Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

When choosing music, I often gravitate toward female artists, and from discussion on these forums it seems that I am not alone. This thread will focus on

- possible causes and attributes of this phenomenon. Is it also true for women listeners? Is it just about the voice, or do the lyrics and personality of these artists play the bigger role? etc.

- critical discussion of albums, songs, lyrics, performances, or careers that are particularly memorable.

- other relevant topics that may come up in the flow of discussion.

Some guidelines:

- don't just throw out a name of an obscure artist and expect us to learn everything about her. Write a review, provide youtube links, discuss related music. Or better yet...

- don't add another artist to the mix when you still have things to say about ones we're currently discussing. This thread'll still be here tomorrow, and the best way to ruin it is to have too many disparate discussions starting up and dying.

- don't just say "X is hot" or "[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] X" unless you are adding this at the end of a 500-word post (1500 if you are Blarg).

Okay, let us gogogogo. I'll start my first addition soon, but I didn't want it to be part of the OP.

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

I will definitely be contributing to this thread.

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

For me, when it comes to "modern" music, I overwhelmingly favor male singers. That's not only because there have been more male bands out there. If you look at my playlist, I'll have many albums' worth of music for my favorite male bands, but I'll only have a few select tracks from the likes of Heart, Fleetwood Mac (actually mixed voices singing), and others. I don't have a good way to explain it, but in general, female rock singers just don't hit me in the same way the men do.

If you look at my jazz and blues playlist, though, the ratio of male to female singers is much closer to parity. There's a chance it favors the women, really, if you look strictly at the vocalist and vocal music and disregard the strictly instrumental stuff, but I haven't done any actual accounting. There are some songs I've heard done by both men and women, and many times I prefer the women. I again don't have a great explanation, but I think that in general, I women singing in this style suits me much more. Depending on how this thread goes, I might find myself contributing a fair bit or very little.

I suppose some of this might be exposure -- having heard more jazz ladies than rock ladies, but I've also gone out hunting for jazz ladies, but I haven't bothered much for the rock ladies. I'm curious if you guys will highlight a rock lady I latch onto.

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

Sara Brightman.

Anyone who has ever stood in Front of the Fountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas has probably heard what many people confuse as their theme song: It's Time to Say Goodbye. The song features Sara Brightman and Adreas Bocelli, the worlds two most famous pop-opera singers. Sara Brightman was born in Hertfordshire, England.

After gaining fame in dance troupes such as Hot Gossip, she turned her attention to musicals, ultimately landing a role in Cats, where she met and married Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. Lloyd Webber wrote music to showcase her talent, and Phantom of the Opera was born. She later divorced and began working pop-opera, cementing her success in yet another genre.

Her later albums are more poppy. It is hard to explain her voice and style. She has a high ethereal voice, fitting to the music she sings over, which at times is pure opera, other times lite-rock, and at other times electronic.

Discography:

Dive (1993): Excellent album featuring some of her best music. A water themed album featuring "Captain Nemo."
Fly (1995):
Time to Say Goodbye (1997): A fine collection of songs, featuring the title song.
Eden (1998):
La Luna (2000): I enjoy some of this album.
Classics (2001): A terrible album. Poorly produced featuring covers of classical music. A rare attempt at pure opera. If there was better music behind her, this album would have reached it's potential.
Harem (2003): I would suggest to any beginning listener to start with this album. It is featured and easily accessable on any music service, including Rhapsody and iTunes. It shows her range and interests, easy on the ears, yet energetic enough to keep you engaged.

wiki info

main home page

“Tell me more about Sarah ...”

It's a casual and simple enough request. However, attempts to respond invariably begin with a prolonged pause… as one tries to formulate a response that can meaningfully encapsulate the longevity, diversity and mystique of Sarah Brightman....

