Entourage-Hangin’ Over Your Head

Bio by She Rox, All Female Bands, It is no secret that by the mid to late 1980’s hair metal was ruling the world, and the music industry was cashing in quickly, male bands were a dime a dozen and found themselves easily signed to record labels for profit. It is also no secret, that this era in music history, was quick to overlook the sheer abundance of talented female musicians who struggled to gain the same success as their male counterparts. Los Angeles was indeed a mecca for hard rock, thanks in part to the infamous Sunset Strip with all its decadence and debauchery, however New York City was churning out the talent at an alarming rate and gaining notoriety for its thriving music scene. Perhaps the lack of such distractions is why most music historians view the east coast hard rock scene in a more favorable light, the bands had an edge to them and far more layers and in many cases, more talent. New York City based Entourage began in 1988 by bassist Virginia Summerville, who along with hard hitting drummer Dawn McGrath, and guitar virtuoso Tara Schmitt formed the band after answering music ads in the local paper. All three players were far from novice, in fact, quite seasoned and perfected their own style of playing with years of previous of training. Entourage as a unit was solidified early on with a line-up change of bassist Virginia Summerville taking over lead vocals in addition to being the band’s bassist and bringing in classically trained keyboardist Janet Seier (Szotak). The band began playing locally and gained a strong following throughout the east coast and earned a reputation as the band to see. Playing with such heavy weight acts as Danger Danger and YXZ to name a few, the band found themselves at the fore front of New York’s growing hard rock scene. Hailed by many for their sheer talent, Entourage proved to all, they were far from another fly by night, bubble gum, hair metal band. A far contrast in fact, musically Entourage mixed a blend of rock and hard rock that many described as radio friendly, yet there are far more layers to the band then just this and fitting them nicely into one niche of music is far from easy. The various musical influences are evident from Fleetwood Mac to Genesis to various guitar legends like Yngwie Malmsteen. Vocalist and bassist Virginia easily pulls off a Pat Benatar vibe and feel with her sultry and feminine, yet tough vocals and funky bass slapping reminisce of Stuart Hamm and Stanley Clarke. Rounding out the rhythm section of the band, drummer Dawn McGrath is the epitome of what an excellent drummer can do, holding all the components within the band together. Janet Seier’s classical background is apparent on keyboards and give the band’s overall sound an edge that flirts with a progressive rock sound. Guitar genius Tara Schmitt truly brought the hard rock flare to Entourage, a guitar shredder in every sense that could easily rival some of the greatest guitar players of all time and left many in amazement. Entourage would release a self-titled ep, in 1991, the ep would find local radio air play and positive reviews and current day, has become a much sought-after item for serious rock fans. The four-song ep, all written by the band’s main song writers, Tara and Virginia, is a unique blend of the band’s talents and influences. The ep is a refreshing departure from a lot of the basic hard rock that many bands were releasing during this time. This was not the typical mundane crotch rock being played on MTV. Each song takes the listener on a different journey into rock and hard rock with each song being quite different from each other. Earning their rock badges, the band gigged around New York and New Jersey and even graced the famous clubs like CBGB’s and L’Amour to name a few, the band was branching outwards and soon searched for a record deal, despite having a long list of achievements, most notably playing with rock legend Bo Diddley for thousands while in France and strong fan base here in the States, a record deal eluded the band, and sadly like many other all-female bands were told no, or the label has a female band already. The band called it quits in 1994 and at no fault of their own, with the band members themselves citing the rising popularity of the Grunge movement occurring in the mid 1990’s. Hard rock and its players were quickly discarded by the music industry ready to cash in on the next big thing. Unfortunately, music history cannot be unwritten, we will never be able to right the wrongs, but bands like Entourage are currently in a revival, fans both new and old are discovering and rediscovering them and credit is finally being given to them and the many talented bands that were dismissed by the record industry simply for being women. Thanks in part to social media and the internet fans can pay homage to the groundbreaking women like Entourage, that helped pave the way for countless others. *Huge Thanks to the band for all the amazing pics!