More N.L. women are recording albums of original music than ever
But that's not to say that everything is perfect
As host and producer of Weekend AM, one of my favourite parts of our radio show is First Listen, when we meet musicians from this province creating new, original music.
With First Listen, I hear music that's new to me, I meet cool, creative people, and then I get to tell Weekend AM listeners and cbc.ca/nl users about them. The feature gets me out of my middle-class, middle-aged townie bubble
For our last Weekend AM of 2019, I decided to take a look back and bring you some of our favourite First Listen features from the past 12 months.
As I was digging into our 2019 files, I started to notice something. Then I started counting.
Equality and variety
Out of 38 musicians and musical groups I interviewed on First Listen this year, 18 of them were women, or mostly women. That was nearly half my guests.
Teenage singer-songwriters made debut albums: Paige Penney, Cassidy Rich, and Bridget and Dahlia.
Damhnait Doyle, a high-profile music industry veteran, came back with Liquor Store Flowers, a strong solo album, her first in 11 years.
Indigenous artists Eastern Owl and Carolina East brought us some stirring, thought provoking work.
There was even a Spanish language album, Brujas, from funky, alternative pop band Lo Siento.
Classical cellist Ofra Harnoy moved to St. John's town and resumed her recording here right here with Back to Bach.
Jazz singer Heather Bambrick continues to release stellar albums with a who's who of Canadian jazz.
What has changed?
I think a few things are happening.
The late-night, male dominated bar scene is no longer the main highway into the province's music industry.
Live music is happening down all sorts of interesting side roads: at coffee houses, house concerts, small concert halls, even churches. These venues are generally all ages, open to a range of musical genres, and have earlier performance times.
Music-centric watering holes such as The Black Sheep are making their spaces more comfortable for women, with earlier shows and attentive staff.
Grassroots organizations such as Girls Rock NL in St. John's, the Citadel House in Lewisporte and Mr. H's Open Stage for the Underage on the west coast of the island are important and inclusive incubators of new talent.
And women are speaking up, questioning the number of female acts in festival lineups, lobbying for more female representation in the music industry, and generally being more public with their support for each other.
More work to do
That's not to say that everything is perfect. The music industry is tough for everyone these days, with changing technology, demographics, and musical tastes, but women face a few extra challenges.
Big, main stage pop events, such as the George Street Festival and the Iceberg Alley Performance Tent series, still feature overwhelmingly male lineups.
There are still only a handful of women behind the scenes in the industry — working as managers, producers, technicians. More women behind the scenes means more support for women on the stage.
And don't forget the challenges that many working women in any field face.
They juggle childcare and elder care obligations, they are trying to make enough money to make a living, and in some cases, they have to work harder to convince men that they should have a seat at their table.
Everyone — keep the music coming
In the end, though, that work means more music will be made, and that music will come from a wider range of experiences. Who wouldn't want more music and more variety?
So, as we look ahead to First Listens on Weekend AM for 2020, I want to say, keep your original music coming!
We want to introduce our listeners to a wide range of Newfoundland and Labrador musicians: female, male, LGBTQ, bayman, townie, Indigenous, Come from Away, you name it, and a wide range of music genres.
Email us, wam@cbc.ca, with the details of your new album.
Need more women on your concert bill?
Weekend AM plays a LOT of music, so any new tunes we can add to our playlist are a great help to our team and our listeners.
If you're planning a big music festival and you just can't come up with more women to put on a bill, with say, Trooper or Chilliwack, just give me a call.
I have a list.
You can hear First Listen Sundays on Weekend AM from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. (5:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. in Labrador) on CBC Radio One.
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