Time to Say Goodbye Video

Phantom

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english...5520507081.jpg

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

nice Sara Brightman post, and i love her work in Phantom...so I guess we'll let it go that she's not a "singer/songwriter." [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

Wookie, I hope you follow this thread closely. Almost everyone I do will be lesser known, and many of them will be rarities that never got their fair exposure. I was going to post a punk band to start, but decided to wait on them until I could compile something better.

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

daveT,

awesome. A model post for future entries.

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

I'll be the first (of what I assume will be many votes in support) to mention Eva Cassidy. Purely a singer (as far as I know), her voice is simply haunting and beautiful. I'm usually a big lyrics guy. Most songs I love I gravitate towards because of the lyrics. If I like a song because of it's melody, it's the melody of the song and not necessarily the singers voice (in fact, I can't think of any examples). With Eva, all the love is in the voice.
Fields of Gold
Over the Rainbow

I'm also a huge fan of Diana Krall. I'm not doing that great at naming singers/songwriters, as I'm pretty sure Diana doesn't write much of her own stuff (at least on her older recordings). I played piano forever and everything I did was classical. When I saw Diana play jazz piano, god, ten years ago when I was in high school, it made me extremely jealous and pissed that my teachers never opened the door to jazz. Specifically, this song. That got me to listen to her recordings, and her vocals just blow me away. Not gonna lie, most of it is because I think her voice is sexy as hell. Plus, her version of Joni Mitchell's A Case of You is defintely in my top ten songs to listen to.

If we were focusing on songwriting and not singing (or singing/songwriting), Joni Mitchell would be number one, but while I can stand her voice, it isn't my fav.

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

I'll start with my favorite artist evah, someone who's sure to generate discussion (by which I mean disagreement and irrationality).

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/2692/bjorkhu7.jpg

Björk

I avoided this girl for a long time, for all the common reasons: her songs seemed weird and counterintuitive, her albums covers were off-putting, and she had a reputation for being totally insane. Fortunately for me, she also had a reputation for quality music videos, and after I had watched a few I was intrigued.

(this is one from each of her first three albums to show you some variety. or just pick one randomly if you want.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOepheinkCM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8Z1MpcyqQU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5nNfbTS6N4

So this got me interested and I went through her albums chronologically. And it doesn't feel like I'm exaggerating when I say it was the music I had been waiting for my entire life. I was amazed to see that songs from 15 years ago could sound like they were from the future. Then of course, as happens with all albums, I started to focus less on the immediately catchy songs and more on the slower or stranger ones. Even better.

I realize I'm just saying this all without saying why, so I'll try to explain:
- Björk's voice is unique. And I'm talking old school 'unique,' one-of-a-kind, no adverbs needed. In ability and in performance.
- but it's not just the voice. She acts as writer and producer as well, and though you can throw most of her songs under the category of 'electronica' or 'alternative,' they're always one step ahead or above or sideways of everything else on this planet.
- most importantly, her music is unusual but it's not weird for the sake of being weird. Once you get into it, you can see moments of beauty and intelligence; you can see that it all makes perfect sense, just a different kind of sense than standard pop or electronic or 'alternative' music.

For the unitiated listener, I wouldn't recommend any special starting point besides just going through her albums chronologically, starting with Debut. It's a great introduction, and Post, Homogenic, and Vespertine are the real meat; each in a different style, and your favorite will be one of these. The later stuff is good, but not totally necessary.

I could write a lot more, and I will if anyone is interested, but this seems like enough for one post...

edit: whoa, can't let this go without a live performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVbR3g3Y7BA

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

Porter,

These are two women high on my list, although I have them in my jazz category. Admittedly, Eva Cassidy does branch into some modern songs, but my favorites are her jazz and blues tracks.

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

Excellent start, Kimbell.

I love Bjork. The only thing that I could add is that you can't understand her from just one song. You need to listen to her albums straight through and absorb the experience. I am amazed that she is as popular as she is with so little air play. She sold her persona well and let her music speak for herself.

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

zomg, I have heard very little of these first few. Time to get crackin' on YouTube.

