Carrie Underwood Fans
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Women in Country Music
- Thread starter Momin
- Start date
Farawayhills
Well-known member
Carrie's stellar performance at Glastonbury was a standout from any perspective - but it's also worth a thank you to the others who gave our music such a good representation at this festival. Sheryl Crow (fresh from the bitter blow of the loss of her masters, demos and outakes in the universal music fire) gave a very strong set, as usual from this great artist
https://twitter.com/bbcglasto/status/1144942339468738560
(And by the way, that is Fred Eltringham, ACM Drummer of the Year in 2017, and a previous tourist with the Dixie Chicks, the Wreckers, among others, banging the skins behind Sheryl)
Also a special shout out to Northern Ireland's own Catherine McGrath, making her debut here at 21, with a set on the acoustic stage
https://twitter.com/bbcglasto/status/1144942339468738560
(And by the way, that is Fred Eltringham, ACM Drummer of the Year in 2017, and a previous tourist with the Dixie Chicks, the Wreckers, among others, banging the skins behind Sheryl)
Also a special shout out to Northern Ireland's own Catherine McGrath, making her debut here at 21, with a set on the acoustic stage
Momin
Well-known member
To add to your post Faraway, Rolling Stone has posted an article on the recent all-female lineup at the LakeShake Festival. I'm putting some parts in bold that I found particularly interesting:
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/women-in-country-music-lakeshake-festival-852932/
It’s a few minutes after gates have opened for day one of Chicago’s LakeShake Festival and Rachel Wammack is sitting backstage surrounded by small trailers: ones for Lindsay Ell, Cassadee Pope, Lauren Alaina, Maren Morris and a shared one for Miranda Lambert and the Pistol Annies. This is an unusual sight — at any given country music festival, you’d be lucky to find the presence of two women on the male-dominated stages. But today is different. The entire lineup, from start to finish, is made up of female artists.
“I think we’re making history,” says Wammack. Though she’s new to the festival and touring circuit, Wammack’s already seen how being a female artist immediately puts her in the minority. According to the online initiative Book More Women, which charts gender representation across all genres of music, country festivals tend to be around 25% women, with women barely ever holding a headlining spot. Many are worse than that. Seattle’s 100.7 the Wolf’s Throwdown, set for September 1st, is pretty typical: just Alaina among names like Cole Swindell, Chase Rice and Jordan Davis.
At its core, country’s male domination of summer festivals and tours is a byproduct of the lack of airplay for women on country radio. If female artists aren’t charting hits (or charting at all), they don’t have the familiarity that makes them favorable for booking. But it’s a chicken-and-the-egg scenario, too. If women aren’t on those stages, they have trouble building the fan base and name recognition needed to motivate programmers to play their music.
Live Nation, who books LakeShake and designed the all-women day, is not immune to criticism either. Its popular Country Megaticket campaign, which allows fans to buy a pass that gets them into a series of shows throughout the summer, is made up of those male-headlining tours from Bryan, Jason Aldean, Rhett and Florida Georgia Line. Still, Live Nation remains the only large promoter to take considerable steps toward gender parity. In March, they hired industry veteran Ali Harnell to lead Women Nation, their new female-focused division, and curated LakeShake’s Friday lineup, which is a significant step toward raising the profile of up-and-coming female artists. Fans who bought a three-day ticket to see LakeShake headliners Bryan and Keith Urban were also able to take in music from women they’ve never before heard on the radio. For the performers themselves, it was a chance to be in an environment they’ve never had the luxury to experience.
For [women] artists, their primary concern is to be evaluated solely on merit, which cannot be realized until equality is achieved.
“Sometimes we’re the only woman on the bill,” says Ell. “So it’s so nice to walk backstage and see all these women I look up to. To not be the minority for the day.”
For these artists, their primary concern is to be evaluated solely on merit, which cannot be realized until equality is achieved. “Women deserve more of a platform, and meritology doesn’t apply: you can’t acquire merits without being put in a position to acquire them,” Brandi Carlile told Rolling Stone back in January, talking about her own all-women Girls Just Wanna Weekend festival. She told a story about how, when she was growing up, the local gay pride parade switched its location from “gay street to straight street” — essentially, from queer-friendly Broadway in Seattle’s Capitol Hill to the city’s downtown. At first, she hated losing her comfortable corner of the world, but the battle for any kind of equality is never comfortable. “Yes, we don’t want to hear the words ‘female singer-songwriter’ ever again,” she said. “But we have to use it right now. Because we need representation. In the end, we’re going to get off Broadway and be on Main Street.”
