My brother likes to bug me about how much I like female singers. He likes to say that if there is a girl singing on a song I’m going to like it. Well, for the most part he is right. There are a lot of female artists that I like, but I’m not a feminist and I don’t like these artists on the simple fact that they are women.
When I was first getting into what I will refer to as good music, I was mostly listening to bands that had male singers. I love the male voice, and most male vocals are actually more in my singing range, but it really had to do with lyrics. It is sometimes hard to relate to male singers when you are a girl, especially when they are singing about being in love with some woman, and this became my reason to begin to search out female musicians.
Three female band/musicians that are among the first that I got into, and still listen to, are Sleater-Kinney, Kathleen Edwards, and Brandi Carlile. The thing that is really cool about these three is that they are different in so many ways, but at the same time have some similarities.
Sleater-Kinney was a hard hitting rock band that never had a short supply of roaring electric guitars, and heart stopping vocals. I first heard Sleater-Kinney when they opened for Pearl Jam back in 2005. I had picked up their latest album before the show and had loved it immediately. This was what I had been looking for, girls rocking out hard. The performance that they gave, the first and only time that I got to see them live, amazed me. I wanted to be Sleater-Kinney. I still remember the lights flashing to the beat of the drums during the song Entertain, it was exhilarating. After that I was sold, I had to find more women who could rock.
Kathleen Edwards isn’t quite as hard hitting as Sleater-Kinney, but she certainly can rock out. I had first heard of Kathleen Edwards from a combination of Much More Music and my brother. The first time I saw one on her videos on MMM, Hockey Skates I believe, I wasn’t impressed. She was different and it wasn’t love at first sight. I saw her play that year at a festival in Toronto and while I didn’t hate her, I also didn’t love her. It was my brother who convinced me to go see her the following winter, and I hate to admit that the only reason I agreed was because Joel Plaskett was opening for her. In the end it was her soft side that won me over, yes, it was the song Good Things. Good Things is one of those songs that I just got, it struck a chord for me and I’ve never been able to get over it. It is still one of favourite song of all times, and one that still brings me strength when I listen to it. Kathleen Edwards is now my favourite artist, and there are times that I feel like she wrote those songs just for me…not just the lyrics but the music as well. I don’t think that the songs would resonate so deeply with me if they were sung but a male voice.
Brandi Carlile was another opening act, this time for Train. This was one of the only times that I bought the CD of an opening act. Brandi was interesting to watch, she came out on stage and immediately I was drawn to her. She has great stage presence, and an amazing voice. Her songs are beautifully and thoughtfully written, and she doesn’t shy away from writing about tough subjects. When I am feeling bad I will put on Brandi Carlile and as soon as she starts to sing I know that I am not alone.
So, what do these women have in common you might ask? Well, they all can rock out, command a stage, write meaningful lyrics, write amazing music, and play their own instruments. These are the things that make me love the music that these women produce, but I also love that I can relate to them.
In the end the reason that I love female musicians/singers more is that it is nice to hear the thoughts and feelings that I have experienced, or will experience, being conveyed by a female. It is heartening to know what another woman went through, that she survived, and she is still kicking ass.
Some other female musicians that I love include: Tegan and Sara, Wild Flag, Joan Jett, The Runaways, The Ya Ya Yas, Feist, Rachel Yamagata, and Sam Phillips. Check some, or all, of them out, you will not regret it!
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