POLL of Many Colors - ILM Artists Poll #117 - Women of Country Music

It's a graver ancestor of Gretchen Wilson and Miranda Lambert's gunpowder-and-lead stuff.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/independence-day-martina-mcbride-real-meaning-855248/

So many fantastic songs being shared ITT. It's going to be super hard to narrow down the ballot to just 30 tracks. Could easily fill up the ballot with tracks from Lucinda, Gillian Welch, Miranda Lambert, and Emmylou ... Could we increase the tracks ballot to 50 tracks??

Like leaving it vulnerable to such oh just let my people have guns (husband too), rather than say she escapes in car, looking in rear view rather than big boom solution---would seem like better way to go---

xps

ok absolutely not endorsing sean fucking hannity here but

if these songs don't move you, you are made of some unmoveable substance and I am not sure I can relate to you

They do move me, but

ok dow, you do you.

I am currently in a headspace where I want to be moved, in the way that these songs move me. But I also know I need to calibrate the dosage. Not enough and my life is bland. Too much, and I want to just curl up with the feelz.

Getting the right balance is tricky.

That should read 00s, not 10s.

Keyes, which artists do you have in mind when you say that? I'm sure it's true. It's only in the last few years that I've really been trying to catch up on so much of the genre that I missed.

― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Wednesday, March 1, 2023 11:45 AM (forty-nine minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I really considered the late 90s/00s a golden era. There was so much good alt-country each year with Uncle Tupelo/Wilco, Drive-By Truckers/Jason Isbell, Ryan Adams/Whiskeytown, Old 97s, Lydia Loveless, JTE, Neko Case, Waco Bros, Bloodshot in general... and the emergence of The Chicks, Miranda Lambert, Taylor Swift. Also had legends like Dwight Yoakam, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Lucinda Williams, et al. putting out some of the finest stuff of their long careers.

So many fantastic songs being shared ITT. It's going to be super hard to narrow down the ballot to just 30 tracks. Could easily fill up the ballot with tracks from Lucinda, Gillian Welch, Miranda Lambert, and Emmylou ... Could we increase the tracks ballot to 50 tracks??

― that's not my post, Wednesday, March 1, 2023 12:37 PM (thirteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Feel free to post your top 50 but I'd like to keep it to 30 for the sake of keeping this manageable in a relatively short amount of time. Hoping you all submit ballots!

xpost Golden Era ^OTM

A gem from the early 00s. This is the song I immediately hear in my head when I think of Neko Case

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScT9eo5cljk

Where does this mean world cast its cold eye
Who's left to suffer long about you
Does your soul cast about like an old paper bag
Past empty lots and early graves
Those like you who lost their way
Murdered on the interstate
While the red bells rang like thunder

Another shout-out to Indexed for running this. So much fabulous material here; regardless of the poll results it's an enjoyable exercise.

Xpost Catherine Irwin. She sang most of the leads in Freakwater. If you like her voice and approach, highly recommend Freakwater’s Springtime lp which I mentioned upthread.

― that's not my post, Tuesday, February 28, 2023 10:11 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

So this is pushing every button I have. Thank you for the recommendation!

Also should have mentioned Songs:Ohia/Magnolia Electric Co./Jason Molina in my 'golden era' post.

awesome, very into this. I think most of those 50M listen's for Jo Dee Messina that were mentioned up thread are my wife and I listening to Alright & Bye-Bye over and over again. Will definitely vote independence day. Also Shania for sure, No One Needs To Know is sometimes my favourite song ever.

some other tracks worth voting for...

Love Is - Emmylou Harris
This is better than the Matapedia version that Kate & Anna recorded.

Where No One Stands Alone - Asleep at the Wheel
I assume that when Chris O'Connell signs AATW songs count?

Change of Heart - The Judds
Years - Barbara Mandrell
Queen of Hearts - Juice Newton
Right in Time - Lucinda Williams
Roll Um Easy - Linda Ronstadt
She's In Love With the Boy - Trisha Yearwood
Stuck Like Glue - Sugarland

Does Tennessee Waltz by Patti Page count or is that too pop? I would vote Someday Soon as well, but probably the Judy Collins version even if the Canadian in my feels I should vote Ian & Sylvia.

My Chicks song of choice is Easy Silence
Before He Cheats is a 2000s classic of course, Redneck Woman would get my vote too.

For more modern tracks I would definitely rep for Compass by Lady A, Half Broke Heart that was mentioned upthread, my favourite Maren Morris is Once, Day Drinking by LBT, Tuxedo by Clare Dunn and The Weight of These Wings might just be my favourite overall album by a female country singer ever.