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

[ QUOTE ]
Excellent start, Kimbell.

I love Bjork. The only thing that I could add is that you can't understand her from just one song. You need to listen to her albums straight through and absorb the experience. I am amazed that she is as popular as she is with so little air play. She sold her persona well and let her music speak for herself.

[/ QUOTE ]
Absolutely. I tried to shy away from the truly weird songs in my post, trying not to scare people, but it's true that you don't really know one until you know them all. "Pagan Poetry" only is as powerful as it is when it happens in its place on Vespertine, when it has that set-up of the songs before it. But when it does, wow.

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

I am so in love with her voice and songwriting talent (sorry if the image hotlink doesn't work):
http://content.answers.com/main/cont...ders_album.jpg
Chrissy Hynde of the Pretenders combines the ability to wrench your soul with the swaggering braggadocio of a young street tough. Blasting onto the scene in the late seventies The Pretenders were seeking to erase the bad taste in our mouths from a decade of "Torn Between Two Lovers" and "Billy Don't be a Hero", not to mention the horrors being perpetrated in discos across the globe. Moving seamlessly from ferocious cynicism in songs like "Tattooed Love Boys" and "The Adultress" to showing a softer side in songs like "Talk of the Town" and "Birds of Paradise" her songwriting is intensely emotional, personal and uncompromising. Meanwhile, she does not have a diva's voice but she knows precisely what her voice will do. Perhaps a tad limited in range but her voice is pure and sweet; from studio albums to concerts to TV appearances I have never heard her miss a note.

Unfortunately the deaths of Pete Farndon and Jim Honeyman-Scott extinguished a brilliance from the first two Pretenders albums that will never be captured again but the talent of Chrissy Hynde endures.

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

I must first disclose that I have zero musical talent/knowledge

Patricia Barber Jazz Singer/Songwriter/Pianist

A thinking mans Diana Krall if you will. Not that I dislike DK (The Girl in the Other Room is a great album) but I consider PB a cut above.

Supposedly she is quite the jazz pianist -- I can't comment on that (other then it sounds good to me), but I consider her lyrics to be her strong suit (see the excerpt from clues below).

I like most of her albums but Mythologies is probably my favorite. I am a bit of a headphone freak and will say that the production values on her albums seem to be pretty high.

I think she plays a weekly gig at the Green Mill in Chicago.

Some links to songs and webpages

http://www.patriciabarber.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricia_Barber

Blackbird
http://www.seeqpod.com/music/?q=sund...ng+coming+down

Some Youtube videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJcozquLttY

Presumably showcasing her ivory skillz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2JmkaBBwEc

Excerpt from Clues

the moment slips by in silence
like dying in your sleep
peripheral vision could save you if the movement weren’t so fleet
like the burning smell of flesh before the brain records the heat
the flash of an explosion the second before defeat

if truth could sound a warning instead of stealing in the night
if blunder would blaze like neon or a christmas tree with lights
if words spoken in certain sequence were outlined in black and white
would these clues forecast disaster within the ordinary life

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

Indigo Girls

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ndigoGirls.jpg

Amy Ray and Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls are an exceptional singer/songwriter duo. I wish that people would not feel the need to mention their sexual orientation every time, because their music is very good work. I am especially a fan of their older material, from Strange Fire to Swamp Ophelia. I personally own Nomads, Indians, Saints and Rites of Passage, and can recommend both as options for solid acoustic-based music.

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

Here's a post I made in EDF about Eva Cassidy. This is more of her bluesy or jazzy side, but these are some of my favorite tracks.

[ QUOTE ]
One absolute vocal monster who hasn't been mentioned yet is Eva Cassidy. It's a real shame she died young and before she really got the acclaim she deserves. She just kills on some of her recordings:

Wade in the Water -- this is pretty easily the best recording of this song that I've ever heard.

Honeysuckle Rose -- when it was written back in the early days of jazz, this was a fairly quick hot jazz number. I love her down-tempo change of pace.

