Celebrating musicians, innovators and campaigners, it was the first awards event we had ever been to where we all took part in a vocal warm-up, thanks to vocal coach Susan M. Carr author of The Art of Screaming! Musician and author of Guitar for Girls: A Beginner’s Guide to Playing Acoustic or Electric Guitar, Ali Handal got the crowd going with an acoustic set.

WiMN founder, the singer/songwriter and music PR Laura B. Whitmore was the brains behind the event, and proved a fabulous host.

She handed the first award to Holly Knight. Grammy Award winner Holly is a songwriter, performer and producer who has worked with a host of amazing artists including Tina Turner (writing “The Best”), and Aerosmith, and was nominated into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame 2013. She was awarded the ”Mad Skills” trophy for her all round talent, and gave a rousing acceptance speech.

Holly said she grew up listening to a wide range of music from classical and jazz to Ravi Shankar and discovered rock on her own, listening to bands such as The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd - though she was most influenced by Queen. She revealed some of her writing secrets. She is a keyboard player but writes mostly on guitar and bass.

Holly paid tribute to the new breed of women guitarists who can hold their own ‘just fine’. She said they should be judged for qualities such as musicianship and performance, not on being good ‘for a girl’. But there is still a way to go when it comes to recording studios.

Next up for being honoured was the young star Orianthi, an Australian prodigy who first played guitar at the age of six. She went on to share a stage with Prince, and record her own albums, with a new one “Heaven In This Hell” coming out in March. She is currently lead guitarist in Alice Cooper’s band. Orianthi was delighted to accept the “Inspire Award” and she cast her mind back to previous NAMM Show visits earlier in her career.

She played her signature PRS guitar at the event, and signed one which was donated by PRS to be auctioned to raise money for Women’s Music Summit scholarships.

Orianthi also paid tribute to her sponsors TC Electronic and Dean Markley too.

Laura Whitmore then introduced Tish Ciravolo, the founder of Daisy Rock Guitars, who has “rocked stages all over the country”, and presented her with the “Vision Award”. Tish is a bass player and currently in punk band sASSafrASS. Her company Daisy Rock had a host of female artists performing for them at NAMM and have recently signed up Kate Nash. Tish outlined the philosophy behind her guitars.

Next up was an “Icon Award” for Mary Peavey President of Peavey Amps, and a force behind after school education programmes. Mary is an arts and education advocate and music-industry executive, on the Mississippi Arts Commission’s Board of Commissioners and is a Board Member of the national Afterschool Alliance. She also plays a key role in producing the annual “Mississippi Grammy Legacy Celebration,” the state has produced more winners and nominees per capita than any other.

Mary praised the many women who make Peavey Amps in the US factory.

Mary gave a very funny acceptance speech, culminating in the unforgettable line:

There was a “Champion Award” for Guitar Center’s Laura Taylor. Laura is Senior Vice President of Operations, and is spearheading the Women In Music initiative at this huge US retailer to make things more female-friendly, through promotions, staff training and new publicity material.

Two surprise awards thrilled unsuspecting guests. The first was an “Endurance Award” for the founder of ROCKRGRL magazine, the first national publication for female musicians in the United States, and also founder of MEOW – Musicians for Equal Opportunities for Women, Carla DeSantis Black. Carla is a music and life coach and has organized the first MEOW convention in Austin, TX, in October with the legend that is Suzi Quatro, the first female bass player to become a major rock star. The most memorable Musicians’ quotes from ROCKRGRL have recently been turned into a book, GRLTalk.

The final award was the “Next Generation” award which went to the powerhouse that is Pauline France of Fender. Pauline is a guitar player and teacher and the force behind Girl Rock Nation. Laura described her as “a woman who works tirelessly to do the right thing,” and “an inspiration for young women joining our industry.”

Pauline paid tribute to all the women who had supported her over the years, including her first guitar teacher in Mexico, Teresa Madiedo.

The event finished with a thrilling performance from Orianthi, Nik West and Brittany Maccarello which left the crowd screaming for more.

Nominations are already open for the 2014 She Rocks Awards - we can’t wait!

The 2013 awards were held in partnership with NewBay Media.