But getting there requires more people willing to do the work instead of just paying lip service. It’s about booking women on tours, like Lambert, Kacey Musgraves and Carrie Underwood are all doing, as well as a few men like Dierks Bentley, who has Tenille Townes as an opener and Morris as a headliner of his Seven Peaks Festival this Labor Day weekend. Writing with women and playing women on the radio also help move the needle. “It’s obviously being talked about. I think that’s rule No. 1: Get people talking about it,” Luke Bryan told members of the press during this year’s CMA Fest. But it’s only Cole Swindell and Jon Langston who are opening Bryan’s summer tour.
“I hope the talk ends,” Alaina says on the phone a few days before she headed to LakeShake. “I hope there is enough change that we don’t have to keep having the conversation.”
Such a change is essential to country’s future. Almost every female artist that Rolling Stone Country spoke to at LakeShake detailed the crucial years when they were children, in their parents’ car, hearing women like Trisha Yearwood, Shania Twain, and Reba McEntire come through the speakers. Alaina shouts out this experience from the stage during her new single “Ladies in the ’90s.” “I only get on stage every night because I grew up in a time when those women were heard,” she says. “If this problem doesn’t resolve itself, there will be no girls who feel like they can make a career out of this.”
Pope agrees. “All those girls in the crowd who are aspiring singers are going to see us and be inspired,” she says. “Some of them are growing up and saying, ‘Hey, I don’t know if I should do this whole music thing, because it seems pretty hard to break though.’ A day like today really gives a lot of people encouragement.”
Fans at LakeShake last Friday saw exactly what women are capable of. Ell blazed through Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered,” proving herself one of the best guitarists in country music. Pope belted “Wasting All These Tears” with emo-twang grit and had audiences singing along to every word. And Rita Wilson wowed with personal songs and her Tom Ford-designed Nudie-style suit, illustrating how country music is for everyone, even those from Hollywood.
“I think individual people are [doing the work],” Wilson said backstage before her set. “The issue is the people in positions of power that are able to and need to hire women, put them on the radio, put them in positions of power.”
LakeShake also underscores that while the music coming from men who dominate the country charts seems to benefit from sameness — it’s often hard to distinguish one rising male artist from the next on the radio — women artists boast a diversity of sound. Onstage on Friday, the Pistol Annies’ spitfire country and the blues-tinged songs of Clare Dunn juxtaposed nicely with the anthemic pop of Morris.
“Draw your comparisons, tryin’ to find who’s lesser than,” she sang in “Girl.” “I don’t wanna wear your crown, there’s enough to go around.” It was a stunning moment, with the audience singing along so loudly that she barely needed to do much more than lead them along on guitar.
If Morris’ set helped debunk the myth that “women don’t want to hear women,” Lambert’s performance all but obliterated it. Songs like “Vice,” “Little Red Wagon,” and her new tune “Locomotive,” along with a few with the Pistol Annies, were devoured by the audience, female and male fans alike.
The way Lambert sees it, women in country music are undeniably unique.
“We’re completely different artists,” she says. “The only thing we have in common is that we are female, and we’re under the country format. Everybody offers something different.”
Which Lambert and the main stage roster of women — Morris, Pope, Ell, Alaina — exemplified with a show-closing cover of U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” each woman putting their own spin on their respective line. As the night ended, it was clear that LakeShake is a step in the right direction, a rare admission by the industry that a problem exists and that it’s worth taking steps — even imperfect ones — to right the ship.
Farawayhills
Well-known member
Thaks Momin, that's a good article (by Marissa R Morris, who is a strong advocate of women performers and the difficulties they face). It's also worth posting the video of some of them performing the U2 cover at the end. You can see that not all of them are very familiar with the song, but it's become something of a signature cover for Miranda, performed at several of her concerts (and they are accompanied there by her guitarist, Gerry Boo Massey)/ I think it bears out her comment that so many of the women performing are very different in style - more truly unique in what they bring to the mix than the more generic material that tends to dominate the radio charts.