Stormy Monday -- I can't honestly say that this is the best recording I've heard of this particular song. It's been done so many times by so many legends. However, she still hangs with them.

Time After Time

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm also going to add another that wasn't in my EDF post. Her recording of Songbird is a deeply moving track from her pop side. This track is a must-listen.

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

Kathleen Edwards, Canadian singer songwriter, born 1978.

Edwards is probably my favorite gal singer songwriter at the moment, as I love her voice, her lyrics, her melodies, hell just about everything. She's also a looker.

Her style is in that alt-country/folk-rock vein that I'm just gaga over.

She has two studio albums, Failer and Back to Me, as well as some EPs and a live recording. I have to thank 2+2er Whiskeytown for turning me on to her, and if I remember correctly, another 2+2er actually knows her!


some videos:

Back To Me

In State

Old Time Sake (live)

http://johnwmacdonald.com/Kathleen_Edwards_JWM_5230.jpg http://www.puremusic.com/assets20/47...en-edwards.jpg

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

I know about Eva Cassidy because of that other thread, Wook, and I thank you.

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

god, the Pretenders first two albums are spectacular. If you listened to them now, for the first time, you'd think it was from some new, hip group from the indie scene. I can't put on that first album without listening straight through, beginning to end.

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

Susie Suh

I first saw Susie Suh perform three years ago at an open mike before she was signed to Epic Records. From the first pick on her guitar, I knew I was going to hear something I never heard before. The crowd that was normally talkative became silent, mesmerized by the shear emotion and cadence of her haunting and beautiful voice.

Her music could be best described as vocal and rhythmic. Her songs are sad, speaking from a heart that may have been broken once to many times, but they could exist in no other way.

Unfortunately, her debut album does not capture the essence of what she becomes when she plays live. They decided to over-play the sadness of her songs, where the real beauty of her music lies in the power of her voice. When she plays live, she is powerful. On her album, she sounds whispery and withdrawn, though her power is found on "Seasons Change" and "All I want".

The short time I have talked to her, she is a quiet, nice girl: a person who forever sealed me as a fan. I was very happy to see that she was signed to Epic.

The name of her debut album is Susie Suh. I do like to listen to this album. It has a minimalist, jazzy style, perfect for easy listening, but not suggested if you have just listened to a rock anthem. I could see listening to this album while winding down after a long day, or as a background while talking with a significant other.

Links:

home page : Nothing too much here, but you get a sampler of all her songs.

myspace : with a few whole songs. Not her greatest ones though.

npr interview

wiki

http://media.npr.org/programs/wesun/...suhprimary.jpg

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

[ QUOTE ]
Indigo Girls

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ndigoGirls.jpg

Amy Ray and Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls are an exceptional singer/songwriter duo. I wish that people would not feel the need to mention their sexual orientation every time, because their music is very good work. I am especially a fan of their older material, from Strange Fire to Swamp Ophelia. I personally own Nomads, Indians, Saints and Rites of Passage, and can recommend both as options for solid acoustic-based music.

[/ QUOTE ]

I second the Indigo Girls. 1200 Curfews is easily one of my favorite live albums. Love their versions of Tangled Up in Blue, Midnight Train to Georgia, and a bootleg version of Paul Simon's American Tune (acapella(sp)). Also, their version of Dire Strait's 'Romeo and Juliet' is so power and so different than the original, it's fantastic.

I really dig their original stuff too. Some favorites: Strange Fire, Closer to Fine, Love's Recovery, Least Complicated, Virginia Woolf, Pushing the Needle Too Far, Ghost, Land of Canaan, Galileo.

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

Utada Hikaru /thread

http://youtube.com/watch?v=3fj_FqeNqaY

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

I'd like to request that people include links to YouTube videos or whatever else in their discussions of an artist/band. I'm much, much, much more likely to check someone out if I can just click a single link and hear their music without having to diddle around and track them down.

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

I love music threads, and this is a very good one.

