Meet Allison Kasper, the Grrl Behind Grrl Fest

By Brooke Luna

Five years ago, Allison Kasper was working at the Hi-Tone Cafe booking bands for the venue.

It was during this time that she read an article about a music festival in Canada that sparked a life-changing idea.

In the article, it was reported that a female artist removed the names of every male act from a poster of the festival’s lineup to see the discrepancy between male and female artists.

There was a glaring lack of representation. Kasper said out of 150 bands, only 5 of them featured women.

A year later, Grrl Fest was born.

“I thought that was really crazy,” Kasper said. “I had been working at the Hi-Tone for over a year at that point and had toyed around with the idea [of Grrl Fest] for a while, but never did it until in 2016 I was like, ‘Alright, I’m going to do this.’”

Allison Kasper photographed by Nate Packard

Grrl Fest, the annual benefit concert held at the Hi-Tone, was founded by Kasper to celebrate and honor female musicians by inviting 10 bands with at least one female member to play at the show.

Along with the article, another reason she wanted to start Grrl Fest was because she saw a need for it in her city.

“I wondered if there could be something in Memphis,” Kasper told the Memphis Flyer. “Get a bunch of bands together to play for a good cause and give recognition to women that are making really, really good music in town.”

Like every year, preparations for this year’s show began when she started reaching out to bands in December.

Then, in January, she worked with an artist to finalize the design for the festival’s logo and printed t-shirts to sell at the show.

Planning the show schedule came next, with Kasper ensuring each artist received an equal amount of playing time and that there wouldn’t be the same type of set back-to-back.

“When it comes to actually planning the event, I’m usually the only one,” she said. “Having to do it all yourself is really hard.”

While she ran all operations for Grrl Fest over the past few months, Kasper was also waiting tables at the Beauty Shop Restaurant in Cooper Young, making custom embroidery, interning with the Memphis Current, and playing shows around town with her band.

She also attended classes at the University of Memphis, where she’s a senior pursuing a degree in English with a concentration in professional writing and editing.

It was a balancing act that wasn’t always easy, and Kasper had doubts about whether or not she could have a life and run a music festival at the same time.

“To be honest, I almost didn’t do it this year because I’m so overwhelmed,” she said.

But her passion outweighed her problems.

“It’s definitely hard to balance it all, but I’m able to do it, so I will keep doing it,” Kasper said.

However, this year’s festival ran into some unforeseen complications with the outbreak of COVID-19.

The spread of the disease has caused festivals around the world to be canceled or postponed and Kasper decided to follow suit.

Originally scheduled for May 23, Kasper announced on the festival’s Facebook page that Grrl Fest has now been postponed to Aug. 22.

She expressed her hope for people to still come to the show, which will have a different element from every show in the past.

Except for the headliner, Bruiser Queen, Kasper chose a lineup featuring all local artists: Harlan, Magnolia, Louise Page, Mama Honey, Schaefer Llana, Big Clown, Rosey, True Danger, Treespots, and Lahna Deering.

“This year I’m focusing on all local bands, which is cool because in the past I’ve tried so hard to get out of town bands, but this year I was like, ‘We have so many amazing bands here in Memphis,’ so I’m going to focus on them,” Kasper said.

This year's Grrl Fest flyer designed by Sara Moseley

Not wanting to limit the night to just music, Kasper chose to honor local female artists as well.

Proud Mary, Sarah Day, Lexi Perkins, Jess Kirk, and Ixora Memphis made the list and will each have booths set up with their artwork for sale at this year’s show.

Kirk, who makes hand-made jewelry and hand-cut collages, said this will be her third year showcasing her art at Grrl Fest.

She listed the festival’s message of female empowerment and the effort that Kasper puts into it as reasons why she looks forward to it every year.

“She is always so easy going and accommodating and knows how to make everyone feel special and comfortable,” Kirk said of Kasper. “I admire Allison for putting this together because there’s nothing else like it.”

Kirk’s words were a testament to Kasper’s dedication to Grrl Fest and its artists—she makes them feel welcome even though she barely has time to say hello.

“The whole night I’m running around like a crazy mad woman,” Kasper said. “I’ll step into a room, watch a set for maybe five minutes and then I’ve got to run and do something else.”

Another item Kasper has had on her agenda the past four years is donating Grrl Fest’s proceeds to support the Southern Girl’s Rock Camp through YEAH! Rocks, a summer camp meant for girls ages 10 to 17 to develop musical skills and form their own band.

“Having a space for young women to play music so freely is really important, so the money goes into a scholarship fund as well,” Kasper said. “That way, a girl who normally wouldn’t be able to go to that camp can go.”

Kasper said she’s appreciative of how supportive the community has been of her and Grrl Fest over the past four years and described the payoff of all of her hard work as “the best feeling.”

“People buying art and records, bands coming up to me and telling me how great of a time they’ve had, all that stuff’s really great,” Kasper said. “It makes me happy knowing that other people are having fun and we’re raising money for a good cause.”

*Cover photo of Allison Kasper via Nate Packard