Great post, Will! The late 70s-early 90s is probably where I need to do the most catching up. Added all of your suggestions, everything else mentioned today, and my Emmylou Harris track of choice to the spreadsheet, "Easy from Now on," a Susanna Clark & Carlene Carter tune that Lambert also did a killer cover of on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. I considered "Jordan," but it's maybe too indebted to Johnny Cash and will be voting for Roses in the Snow anyhow.

re

she escapes in car, looking in rear view

Chely Wright's note to self, ca. 1997:

And I had to break your heart to make you see
That he's the one who will be missing you
And you'll only miss the man
That you wanted him to be
Shut up and drive
Don't look in the mirror
Turn the radio on
Get out of here
Shut up and drive
Shut up and drive
Shut up and drive

Don't know her albums from that era, but 2010 Crowell-produced Lifted Off The Ground brought a new country pop btw-gay mainstream; 2016's Joe Henry-producedI Am The Rain takes introspection further, in a good way, w some Crowell, Emmylou, Milk Carton Kids backing vox.

More heavy tunes …

Iris DeMent - No Time To Cry (her voice kills me)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfyqbkuV_e8

Reba McEntire - Fancy (mentioned upthread. It’s a Bobbie Gentry song. Also will fill in blind spots for 80s country)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zplc4Ienkws

One of Merle Haggard's best late performances is his DeMent cover.

Any mention of Allison Moorer yet? Here's one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mOdh9-g5l8

"The Hardest Part" was one of my fave albums at the time (2000).

to skeptics of early '90s country I submit

Mary Chapin Carpenter singing "He Thinks He'll Keep Her"
featuring:
Suzy Boggus
Patty Loveless
Pam Tillis
Trisha Yearwood
Kathy Mattea
Emmylou Harris

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH2hzModqCk

I just discovered Lari White. She passed away a few years ago. Neo-Traditionalist. Her first album was produced by Rodney Crowell. This video is, uh, pretty insane:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K1gknVDPeE

^ I'm such a sucker for uptempo dance hall stuff like this. Per Wikipedia: ""Wild at Heart" subject to controversy due to its music video. Said video was withdrawn from CMT and The Nashville Network after only a month due to protests from mental health organizations." Sadly don't see the album on Spotify but the opening track with Shelby Lynne & Trisha Yearwood is also a total stomper:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMsvHPFVsto

Any Kasey Chambers fans? 1999's The Captain has a number of quality tunes. My favorite is probably "You Got the Car":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Noc8BSQZF4

The record she did with Shane Nicholson in 2008 Rattlin' Bones is a more even listen, going back to great male/female duet records. Try "Wildflower" for a taste:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30bqMc0LldE

A couple years prior Caitlin Cary of Whiskeytown found a Ryan Adams sound-alike in Thad Cockerell and released one of my favorite country albums of the era, Begonias. Highly recommend it to anyone who likes perfect male/female harmonies and/or the early 00s alt-country sound.

^Two Different Things off Begonias is such a great tune

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYvKAYKlsv4

I like Kasey Chambers, and "You Got the Car" is absolutely my favorite. I like that whole album, really. The one after it was pretty good, then I kind of stopped paying attention. I also love "We're All Gonna Die Someday."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_oqQ0evQ0U

I missed La Ronstadt's Canciones de Mi Padre the first time around, but amazed by 2022 Deluxe Edition (the bonus track is "Lagos Azul," casting off at the end of a musical evening for the Sea of Dreams, since bayous ain't blue on this side, unless some kind of spill/dump). Wondering about Latina country inclusions on my ballot---maybe this, something by Eva Ybarra y Los Conjuntos---I'm sure the xpost Mollys knew all about her---Rosie Flores, Tish Hinojosa, Carrie Rodriquez? Did Selena ever do any Tejana country pop?

Pointless digression: for some reason, my mother thought it was important to match dinner music with dinner.

When we had Chinese food she always played the Last Emperor soundtrack. Pasta? Moonstruck.

Whenever we had tacos, she would inevitably put on Cantonese di mi Padre, and I cannot shake those associations to this day.

Fuck autocucumber. Canciones di mi Padre.

Cantonese di mi Padre would work for a Chinese/Mexican fusion record, though. And the resulting moo shu burritos

I’ve got a track list narrowed down to about 80…

I like Kasey Chambers, and "You Got the Car" is absolutely my favorite. I like that whole album, really. The one after it was pretty good, then I kind of stopped paying attention. I also love "We're All Gonna Die Someday."

― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Thursday, March 2, 2023 4:47 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Same. Learned yesterday that she has been quite a force of nature in Australian radio. Per wikipedia:

Five of her twelve studio albums have reached No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart, Barricades & Brickwalls (September 2001), Wayward Angel (May 2004), Carnival (August 2006) Rattlin' Bones (April 2008) and Dragonfly (January 2017). In November 2018 she was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame and has won an additional fourteen ARIA Music Awards with nine for Best Country Album. Kasey Chambers has most wins with 9 awards from 9 nominations, more than any other artist or band in this category.