Iris DeMent's voice is miraculous. Some of you may be turned off by the fact that her voice is as Southern as Southern gets, but DeMent is no redneck. Allmusic calls her "country-folk", which I guess is accurate. Allmusic bio - http://wm09.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?...iftxql5ldte~T1

Here is a more extensive biography from enotes - http://www.enotes.com/contemporary-m...iris-biography

And an interview - http://www.populist.com/4.97.dement.html

Live performance of "Our Town" with Emmylou Harris - http://youtube.com/watch?v=5v7dXA-LWVk

Country voice singing a gospel song - Iris DeMent and Joan Osborne with "He Reached Down". I hope the country/gospel combo doesn't cause 2+2 to crash. http://youtube.com/watch?v=WSsYJd5PxZo

Many female performers are over-produced. It seems like music companies are willing to put out "real" male voices, but scared to do it with women. Iris DeMent is for real - no frills. If you like better known, no-[censored] female singers - Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin, Mavis Staples - listen to Iris DeMent.

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

Lucinda Williams must enter this discussion. She is a truly unique artist who defies categorization. Her music is earthy and sensual.

If you have the opportunity to see her live by all means do so.

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

I saw Bjork for the first time live this summer at Rock En Seine and the show was awesome. She played Joga.
Her set was unbelievably elaborate and with crazy lights, costumed backup singers/instrumentalists, confetti, and that crazy computer/noisemaker thing, I felt like I was on acid. A good thing.

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

[ QUOTE ]
Lucinda Williams must enter this discussion. She is a truly unique artist who defies categorization. Her music is earthy and sensual.

If you have the opportunity to see her live by all means do so.

[/ QUOTE ]

Lucinda Williams is fantastic and deserves a longer post. Go for it.

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

(holy crap this is my longest post ever, sorry. just click the links if you don't want to bother).

Yeah, I too tend to gravitate towards female singer/songwriters.

Fiona Apple

Fiona Apple is my favorite artist.
I started listening to her in 2005 when her latest album, Extraordinary Machine, leaked in its bootleg form.
I had never really paid any attention to her, just knew that she had a hit with her song Criminal in the late 90s and had a notorious reputation.
So I thought she was just another of the recycled, formulaic, eye candy pop princesses that we have been subjected to in our generation.

Boy was I wrong.
I really can't remember why or how I heard the song Extraordinary Machine. I probably saw an article about her album controversy online. Basically the album was finished around 2003 but supposedly Sony didn't like it so it got shelved. The bootleg leaked in 2005, people started a "Free Fiona" campaign and the rest is history.
So anyways, I wish I could remember; it's one of those things where if I could go back and pinpoint it, I'd be able to say "aha! that's how it all started."

Well I do remember seeing her perform the song live on the Today Show shortly after I heard it online. I didn't expect this from someone who I had the preconceived notion of being a female pop singer. The song had a lilting, jazz-drenched vibe.

I fell in love with the odd, quirky rhythm, the melody, unique phrasing and that smokey, dark amber voice.

Then I listened to the lyrics. I realized these are not the lyrics of a good looking girl who some corporation was using to make big bucks. These lyrics were actually written by herself, not by a team of writers and producers.

I downloaded the bootleg Extraordinary Machine and fell in love with it. Jon Brion produced it and he is a genius. The two of them together is magic. There is such great production, orchestration and interesting arrangements on her albums. (The studio release is not nearly as good, but mainly aesthetically, the lyrics are the same just the production is more "hip" and cleaned up by another producer, IMO the Jon Brion version is far, far superior.) Definitely not your pop singer next door.

But she's still catchy as hell. Paper Bag

What I love about Fiona, as I mentioned, is her penchant for unsual melodies, rhythms, and arrangements. What really sets her apart I think is her unique phrasing; where she starts and stops her lyrics and rhymes, her songs are pure poetry.
And that smokey voice!

