This One’s for the Girls – Featured Females Friday November 15

Anyone else find that the last week just flew by? Just seems like yesterday since we launched this new feature.

It’s been a busy week for women in music. Did anyone catch the amazing all-female opening of Wednesday night’s CMA Awards…now that’s how you start a show, if you missed it I’ve embedded the video of the performance at the bottom of this post.

My original plan when I came up with this feature concept was to feature new music from 5 unique female artists each week. It fit well with our FavFive T-Shirt campaign. But like with the t-shirts, of which I have yet to order my own, this week I simply can’t just pick 5. So much amazing new music came out today that I’m going to feature 7 incredible new singles that should be added to your playlists this week plus a couple of honourable mentions.

Céline Dion

Canada’s Queen of Pop, can we call her that, is back with her 12th English-language album Courage. Both the album and the second single “Lovers Never Die” arrive today. I’ve been a Céline Dion fan for almost as long as I’ve been listening to music. There’s just something about her music that makes me feel whole. I’m also a huge fan of 007, James Bond; This song sounds like it could be a title track to a James Bond flick. No question the later half of this decade hasn’t been easy on Dion but I’m so happy to see that she’s finishing the decade off strong with, what could be, her biggest album yet!

Alisan Porter

You may know Alisan Porter as the winner of Season 10 of the Voice or, if you’re a movie buff like me, as Curly Sue in the 1991 movie of the same title. From 1991 to 2019 Porter has had her ups and downs but now can be proud of her accomplishments as an artist and as a mother to her two children. Today sees the release of the live version of her single “What If I Wake Up” recorded live at Henson Recording Studios. Highlights from the Studio’s prolific and legendary credits include Whipped Cream & Other Delights (Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass), Tapestry (Carole King), Blue (Joni Mitchell), Rock & Roll (John Lennon), A Kind of Hush (The Carpenters), We Are The World (USA for Africa). This song speaks to anyone who has ever had one of those “What if this is all a dream?” moments. The studio version of the song, featured on her album Pink Cloud, was released in the spring but the live version released today takes this already amazing song to a whole new level. Some have billed Porter as a country artist but if you listen to some of the other songs on her Spotify profile she strikes me as one of those artists that can be country, folk, blues, jazz or probably any other genre she feels like singing. Check her out online here: www.alisanporter.com

Britney Monroe

Although Britney Monroe is rooted in San Antonio, Texas, her home for the past decade has been Nashville. She moved to Nashville to attend Belmont University, where she graduated with a major in Songwriting. She spent her first few years post-college exploring her options until she realized that she wouldn’t settle for just any “job.” Her heart and soul craved a career as a musician, and she has fervently been pursuing that dream ever since. I spend a lot of time scouring social media and streaming websites looking for artists that I can introduce to our audience. I came across Britney a few weeks ago, saw she was promoting the forthcoming release of a new single, so I decided to checkout some of her previous material. Monroe’s latest single is “Lovestruck” and I think it’s a great single for me to introduce you to her. “Lovestruck” is the first single off her forthcoming EP so get on board now, who knows maybe in a few years we’ll catch her at a festival in Canada. Until then you can keep up with her new music and upcoming tour dates on her website here: www.britneymonroe.com.

Aubrie Sellers

The title track of her forthcoming album due in early February, “Far From Home”, shows a softer side of Sellers that we haven’t heard much of in the past. Her, self-dubbed, sound is “garage country”. “I feel like I’m film in a digital world,” says 27-year-old singer-songwriter Aubrie Sellers. “There are so many slick, clean-sounding records that are designed for quick consumption, but that’s not me. I make dirty, grungy-sounding records, and the emotions spill all over the place. They’re messy at times, but I find beauty in that.” The daughter of singer/songwriters Jason Sellers and Lee Ann Womack she draws her influences from artists like the Kinks, Screamin Jay Hawkins, Buddy and Julie Miller, Creedence, even Ricky Skaggs. Patty Griffin, Neil Young and Bob Dylan, some acoustic things. Led Zeppelin is her biggest rock influence and Ralph Stanley. That raw bluegrass, the banjo, that’s the same energy and intensity you get in punk. Will Far From Home show us a different side of Aubrie? I guess time will tell but one thing is certain if Aubrie isn’t on your radar yet she needs to be! Check her out here: www.aubriesellers.com

Katie Pruitt

Emerging singer, songwriter and musician Katie Pruitt’s new song, Out Of The Blue, is premiering today. It took less than 30 seconds for me to know that this song had to be part of this week’s feature. Reflecting on the song, Pruitt shares, “This song is about being swept up in the initial high of infatuation, when you can’t imagine wanting to leave each other’s side. In the beginning where the feeling is new and you spend your days holding hands in the park, laying in the grass, watching the clouds move against a bright blue backdrop. Time quickly turns lovers into strangers though, just like it turns days into nights. The sun rises and sets on this type of infatuation, often in the same day.”

