Los Angeles-based guitarist Nita Strauss has made her name as a session player and composer of music for video games and indie film. She’s also been Alice Cooper’s guitarist since 2014, and as she fought her way up through the competitive world of studio musicians and hired guns, she became the first woman to have her own signature Ibanez guitar model. In 2018 Strauss released her debut solo album, a collection of instrumentals called Controlled Chaos (partly funded by Kickstarter and released on Sumerian after the funding goal was met). It’s a high-and-tight blast of crisp, nimble classic metal, and Strauss spends most of her energy building up badass riffs in songs structured so well they stand up just fine without vocals, even when her traditional hard-rock sound leads you to expect them. “Lion Among Wolves” and “Our Most Desperate Hour” are especially well designed, and if you like metal ballads, “Here With You” and “Hope Grows” are both lovely.
Last month, Strauss released her latest single, “Dead Inside” (Sumerian), featuring vocals from David Draiman of Disturbed. While Strauss doesn’t sing, she conveys emotional intensity through her playing, underlining Draiman’s voice with a challenging presence and then earning the spotlight when it’s her turn to shine. Though the track is the first time she’s included a singer in her solo work, it masterfully demonstrates the dynamics of the relationship between a front person and a lead guitarist. By the end of November, “Dead Inside” had become the first single by a female solo artist to reach the top ten on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay chart since 1995, which is fantastic news for Strauss and a scathing indictment of Billboard. I’ve been writing about women in rock since the 90s, so I can attest that it’s remarkable for a woman to crack the chart barrier as a guitar-wielding nonsinger—and that women who’ve mastered instruments other than the voice aren’t as rare as Billboard might make them seem.
Nita Strauss, Black Satellite, Marc Rizzo, Acracy, Wed 12/15, 7 PM, Reggies Rock Club, 2105 S. State, $25, $22 in advance, 17+
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