I'd only ever really listened to Mountain Soul (a classic) and am getting caught up on the rest of Patty Loveless's catalog. Rather uneven but the hits sure hit.

Wild that we've gotten over 200 posts deep and no one's mentioned Jessi Colter. Her 70s stuff wasn't on streaming for a long time, so she may have slipped from the public consciousness, but it's there now so get hip.

Speaking of Jessi Colter that Sammi Smith record He’s Everywhere that was outlaw adjacent too is really great.

By the way, for those of you who like vinyl, almost all this stuff (60s-80s) can still be had for dirt cheap!

Some albums from the last 5 years that I haven’t seen mentioned. Maybe hard to crack a top 30 for some folks but all worth checking out!

2017 - Natalie Hemby: Puxico (track: Time Honored Tradition)
2019 - Lillie Mae: Other Girls (track: Other Girls)
2020 - Waxahatchee: St Cloud (track: Lilacs)
2021 - Margo Cilker: Pohorylle (track: Tehachapi)
2022 - SG Goodman: Teeth Marks (track: When You Say It)

And while I probably won’t nominate her (very good) albums, I’m considering two tracks from Erin Rae, “Putting on Airs” and “Modern Woman”.

2020 - Waxahatchee: St Cloud (track: Lilacs)

I almost forgot about that album - that will definitely get a vote from me.

Everything Waxahatchee did for the 7-8 years prior to St Cloud was average or just above average but her turn toward country was inspired—easily my favorite album of the 20s so far.

Great picks pgwp. I really love Puxico but the more recent Hemby album wasn't as successful for me, as she tried to make the jump from songwriter to star. I'm considering her for my artists ballot though, given Puxico, The Highwomen, and her incredible catalog of songs (some of my favorites: Lambert's "Fine Tune," "Girls," "Smokin & Drinkin," and "Ugly Lights"; Jon Pardi's "Heartache Medication"; Kacey Musgraves' "Butterflies," "Velvet Elvis," and "Rainbow"; Kelly Clarkson's "Don't Rush"; Little Big Town's "Pontoon").

Speaking of The Highwomen and more recent records, Maren Morris's HERO is worth a mention. It's big pop hooks and cross-over appeal pair well with Cam's Untamed and Lambert's Platinum.

I’ve been meaning to try Hemby’s second album again, but my first impression was the same as yours - didn’t grab me nearly as much as Puxico. But I discovered both albums at about the same time so I feel like I didn’t really give the second one a fair shake.

Also didn’t realize she wrote “Fine Tune” which is one of my favorite Lambert songs.

Don't think Kelly Willis has been mentioned (!) who has a number of great albums both as a solo artist and with her (now ex?) husband Bruce Robison. Revisiting her self-titled album this morning, and it's great.

Her album "Translated From Love" was very good, as I remember

more albums:

Lydia Loveless- Somewhere Else

― INDEPENDENTS DAY BY STEVEN SPILBERG (President Keyes), Monday, February 27, 2023 2:44 PM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

May sneak onto my ballot

And I never did want you in my way well at least not every day
I never did want you to be mine
Well at least not all the time but
I wanna be on your mind
Well I wanna be on your mind
It feels like I'm gonna die if I can't talk to you
It feel like I'm gonna die only if you don't fill my wound up
But I feel like I'm gonna die either way
Feel like I'm gonna die either way
Feel like I'm gonna die
Whyyyyyyyyyyy

I like Kelly Willis, actually just listened to What I Deserve a month or two ago.

so i am trying to get my vote in before i leave on holiday, how are we handling the two iterations of the Carter Family/Mother Maybelle and the Sisters in the artist vote? Two separate groups?

Good question. I'm inclined to combine the Carter Family votes, but if anyone objects, let me know. There are others like The Judds/Wynonna where I'm torn. You can refer to the spreadsheet to see how I'm grouping things as of now:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wZG8IgHCDheS-83yJpnIQC0pu-cdciuZ9suKwPs0Q4E/edit#gid=0

alright! my vote is in, excited to see the results I should be back right when things start to roll out!

I've had King's Record Shop on vinyl for years so had never heard the bonus tracks before today when I played it on Spotify. "707" is a jam!

Looked and not only has the record never been polled here, Cash doesn't even have a dedicated thread? Hopefully this or the results thread can give us a place to discuss in years to come.

We have had four votes thus far, and you all have just over one week to get 'em in. Hoping to see ballots from all those who've chimed in here...