So I worked my way backwards and got her second album, When The Pawn. I would say something but this review on Metacritic says exactly what I feel: "People think Apple came into her own with Extraordinary Machine, but When the Pawn... is her masterpiece. As a piano frontwoman, she took the risk of not making the piano dominate in what came out to be a very percussion intensive album. The arrangements are lush and fully realized. Where a simple electric guitar would suffice, the songs use strings and horns to create very meaty soundscapes. The lyrics are simply astounding: it's amazing how she doesn't let the confines of rhythm and rhyme interfere with perfect lyrical expression. And that voice: words can't describe. Apple provides a wide range of vocal performances, from lovingly tender to genuinely pissed off to frightenly venerable. This album only gets better with each listen."
I absolutely fell in love with When The Pawn and it is my most listened to on my iPod. (The drumming particularly stands out on a genre not known for cutting edge drumming or anything.)

I really like Fiona because she takes her craft seriously and writes really great songs. You can tell she has principles because I read that basically she was willing to just shelve the last album and walk away from her music career (she was writing a resume) since her album was not being released the way she wanted. She has said something like she will never compromise her music to appease higher-ups desires of a "hit single."

I saw her live this summer with Nickel Creek and I will say she's great live and you can tell she brings it 100%. (I know some people will think she's a little emo or bitchy or whatever, but she is what she is. She doesn't really do the happy thing a lot. I think she gets over the madness through these songs. Her songs are good for a certain mood.)

Great song, probably my favorite off the first album. Written by an 18 year old, pretty good I think and great production.


Criminal bluegrass style, from the show I saw!

Fast As You Can acoustic (could be my favorite Fiona song of all time on any given day)

I Know acoustic. One of the most heartaching songs I've ever heard.

I love this http://youtube.com/watch?v=BmSg5vMFj7o

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

[ QUOTE ]


Iris DeMent's voice is miraculous. Some of you may be turned off by the fact that her voice is as Southern as Southern gets, but DeMent is no redneck. Allmusic calls her "country-folk", which I guess is accurate.



Live performance of "Our Town" with Emmylou Harris - http://youtube.com/watch?v=5v7dXA-LWVk



[/ QUOTE ]


Awesome thread guys. Because of your recommendation, Odell, I'm listening to Iris DeMent's Our Town right now. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Very cool, I'd never heard of her before. I'm an Emmylou Harris fan and love the fiddle too. The voices go very nicely together. Thank you so much for this.

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

nice post, Hanimal...i'm a big fan, too.

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


Iris DeMent's voice is miraculous. Some of you may be turned off by the fact that her voice is as Southern as Southern gets, but DeMent is no redneck. Allmusic calls her "country-folk", which I guess is accurate.



Live performance of "Our Town" with Emmylou Harris - http://youtube.com/watch?v=5v7dXA-LWVk



[/ QUOTE ]


Awesome thread guys. Because of your recommendation, Odell, I'm listening to Iris DeMent's Our Town right now. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Very cool, I'd never heard of her before. I'm an Emmylou Harris fan and love the fiddle too. The voices go very nicely together. Thank you so much for this.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have an old Iris Dement CD sitting around here somewhere...I love the clip of her and Emmylou...

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

Iris Dement singing "Our Town" featured in the finale of Northern Exposure. After hearing it and having no idea who the singer was I went nuts looking for this song.

If you like that then Michelle Shocked's Arkanas Traveler would also be up your alley http://www.michelleshocked.com/detai...er_reissue.htm

Women singing country & folk music really get me in. Female Pop/rock/blues/jazz singers much less so.

Michelle Shocked covers a wide range of music genres in her search for musical roots. But the stuff on Arkansas Traveler seems to suit her best.

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

[ QUOTE ]
nice post, Hanimal...i'm a big fan, too.

[/ QUOTE ]
Yup. (on both points)

That Paper Bag video is greatness, though unfortunately a lot of her videos are really bad ("The First Taste" being particularly awful). It sucks because I like Fiona quite a bit.

