Beyonce and Taylor Swift have ensured that country music is not just surging in popularity but that it’s future is firmly female, paving the way for a new gen of artists
Country music is surging in popularity across the UK, filling arenas and climbing up streaming charts. But while its roots may be traditional, its future is firmly female, with artists like Taylor Swift and Beyonce leading the charge and steering the music from minority to mainstream.
Singer songwriter Bronwen Lewis, 31, is known for creating Welsh language covers of popular country songs like Country Road. She says: “The most important aspect of country music is storytelling. Simply put, it’s three chords and the truth. And women are especially brilliant at using this formula to create gold.”
Bronwen, a BBC radio presenter who appeared on ITV talent show The Voice in 2013 and has toured with Welsh legend Max Boyce, says the most vulnerable times in life often inspire the most popular country songs – also getting the biggest reaction from the fans. She says: “Women in country are often most comfortable sharing their personal stories and opening up to the world.”
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Emotion is a driving force of country music and women have long been some of its bravest storytellers. Icons such as Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline and Tammy Wynette paved the way decades ago, with brutally honest songs about poverty, divorce and heartbreak.
Now a new generation of female stars are carrying that torch on both sides of the Atlantic – exploring the highs and lows of life through their music. Nashville singer Alana Springsteen’s songwriting was born from trying to process a chaotic childhood. “Both my granddad’s are pastors, evangelical fundamentalists. I was an unplanned pregnancy to parents still in college who then dropped out and did the best they could,” explains Alana, 25, who signed her first deal at the age of 14.
“That was kind of the backdrop for my childhood. I was a very gentle introvert who learned early how to shapeshift to meet other people’s needs. I didn’t really have an outlet to express myself.” That changed when she was seven and her granddad gave her a guitar. She says: “I discovered that I could translate what I was feeling into melodies. That just changed the game for me. It was how I communicated.”
Hits like Ghost in my Guitar and California Moon strike a powerful chord with fans. Some have even had her lyrics – in particular those to her ballad about independence, Amen – tattooed on their bodies. She says: “That’s the power of music. As women, we have access to this deep well of complexity and intuition and emotional nuance. Not to say that men don’t – I just think, as women, our perspectives need to be heard. There’s some things we can say that men just can’t. It’s important for us to continue writing that story.”
For Louisiana-born star Lainey Wilson, 33 – whose hits include Things a Man Oughta Know and Watermelon Moonshine – authenticity is everything. She says: “Country music fans can read through a whole lot. They want to feel like you lived the story you’re telling.”
Commenting on the increase in women finding success on the country scene, she says: “I’ll be driving down the road and I’ll hear somebody that I hadn’t heard on the radio – I hope one day I can hear 10 women in a row. For a long time we were made to feel like there were only spots for one female. And I had definitely heard ‘if you don’t hit it by the time you’re 18, you better go home, because by the time you’re 30 or 40, you’re kind of washed up and aging. But look at people like Dolly Parton, who is 80 and still doing her thing. So I think they kind of pulled the wool over our eyes there for a minute, but we’re moving in the right direction.”
Real life experience inspires the best songs, according to Lainey, who adds: “Being a friend, a daughter, a dog mum… all those things inspired me to begin with.” For British stars the growth in country music on this side of the pond has maybe been even more profound.
Harley Moon Kemp, 36, daughter of Spandau Ballet star Martin Kemp, whose hits include Space and Back in Tennessee, says: “I played this show last year and it was about five thousand people all in cowboy hats and cowboy boots – in Southampton! Who would have thought it? Everyone loves country music now.”
Twins Catherine and Lizzy Ward Thomas, 22, agree. As the duo Ward Thomas they made history in 2016 for being the first UK country act to top the UK Albums Chart with their second album, Cartwheel. They say: “The numbers speak for themselves. There have been some massive crossover songs in the last few years that have been rooted in country, but they’re very much more pop to listen to, and they appeal to the masses more. But they’re the gateway. Suddenly, everyone’s listening to more country because of it.”
Exposure on social media has played a major part in widening the appeal of the genre, but women stars face particular challenges as a result. Alexandra Kay’s life changed when her cover version of Dolly Parton’s song Jolene exploded on Facebook. She now has 8.6 million followers on social media. Alexandra, 34. From Illinois, whose voice has been compared to Dolly Parton, says: “I think that women get backlash for a lot of things that men don’t. Recently, my weight has been a huge topic and it’s something that I’m not used to.
“It’s the one thing that takes up comment. Guys can walk around with a beer belly hanging out and nobody cares. The moment that I go up a pant size, it’s all anyone wants to talk about. I absolutely hate it. But all I can do is just be proud of who I am. And if I were to lose a certain amount of weight, they would tell me I was too skinny, so I just can’t pay attention to it.”
Behind the scenes, the country music industry hasn’t always been an easy space for women, particularly Black women, to occupy – although attitudes are changing. Professor Francesca Royster wrote the book Black Country Music. She says collaboration has helped create space for new voices.`
She says: “What we’ve inherited in the 20th and 21st centuries is this idea that some music is natural to some groups of people. And there was kind of this idea of country music as the white folk music. But I think the current movement, this great moment right now of Black musicians and artists, who are really claiming that space and also talking about the history, is giving that idea a run for its money.”
Grammy award winner and member of the Grand Ole Opry – the world’s longest running radio show founded in Nashville and considered the premier home of country – Carly Pearce, 35, says female artists were once routinely pitted against each other. She says: “When I first got started, I remember thinking, ‘oh, they need me because there’s no one here – there’s a shortage’ [of women.]
“That was really naive, because then I realised they purposely were not allowing that many women into the room. But I think what we’re seeing right now is women are kind of ruling.” For Bronwen Lewis, the new stars in the spotlight ‘walk the path paved by women before them.’ She says: “There is always more work to be done when it comes to gender equality, but our women of country won’t give up without a fight. They are proving every day, the future is female.”
*Women in Country. Her Voice, Her Story is a Telesgop production for Radio 2. Now available on BBC Sounds.
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