Sisterhood in every sense of the word will be celebrated when June Millington, And the Kids, Kalliope Jones, Moxie, Court Etiquette and students from the Institute for the Musical Arts come together for “Go Jean!” a benefit for the Jean Millington Stroke Recovery Fund that will be held at Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center in Greenfield on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Jean Millington, 68, is the bassist for the pioneering rock band Fanny, the group that she co-founded with her sister June Millington, 70, back in the late 1960s. Fanny was one of the first all-female bands signed to a major label (Warner Bros.) and it released five albums, toured internationally and opened doors for countless other women before winding down in 1974.
The sisters continued to rock together over the years, and earlier this year, they released a new album under the moniker Fanny Walked the Earth. But in January, two months before the album’s release, Jean Millington was sidelined by a stroke that compromised her right side. June Millington, who owns The Institute for the Musical Arts (IMA) in Goshen with her partner Ann Hackler, was determined to do anything she could to make sure that her sister would play bass again.
June Millington launched a Gofundme campaign and has played a series of benefit shows to help her sister, who resides in California, with her ongoing medical expenses.
“I am planning on doing shows to benefit Jean whenever and wherever I can. I have done three in California and did one in Utah as well,” June Millington said as she sat on the porch of her home in Goshen, where she and Hackler were preparing for the arrival of the young girls who would attend the pre-teen rock ’n’ roll camp slated to begin the next day. The couple have been running summer rock camps at IMA for aspiring young female rockers since 2002.
It made sense for June Millington to do a benefit here in western Massachusetts, and she reached out to some of her IMA students-past and present to make this happen. For example, And the Kids is a pop rock band from Northampton that formed when its members were students at IMA’s rock camps. The band tours all over, records for Signature Sounds and recently opened for Blondie at Mass MoCA. When asked to play the benefit, they immediately said yes, June Millington said.
She then contacted the three young women from Kalliope Jones, which also organized as students at IMA. The group had already scheduled a summer bash show at Hawks & Reed that included Moxie and Court Etiquette. June Millington approached the band about folding this event into a benefit for Jean.
“We were really excited about this possibility because we love the IMA, And the Kids and wanted to support this cause in any way we could,” said Isabella DeHerdt, singer/guitarist of Kalliope Jones.
Rei Kimura, the lead singer of Moxie, has attended camps at IMA for the past three years as well, so the merging of the events worked out perfectly.
June Millington will also perform at the show, being backed by former IMA student Mia Huggins on bass, longtime associate Janelle Burdell on drums, and using various IMA alumni and present students as the rest of her backing band.
She sums up the night as a mini music festival. The evening will begin at 6 p.m. with music by the summer bash bands Court Etiquette, Moxie and Kalliope Jones. June Millington and her students will then come on around 8 p.m. and will be followed by the closing band, And the Kids.
“There is a lot of positivity already emanating from this benefit and I think it’s terrific,” June Millington said. “It’s bringing us together and it’s bringing the community together, and people know that they are actually helping Jean to get up and playing again.”
The Millington sisters grew up in the Philippines where they would sing and play ukuleles together. In the early 1960s, the family moved to California, and the ukuleles were replaced by acoustic guitars and later electric guitars. Females playing electric guitars was unheard of in those days, but the sisters followed their own path. They broke down even more barriers when they formed their first all-female band the Svelts when in high school. The Svelts would ultimately lead to the formation of Fanny.
When June Millington listens to the music they made, she is amazed by what she hears her sister playing.
“I have such an appreciation for what we have done and for Jean’s contribution, because she really is one of the best bass players in the world,” she said.
While June Millington misses being on stage with Jean, she said that overall, she is more relaxed about shows now and wants to tell stories of how they got started and survived as an all-girl band in Fanny and beyond.
“IMA you could say is the end product of all of our entire careers and we both are super invested in it,” she said.
And it’s an investment that has paid off. Over the years, IMA’s rock ’n’ roll camps have produced some incredible musical talent, some of which you will hear at this show.
“It’s exciting and it’s so satisfying,” June Millington said about the success of some of the young girls she has mentored over the years. “You host camp after camp, and you have girls coming in that haven’t met before and have different skill levels, but somehow they synthesize it all, they become friends and then they form bands.”
Looking back, she can remember when the members of Kalliope Jones were students at the pre-teen camp at about 8 years old, with little or no music experience, and now they are out there rocking hard and doing their part to help Jean Millington.
“Some of the Kalliope Jones members have played with her and June before, and Jean has been part of our IMA upbringing for sure,” said DeHerdt. “We are so excited for this performance and for all the awesome groups we will be playing with.”
“Jean said to me back in March, ‘I know this is all happening for a reason,’” June Millington said. “She is very accepting of the situation and with the work that needs to be done.”
And June Millington is pleased to report that Jean is working hard and making progress every day. She has a positive attitude and is approaching her recovery with the kind of determination and bravery that allowed her to pick up a bass guitar in 1964 when she had never seen a woman play one. And while both women wish that Jean’s return to rock would happen faster than it is, they realize it will take time.
“We know how gifted and blessed our lives have already been, to have had the chance to open doors for other women and girls and to do it,” said June Millington, who feels that having the opportunity to play is a gift. “Not a whole lot of women are playing electric guitar and slamming it at 70,” she added with a laugh.
“This show is going to be fun and super joyful, and that’s what I like about this. This isn’t about our tragedy, this is about the human spirit and music always continuing and bringing joy to everyone. You always find a meaning with music and that’s what is happening here.”
Admission is by sliding scale donation of $10 to $50, with the money supporting the Jean Millington Stroke Recovery Fund. Advance tickets can be purchased at www.hawksandreed.com.
Sheryl Hunter is a music writer who lives in Easthampton. Her work has appeared in various regional and national magazines. You can contact her at soundslocal@yahoo.com.