Out Of The Blue is the third track unveiled from Pruitt’s highly anticipated debut album, Expectations, which will be released February 21 via Rounder Records and is now available for pre-order. Co-produced by Pruitt and her close friend, Mike Robinson, Expectations was recorded in Nashville and consists of ten new songs written/co-written by Pruitt. Pruitt will visit Toronto’s Drake Hotel April 13, 2020 as part of her extensive headline tour which kicks off in Nashville on February 21. You can find out more about Katie at her website: katiepruitt.com

Madison Kozak

Songs & Daughters artist Madison Kozak is ready to ditch the party in her head-over-heels release, “OMG ILY,” out today. She first shared news of the bop with People, calling it the “song she’s most excited about.”

Serving up straight ear candy, “OMG ILY” was written by Kozak, Claire Douglas, and Mark Trussell. This is the third new song she’s dropped in just a few weeks, with both “Click” and “Household” – as featured in Billboard’s First Country – following her breakout “First Last Name.”

Just announced as part of CMT’s Next Women of Country Class of 2020, the 22-year-old budding star is keeping her momentum red-hot as she tours through the fall with Morgan Evans, Aaron Watson, and Mason Ramsey. In January 2020, she’ll embark on Chase Rice‘s THE PINT OF ANYTHING TOUR for her first international trek. Click here for a full list of tour dates.

A native of rural Ontario, Canada, rising Country singer-songwriter Madison Kozak is turning heads with her brand-new track “First Last Name.” The song is inspired by her relationship with her father, who introduced her to Country greats including Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash. After scoring a publishing deal with powerhouse company Big Loud as a Junior at Belmont University, Kozak has signed as the flagship artist of Songs & Daughters – a female-focused label partnership between Big Loud and award-winning songwriter Nicolle Galyon. This young Canadian artist is already making waves, if you’re not on the bandwagon yet now is the perfect time to jump on! Visit Madison online at www.madisonkozak.com

Taylor Swift

Is it safe to say that Taylor Swift is one of the most influential and successful female artists of the last decade, perhaps even the last century? From her early roots as a country music artist to her successful transition to a pop artist Taylor Swift remains as relevant today as she was in 2006. As a child my parents took my sister and I to the biggest broadway productions which really helped foster my love for live music. A musical is simply a concert with a story being performed live on stage. One of the first musicals we went to see was Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats. Lloyd Webber’s musical is being reinvented as a movie for the big screen set for release December 20, 2019. Today Taylor Swift released her original song “Beautiful Ghosts” which she co-wrote with Lloyd Webber. This is the most hauntingly beautiful song I’ve heard in a long time. Of course I have to disagree with the bulk of the critics who have been trashing this song all day. If songs like Celine Dion’s “Heart Will Go On”, Bryan Adams’ “Everything I Do (I Do It For You)” and Madonna’s “You Must Love Me” (which I also loved BTW) make great soundtrack singles there’s no reason why “Beautiful Ghosts” shouldn’t be a monster hit for Swift and, very likely, turn into a golden Academy Award when the Oscars roll around next year. Click here to check out the trailer for Cats!

Honourable mentions

Lady Antebellum dropped their eighth studio album, Ocean, today. The album’s lead single “What If I Never Get Over You” peaked at #24 in Canada and reached the top 15 on the US Hot Country Songs (Billboard) and US Country Airplay (Billboard) charts. You can check the album out now by clicking here!

Meghan Patrick joins forces with Teddy Robb for a single, out today, called “Really Shouldn’t Drink About You”. It’s a fun, bluesy, song that all Meghan Patrick fans should have in their playlists.

As always you can find these songs and many many more on our Girl Power playlist exclusively on Spotify! If you like these songs call your local country radio station and request them, that’s what these women need more than anything else!

Last but not least I promised the big opening number from Wednesday’s CMA Awards. This might just be the biggest moment for Women In Country Music this year, it sure was that night! Let’s hope that next year the ladies get recognized when it comes to the awards as well, they are more than deserving of some hardware!