Farawayhills
Well-known member
I'm posting this video because I love it so! It's "Kentish Town Waltz" by Rockabilly revivalist, Imelda May. Besides Imelda's nostalgic vocal, her song expresses both the joys and the hardships of newcomers crossing the water, to find their place in the big city, and the video captures the feel of a time and place - the vibrant but sometimes bleak night life in the North London suburbs. Much of the footage shows real scenes in Kentish Town, including the Forum, built as a cinema, which later became an important venue for Rock 'n' Roll, Bluegrass and Irish music.
Momin
Well-known member
I don't post these updates as regularly as I intend to but for what it's worth, here's what's happening with women:
#5 Maren Morris - "Girl"
#12 Lindsay Ell (featured on Brantley Gilbert's song) - "What Happens in a Small Town"
#13 Runaway June - "Buy My Own Drinks"
#14 Carrie Underwood - "Southbound"
#24 Carly Pearce - "Closer to You"
#27 Tenille Townes - "Somebody's Daughter"
#36 Trisha Yearwood - "Every Girl In This Town"
Steven77536
Member
Whoever made that comment on the 1993 show, I second that. There should be another one, with Lauren Alaina, Kelsea Ballerini, Danielle Bradbery, Suzy Bogguss, Cam, Deana Carter, Terri Clark, Claire Dunn, Sara Evans, Lindsay Ell, Crystal Gayle, Mickey Guyton, Faith Hill, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Jana Kramer, Alison Krauss, Patty Loveless, Loretta Lynn, Maddie and Tae, Ashley McBryde, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Maren Morris, Lorrie Morgan, Kacey Musgraves, Carly Pearce, Kellie Pickler, Pistol Annies, Dolly Parton, RaeLynn, LeAnn Rimes, Runaway June, Kaili Shorr, Pam Tillis, Shania Twain, Tanya Tucker, Carrie Underwood, Gretchen Wilson, Wynonna and Trisha Yearwood. How's that for girl power?
Reba and Dolly weren't even at the 1993 show.
Reba and Dolly weren't even at the 1993 show.
Steven77536
Member
Add Connie Smith, Lee Ann Womack, Kathy Mattea, Jeanie Seely, Cassadee Pope, and Mary Chapin Carpenter to that list.
I found this on YouTube. It's the finale from the 93 show. 26 years later, these ladies are now considered legends. So, yes, I think they could do it again, with a finale like this.
https://youtu.be/pYX6b-9o5p0
I found this on YouTube. It's the finale from the 93 show. 26 years later, these ladies are now considered legends. So, yes, I think they could do it again, with a finale like this.
https://youtu.be/pYX6b-9o5p0
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Momin
Well-known member
The Highwomen have announced their self-titled debut album and released the first song called "Redesigning Women". It's music video is supposed to premiere in a few hours. I can't find the song on YouTube though. So I'm posting a Spotify link for everyone to listen. This is giving me Pistol Annies feels.
https://open.spotify.com/track/2XhiUG5cGOkiFsdPLMKV4z?si=q4bCJOFOSF-2pYoWrDkv5w
https://open.spotify.com/track/2XhiUG5cGOkiFsdPLMKV4z?si=q4bCJOFOSF-2pYoWrDkv5w
Momin
Well-known member
#11 Carrie Underwood - "Southbound"
#12 Runaway June - "Buy My Own Drinks"
#15 Lindsay Ell (featured on Brantley Gilbert's song) - "What Happens in a Small Town"
#29 Miranda Lambert - "It All Comes Out in the Wash"
#40 Trisha Yearwood - "Every Girl In This Town"
Fallen and falling:
Maren Morris - "Girl"
Carly Pearce - "Closer to You"
Tenille Townes - "Somebody's Daughter"
Farawayhills
Well-known member
Tanya changes the perspective, with some new lyrical touches in the second verse, from that of a girl returning to her childhood home, remembering her parents care for the house, to that of the mother herself, remembering what she did, and seeing her children leave home. Tanya herself is a mother, and this suits her more mature perspective on life
The chorus has always been about the alienation felt when the narrator contrasts the memories of home with the broken world she now encounters. However, this can be interpreted on both a personal level, and as a metaphor for a generally broken society. Miranda has been called a "sly radical", and the dual meaning probably helped her attraction to the song - but I think her version particularly emphasized the fact that the house and the details in the lyrical were so reminiscent of her own childhood. That also suited her age at the time she sang, and the expectations of many of her fans. However, since the song first came out, the writers, Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin, used the song in a sequence they developed around the 2016 election, which I think shifted the interpretation more to emphasize the latter sense. Tanya will probably have that in mind - parts of her album will reflect wider social issues (as we saw in the devastating "Wheels of Laredo", newly written by Brandi Carlile and the Hanseroth Twins).