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

Unfortunately there is not much Michelle Shocked on youtube.

There is this gospel track though
http://youtube.com/watch?v=xJq11taAJgY

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

[ QUOTE ]
nice Sara Brightman post, and i love her work in Phantom...so I guess we'll let it go that she's not a "singer/songwriter." [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

I just spent an hour on Margo Timmins of Cowboy Junkies before it hit me that she may not have written most of the Junkies' songs. And she didn't (but her brother Michael did). [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Dibs on Maria McKee for later in the week.

~ Rick

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

[ QUOTE ]
Lucinda Williams is fantastic and deserves a longer post. Go for it.

[/ QUOTE ]

In a late night attempt to motivate someone with more time check out Right In Time, Drunken Angel and World Without Tears.

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

I expected to see two names on here I haven't seen yet -

I'm amazed no one mentioned Patty Griffin yet - she's an EXCEPTIONAL singer-songwriter

If you want testimony from other female singer-songwriters, it comes in the form of covering tunes - and she's had a lot of folks covering her stuff

Wikipedia lists Linda Ronstadt ("Falling Down"), the Dixie Chicks ("Truth No. 2," "Top of the World," "Let Him Fly"), Bette Midler ("Moses"), Mary-Chapin Carpenter ("Dear Old Friend"), Jessica Simpson ("Let Him Fly"), Martina McBride ("Goodbye"), Melissa Ferrick and Missy Higgins ("Moses"), Emmylou Harris ("One Big Love"), Bethany Joy Galeotti ("Blue Sky"), The Wreckers ("One More Girl"), Joan Osborne ("What You Are"), Solomon Burke ("Up to the Mountain"), and Miranda Lambert ("Getting Ready"). Kelly Clarkson performed "Up to the Mountain" with Jeff Beck on the Idol Gives Back episode of American Idol, - and I guess Kelly preformed it here in Minneapolis last week.

I'd say Patty has about 2 or 3 of the top 25 most played on my IPod - mostly from her first acoustic album where it was just her/guitar. Her cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Stolen Car" is one I used to listen to on repeat during my darker Jameson days - I'll refund the .99 cents of anyone who buys it on Itunes and isn't fully satisfied. The song itself makes you almost feel like a fugitive when you listen in the dark.

- the myspace link has some good retrospective work - but you can also check Youtube stuff here

Patty has some great lyrics and is a phenom. singer - her first album was a stripped down demo - one voice/one guitar, that would blow your mind. She sorta got shuffled around a bit the first couple albums but now she's on Dave Matthews' label.

Recommendations - Living With Ghosts, Children Running Thru, and 1000 Kisses - (for starters)
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And of course, Gillian Welch

- severe Americana that makes you feel you're back in the 1920's - I have a version of her doing Pancho and Lefty that I've also left on repeat about 50 times - Gillian has some great imagery in her lyrics and one song in particular - a 12 minute epic called "I Dream A Highway" contains some of my favorite lines of all time at about 50 bpm

Oh I dream a highway back to you love
A winding ribbon with a band of gold
A silver vision come arrest my soul
I dream a highway back to you.

Which lover are you, Jack of Diamonds?
Now you be Emmylou and I'll be Gram
I send a letter, don't know who I am
I dream a highway back to you.

I'm an indisguisable shade of twilight
Any second now I'm gonna turn myself on
In the blue display of the cool cathode ray
I dream a highway back to you.

I wish you knew me, Jack of Diamonds
Fire-riding, wheeling when I lead em up
Drank whiskey with my water, sugar in my tea
My sails in rags with the staggers and the jags
I dream a highway back to you.

Gillian's also been covered by a host of songwriters - and you can see more of her at the Youtube, of course

Recommendations: - Time the Revelator and Soul Journey.

RB

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

Here is a better link for you whiskeytown http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...;search=Search

Re: Female Singer/Songwriter Thread
 

thank you - yes I boneheaded it again - 3 out of 4 ain't bad.

rb