We recorded 11 songs in Joe's magic basement studio last week. I would describe it as T.Rex meets protest lyrics, psychedelic rock'n roll with a bit of glam. We're going to get our stuff out and create a web page soon. We've done a few underground NYC gigs. I'm loving it!! Jeff is also a very talented author. He has three books published including Parasite.

I've committed to writing a book in 2015 ... so that will be my next project.




What was it like for you setting out to stake your claim in the music industry?

It was hard and fun at the same time. Starting an all-girl rock'n roll band in 1976 was not the norm. It was during the 'punk' scene, so there was an opening for us. The guys couldn't really play, so I thought ... why just stand around and watch? Why not start our own gang? We formed in Phil Lynott's hotel bathroom after a Thin Lizzy gig. The Runaways were already going. We were like The Shangri-Las but we played our own instruments. I wrote a lot of the songs. Lucasta, our original singer wrote Fun at The Beach. We quickly got support from Debbie Harry, The Dead Boys, The Diodes, The Viletones, Teenage Head and The Ramones. We learned to play our instruments and had our single out on Bomp Records within three months, produced by Bob Segarini and instigated by Greg Shaw. We had demos produced by Mick Jones (Clash), Debbie Harry (Blondie), Craig Leon, Liam Sternberg, some I did. Chris Spedding remixed all these demos and released as Who Says Girls Can't Rock!. It was the best time possible for our band to happen. We played with all the best bands in Toronto, New York and LA. We opened for the Clash in 1979. We moved to NYC in 1977 or 78. More to come in my book.


Tell us what New York City was like when you first arrived to perform there?

It was 1977. It was the height of the so-called NYC Punk movement. CBGBs and Max's Kansas City were the two main clubs along with Hurrrah, The Hotel Diplomat, The Mudd Club, Irving Plaza, The Peppermint Lounge, Club 57. It was wild!! The streets were dirty, filled with music coming from windows. It was dangerous and it was real. It was not this Disney Land we now have. All the bands supported each other. We made our own clothes. We went to everyone's gigs. We pasted posters on walls and lamp posts together. We wrote songs and rehearsed together. We slept on each other's floors. music, art, poetry, theatre .... we were all one scene. Andy Warhol, William Burroughs, Allan Ginsberg ... all came to our gigs. There was a big drug scene. Mostly junk (heroin). It was before HIV/AIDS. Apartments were affordable because there was rent control. All the cultures and music mixed. We were the babies of the Beat Generation.


How do you feel about the myth of Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll?

It's all about the dirty rock'n roll. Rock 'n Roll is sex. Drugs took a lot of our friends away. Lucky to have survived. It's part myth and part magic. "You have to go down to know what up is", Johnny Thunders. I don't regret a thing. But I am grateful, sad and miss all those talented souls who left us too soon. Bright lights burn bright. Sometimes I feel like a ghost walking the streets of the old neighbourhood. I live on the Lower East Side now. Not far from the 10th St. tenement I had with Billy. Our place was the hangout for Walter Lure, Johnny Thunders, Jimmy Miller, Dr. John, Willy DeVille and many more. Thank goodness Walter is still here, playing and keeping me company. Survivors of the holocaust that was taking lives in New York City.


Do you find it difficult to achieve a balance between being an artist and real life responsibilities?

Totally. I'm not really managing real life as well anymore. But the art is back. It's my time to be me. The clock is ticking. I'm broke, but I'm happy.

Is there anything missing in the current world of Rock & Roll that you can think of?

Suffering, connection, knowledge, letting go of ego. Nasty guitar tones, that back beat and kids dancing!! That's what it's about.

Do you have any advice for someone starting out in the music business?

Just go for it!! Start your own gang. Write original music ... no one knows if you're making a mistake. Have a vision. Make sure you really like the people you're playing with. Look good. They're coming to "see" your band. Be yourself and when you play gigs ... five or five hundred people should get the same energy from you. Look your band mates in the eye. Connect on every level. It should never be about the money. Music is not a job. Wait? The music business??? What is that? You tell me. I thought that went the way of the dinosaur if you're playing rock'n roll!!! No auto tune or compression. Let there be space. What you don't play is more important than what you play. Have fun!!! Have fun!! Have FUN!!!




If you could change one thing about the world what would that be?

That we would connect more on a human level. Give to each other. Live a simple life filled with peace and compassion. I know you said one thing. I think in threes.