Boom boom boom, tick-a-tick, boom boom, boom boom, tick-a-tick! Like the sensation that makes your heart accelerate at a concert, the pulse of nearby percussion resonates through your body, bringing an unexpected rush to the soul. You find yourself tapping your toes and wiping your feet on the proverbial rhythm rug.
But wait, this is no concert hall—you’re in downtown Bozeman, outside in a Montana winter. What is that thunderous sound? It must be a local band, right? But then, the Main Street strollers part, and everyone moves to a side; marching down the street are…
BUCKET DRUMMERS? Yes, bucket drummers. The intriguing noise you heard is an amazing ruckus caused by a pack of three-dollar plastic buckets, some Pro-Mark sticks, and a group of vivacious women! Their fearless leader yells out, “Chicks With Sticks – Ready!” followed by an abrupt whistle, a call, and they’re off.
Chicks With Sticks (CWS), a local women’s marching drum corps, was founded by Stormi Oshun and Shaun Phoenix in March 2011. Inspired by the “Big-Ass Drum Core,” a women’s bucket drumming group in Spokane, Washington, a local chapter was launched right here in the beautiful Gallatin Valley. The group consists of about 25 women from all walks of life: professionals, stay-at-home moms, liberals, conservatives, gay, straight, shy, and loud-and-proud women alike. Stormi met her partner in crime, Shaun, at the Music Empowerment Camp in Helena, where Stormi taught drumming each summer. This fortunate pairing of musicians ended up inspiring what would become Bozeman’s Chicks With Sticks.
The instruments used by CWS are simple: five-gallon plastic buckets, the kind that are available at hardware stores, popular with painters and cherry-pickers everywhere. Stormi grew up in Wenatchee, Washington, of cherry orchard fame, and each summer she used these and other buckets while working in the trees. Starting with a kidney-shaped bucket and a harness for easy carrying, Stormi modified it to work with a five-gallon plastic bucket. Adding eye-bolts later, she was up-and-running with a bucket drum fit for marching. Stormi then fiddled with several different implements to refine the sound, from altering the bucket to modifying the sticks. She found that wrapping rubber bands around the tips of the drumstick produced her most desired effect, “It made the sound much more resonating,” she explains. Sometimes tennis balls are used too, for hitting their handmade bass drum and gong.
CWS performances are powerful. While the goal is to energize and engage the crowd, startling them is often just as worthy an objective. A CWS gig recently began by launching into a performance in the middle of a crowded venue, when CWS rocked a ‘flash mob‘ at the Gallatin Valley Mall this past November. “We like to surprise the audience with the fact that a group of untrained female musicians with accessible objects is absolutely brilliant!” says Stormi. Her favorite thing to quip while in action is, “FB, wymmies!” (meaning “effing brilliant,” not “Facebook”).
Once the stun has waned, the CWS show really starts to roll; these women having a blast always engages the audience. The smiles, excitement, dancing, hooting and hollering are the Real McCoy; Stormi and Shaun love to come up with pieces that impel the audience to get up and drum with the group, clap along, dance, yell, and generally let themselves go. Participation, not just spectating, is the highest goal. CWS aims to really get in there, so close the audience can reach out and bang a drum.
So, have you asked yourself yet, “Why Chicks With Sticks?” Drumming appears to be a male-dominated instrument, but that perception is not wholly true. Let’s not overlook Cindy Blackman, the woman often rocking the drum kit behind Lenny Kravitz, and Karen Carpenter started on her snare well before she took the microphone.
Contrary to some impressions, CWS isn’t a feminist band; it does not discriminate men. The “chicks” part just kind of happened. While preparing for the Gay Pride Parade in Spokane, a male acquaintance answered a call to join the group. When Stormi ran it by her crew, the majority said, “Ya know, we really enjoy it being just us chicks!” The rest of ‘Chicks Only’ is history.
Chicks With Sticks is all about celebrating women being playful, full of heart, and irreverent. This “yummy combination,” as Stormi calls it, creates a place for musicians to shine and foster community, all while blowing the socks off the audience. Amidst the many stressors, losses, and hard times of, there is a “yes” offered by this collective, as in “yes, life is good.” Thank you, Chicks With Sticks, for reminding us of that! -TBM
Tara Heinrich is a Montana native who moved to Bozeman in 2006. She is a dance instructor at Tanya’s Dance Co. in Belgrade.
