Serendipity strikes again.
I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Nashville Noise by Coti Howell, and she had a post about Pandora announcing its country artists to watch for 2020.
There are 15 artists on the list, and I started checking out each one by going to YouTube and looking for some of their work.
As fortune would have it, one of the artist’s YouTube posts led me to something known as Song Suffragettes.
According to Wikipedia, Song Suffragettes is a weekly writer’s round held in Nashville, Tennessee featuring rotating female country artists. Song Suffragettes is a collective of female singer-songwriters who stand together in the face of systemic gender-disparity in the music industry.
Each round features five female songwriters who perform three songs each; the show ends with a cover performed by all five women. Founded by Todd Cassetty, the first show took place at 3rd & Lindsley Backstage on March 10, 2014. The round has since moved to The Listening Room Café, and shows are currently held every Monday night. Since its founding, over 250 performers have played the show, 40 performers have received publishing deals, and 16 performers have received record deals.
I’ve got a soft spot for female country artists, so Song Suffragettes was right up my alley.
While there are way too many videos of their weekly performances to go through here, I did come across a clever and wonderful set of performances from back in 2016.
On May 17, 2016, Song Suffragettes was part of an exclusive YouTube Pop-Up Space in Nashville, Tennessee. 15 Song Suffragettes were chosen, split into groups of three and given three hours to write a song; they then performed the songs that evening.
It was a chance for multiple artists to show off their creativity, along with their songwriting, singing, and performing skills.
Here are the five videos from that performance.
“Backseat Driver” by Trannie Stevens, Tiera, and Mignon Grabois
“Don’t Let Me Love You” by Maddy Newton, Jenny Ray, and Allison Veltz
“Harder To Do” by Lena Stone, Tenille Arts (I actually wrote about Tenille a few months ago), and Jessica Roadcap:
“Nothin’ New” by Lacy Green, Kalie Shorr, and Emily Landis:
“Drive” by Krysta Nick, Amber DeLaCruz, and Hailey Steele:
For each song, there is also a behind the scenes “Making Of” video that is entertaining, and educational, to watch.
So a big thank you to Song Suffragettes for this wonderful initiative of providing an opportunity for female artists to showcase their talents. I wish all of them the best for the New Year.
*image from The Country Note
Borden's Blather 
This is a great initiative.
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I look forward to Music Mondays and this did not disappoint. A wonderful story and initiative. And the songs you chose were great. I am amazed that these artists wrote these songs in three hours and through collaboration. What an uplifting post!
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it was a great example of teamwork and creativity, as well as a great initiative.
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In my country music class I learn that over the last two decades the number of women in country music have decreased a lot especially over the last few years and it’s not that there aren’t any talented female singers it’s just that they aren’t getting the opportunity and I think this is a great initiative to change that!
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I would have never guessed that – I would have thought just the opposite that more women are going into country music. Sounds like I need to take that course! And yes, the Song Suffragettes seems like a great initiative.
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Yeah I thought so too but it seems over time there are less women in country now then ever which I think is crazy because there are so many amazing female country artists out there!
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that’s unfortunate, because as you said, there are so many great role models for younger women who want to get into country music. Perhaps the Song Suffragettes are in the right place at the right time…
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These are great songs!
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and created in just three hours!
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