Proof Women in Country Are Kinda Slaying Right Now
It's hard to ignore the great things women in country music are doing in 2018, if you're looking in the right places. This week's episode of That's What She Said is all about it.
In a post-Tomatogate world (quick recap: radio consultant says female artists are the tomatoes in the salad that is the country playlist and men are the lettuce, more lettuce than tomatoes, etc. ... ) there are still just a handful of women in the country Top 40 at any given time, and that's still lame. But if you look for the best country albums, you'll discover that some of the most courageous, creative and bold artists are females. Thirty percent of Taste of Country's Best Albums of 2017 list was female, only to be topped by Rolling Stone Country (17 of 40) and Billboard (50 percent).
That hasn't changed in 2018, with albums from Ashley McBryde, Ashley Monroe and Kacey Musgraves all but guaranteed to make year-end lists. Cassadee Pope and RaeLynn are two more with great singles, and we haven't even talked about upcoming projects from Carrie Underwood and Maren Morris or exciting women bubbling just under the radar, like Kalie Shorr, Lainey Wilson and Morgan Myles.
During this week's episode of That's What She Said, host Ania Hammar digs into all the great music and what these country girls are doing to help each other. RaeLynn is this week's guest (at 2:08), and she shares first-hand experience about everything good happening for women in country today. Blaming is passé and unproductive. Positivity and support reach past obstacles. Shorr spoke to this at CRS in February, saying, "I think we talk so much about the negative examples … but I think so much needs to be said for the people that fight for it." Morris has also spoken about a culture of love and support that's beginning to dominate.
Two arguments dominate country music circles right now. The first is about women in country, and the second finds a group complaining about modern country music being either bland, heavily influenced by pop music or flat-out bad. Doesn't the solution seem obvious? Like Brooks & Dunn once said, if you wanna fix the radio, "Put a girl in it."
That's What She Said is a weekly YouTube show that lands every Friday morning-ish. Hammar talks fashion, wine, country music and wine. Because wine. Check it out and let us know what you liked in the comments section below.
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