Putting the two aspects together, this results in a very interesting and powerful take on the song.
The chorus has always been about the alienation felt when the narrator contrasts the memories of home with the broken world she now encounters. However, this can be interpreted on both a personal level, and as a metaphor for a generally broken society. Miranda has been called a "sly radical", and the dual meaning probably helped her attraction to the song - but I think her version particularly emphasized the fact that the house and the details in the lyrical were so reminiscent of her own childhood. That also suited her age at the time she sang, and the expectations of many of her fans. However, since the song first came out, the writers, Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin, used the song in a sequence they developed around the 2016 election, which I think shifted the interpretation more to emphasize the latter sense. Tanya will probably have that in mind - parts of her album will reflect wider social issues (as we saw in the devastating "Wheels of Laredo", newly written by Brandi Carlile and the Hanseroth Twins).
Putting the two aspects together, this results in a very interesting and powerful take on the song.
Momin
Well-known member
This week's update:
#7 Carrie Underwood - "Southbound"
#10 Runaway June - "Buy My Own Drinks"
#12 Lindsay Ell (featured on Brantley Gilbert's song) - "What Happens in a Small Town"
#24 Miranda Lambert - "It All Comes Out in the Wash"
#27 Maren Morris - "Girl"
#36 Trisha Yearwood - "Every Girl In This Town"
*NEW* #46 Caylee Hammack - "Family Tree"
*NEW* #47 Gone West - "What Could've Been"
*RE-ENTER* #50 Sheryl Crow, Stevie Nicks, Maren Morris - "Prove You Wrong"
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Farawayhills
Well-known member
^^ An awesome song and performance. Brandi has really helped to bring out a whole new chapter in Tanya's career with these new songs. There is a thread on the new album - which is surely a contender for album of the year, at least for me.
Meanwhile, Cracker Barrel have arranged this new performance of Tanya's first hit, "Delta Dawn", as part of a series celebrating five decades of women in Country. "Delta Dawn" was co-written by Larry Collins, who himself achieved teenage fame as an early Rockabilly star from the Oklahoma emigration to California. Tanya was only 13 when she recorded that song, insisting on choosing it instead of the cosy "girl next door" songs that her producer originally wanted.
In this new performance Tanya is joined by Brandi Carlile, and Tenille Townes - the sweet and talented Canadian newcomer, signed by Sony, who's been on tour with Miranda, and has already had some chart success with "Somebody's Daughter". I think Tenille has a vocal quality that reminds me somewhat of Tanya's. After this performance, she tweeted "I’ll never forget this day as long as I live. What an honour standing in that circle with you two!!!"
Meanwhile, Cracker Barrel have arranged this new performance of Tanya's first hit, "Delta Dawn", as part of a series celebrating five decades of women in Country. "Delta Dawn" was co-written by Larry Collins, who himself achieved teenage fame as an early Rockabilly star from the Oklahoma emigration to California. Tanya was only 13 when she recorded that song, insisting on choosing it instead of the cosy "girl next door" songs that her producer originally wanted.
In this new performance Tanya is joined by Brandi Carlile, and Tenille Townes - the sweet and talented Canadian newcomer, signed by Sony, who's been on tour with Miranda, and has already had some chart success with "Somebody's Daughter". I think Tenille has a vocal quality that reminds me somewhat of Tanya's. After this performance, she tweeted "I’ll never forget this day as long as I live. What an honour standing in that circle with you two!!!"
Momin
Well-known member
Haven't done this in two weeks so here goes:
#5 Carrie Underwood - "Southbound"
#9 Runaway June - "Buy My Own Drinks"
#12 Lindsay Ell (featured on Brantley Gilbert's song) - "What Happens in a Small Town"
#20 Miranda Lambert - "It All Comes Out in the Wash"
#33 Trisha Yearwood - "Every Girl In This Town"
*NEW* #38 Ingrid Andress - "More Hearts Than Mine"
#41 Caylee Hammack - "Family Tree"
#43 Gone West - "What Could've Been"
Momin
Well-known member
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/chely-wright-coming-out-opry-873928/
I'm so glad the Opry invited her back. We definitely need more representation and change with the times.
I'm so glad the Opry invited her back. We definitely need more representation and change with the times.