Rock N Roll Mamas/ is a documentary feature by award-winning filmmaker Jackie Weissman. Over the course of four years, Ms. Weissman followed several prominent indie music artists, including Kristin Hersh of *Throwing Muses *and Zia McCabe of *The Dandy Warhols* as well as the up-and-coming hip hop artist, *Ms. Su’ad*. The film captures these women’s tenuous balancing act between parenting and performing as they tour or gig with their families in tow.

Zia and company traverse Europe in a blitz of concerts, jet lag, and adjusting to new cities every day. Despite playing regularly to diehard audiences of 25,000 or more, with no money for a nanny on this tour, Zia struggles to find childcare for her two-year-old daughter during the 45-minute sets. Meanwhile, Kristin Hersh continuously tours the United States while supporting her own family, including her husband and manager Billy O’Connell, and three of her sons, ages 15, 10, and 4. The family carries on through an unpredictable, nomadic life until, after 10 hard years of financial and personal tragedies, they move to Kristin’s childhood home in Rhode Island and attempt to figure out a way to bring some stability to their life and work.

These better known artists are contrasted with rising hip hop MC, Ms. Su’ad. The film introduces Ms. Su’ad as a 21-year-old, self-proclaimed “urban superwoman”: single mother and legal assistant by day; underground hip hop MC by night. Four years later, Su’ad has experienced a series of set-backs, including losing her job and apartment and now faces a custody battle with her son’s father; however, she is fiercely determined to both keep her son, her “reason for everything”, and to share her story with other women who face similar struggles.

/Rock N Roll Mamas/ also features appearances by such respected rock critics/mothers as Ann Powers, chief pop culture critic for /The Los Angeles Times/ and coeditor of /Rock She Wrote,/ and Evelyn McDonnell, a former pop culture critic for The Miami Herald, author of /Mamarama: A Memoir of Sex, Kids, & Rock 'n' Roll/, and the coeditor of /Rock She Wrote/. / /

Rock N Roll Mamas is produced by Rock Mama Film, in partnership with Film Action Oregon.

Check out the trailer at the
Rock N Roll Mamas official website!

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