Category Archives: Women

by | February 4, 2015 · 8:00 am

Why Dolly Parton Kicks Butt

Last night I was looking for an interesting piece of country news to write about, but nothing I came across interested me. And then there she was, Dolly Parton. The CMT article shares how Dolly Parton has partnered up with NBC to produce TV-movies “based on her songs, stories and incredible life.” The article also says that Dolly hopes to capture a family audience with fun and inspirational themes in her movies. This article got me thinking about how awesome Dolly Parton is; I mean what hasn’t she done at this point?

Her talent never ceases to amaze me. Dolly started performing when she was 13 and since then has had around 42 studio albums. She’s starred in numerous classic movies and TV shows such as my Grandma’s and Aunt’s all time favorite movie, Steel Magnolias (1989); A Smoky Mountain Christmas (1986), which my family watches every Christmas; 9 to 5 (1980); The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982); Reba (2005); and even Hannah Montana (2006, 2007, 2010), which I remember watching in 5th grade when it first aired.

Dolly has also been nominated for and won countless awards including 7 Academy of Country Music Awards, 3 American Music Awards, 9 Country Music Association Awards, 4 Peoples Choice Awards, and 8 Grammy’s; and up until recently she and Beyoncé were tied for the most Grammy-nominated women. Dolly Parton has also been inducted into 14 Halls of Fame. In addition to the entertainment awards, she has also received numerous philanthropic awards like the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service and the Partnership Award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Plus, how many people do you know with their own Rodeo Dinner show (1988) AND Amusement Park (1986)?

Dolly Parton made a name for herself at a time when male entertainers mainly dominated country music. Despite any opinions about her personal life, Dolly’s successes as a businesswoman have been (and still are) inspirational to women of all ages. She is a strong face and representation of country music and has influenced many of today’s modern country artists, clearly shown by CMT’s All Time Top 40 list. Dolly finished in the 4th spot with nominations from Kenny Rogers, Luke Bryan, Charley Pride, Jennifer Nettles, Sara Evans, and many more.

Although it is not clearly stated in the article whether or not Dolly or her music will be featured, I can only assume this next project will be great.  Her number of accomplishments as an entertainer portray exactly why Dolly Parton kicks butt.

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Filed under News, Women

by | January 29, 2015 · 8:00 am

Taylor Swift’s tour isn’t messing with Texas

3371681062_7769c27704During past tours, Taylor Swift has spent the most time in Texas. With concerts sold out in 4-5 Texas cities for each tour, you could say her Texan fans there are very loyal. But is she loyal to them? With the release of the 1989 world tour dates, Texas “swifties” were dismayed to find only one date for one venue in one Texas city. I was extremely disappointed to find she wouldn’t be stopping in Austin this year since I am a huge fan of her new album. Texas girls and guys have been her fans from the start, it just seems wrong to cut us out of her tour.

Austin, San Antonio and Houston have been replaced by places like Seattle, Tokyo and Toronto. Could this be a result of her genre shift from country to pop? I believe it is. Once she was singing about Georgia stars, in her new album she’s welcoming her listeners to New York. I didn’t realize the her transition from country also meant her absence from southern states.

Taylor’s country sound was accompanied by cowboy boots and an acoustic guitar. Her dresses were always modest and her long curly hair was her trademark. She was known for her relatable and meaningful lyrics. I will admit that her songs pulled me through a break up or two. Her lyrics were rooted in typical country topics like pick up trucks, her love for her mom, Tim McGraw and her guitar. Taylor played many of her first shows at Texas rodeos, her music videos were on CMT, and she always could be seen performing at the CMAs.

The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show London 2014 **STRICTLY NO WEB UNTIL 9:15PM GMT DECEMBER 2, 2014**With her new pop genre her hair and skirts got shorter. Her music videos got edgier, and she began performing at events like the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show which doesn’t traditionally involve any country music. Taylor has traded cowboy boots for her high heels and electronic instruments have taken place of the acoustic guitar. Her lyrics are centered around big cities, bad boys and repetitive catchy phrasing. This change has revolutionized Taylor’s career and taken her music around the world. I love her new sound and look just as I loved the old Taylor. Her old songs went well with a pint of blue bell ice cream and tissues, but her new songs make every dance floor across the world come alive.

I am sad to say this shift away from country has also created a limited amount of tour time in Texas. All us swifties need to come together and reach out to Taylor through social media and let her know Texans love her sound even if its not country.  #TexaswantsTaylor

For other articles about Taylor’s transition click here.

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Filed under News, Texas, Women

by | November 17, 2014 · 8:00 am

Women in Country Music

dolly-partonTwo weekends ago I was astounded to find that an old friend had stopped in town for Halloween and so we met up for lunch on Sunday afternoon. We somehow started talking about country music and I told her about my Rhetoric of Country Music class and she told me she wished she was in our class. And we continued to talk about country music and what we like, who we like, and why like it. As I listened to her I got lost in her pretty blue eyes and wondered what it would be like for a girl like her to be country music artist. I know this all sounds a little stupid but i thought more and more of what it might be like in a day of the life of a female country music artist. I feel as though i reached a few conclusions.

Women have traditionally been excluded from country music because the music industry in general up until the 1970’s was a boys club. But with the emergence of women like Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, and Dolly Parton women gained some momentum in the country music scene. They defined the role of women in country music at the time but there was certainly much progress to be made. Another influential female country music artist was Sammi Smith, who was a part of the Outlaw country movement in the 70’s. These women opened a door into the world of the country music industry that couldn’t have been opened without very strong personalities and a very carefully crafted deliveries.

Today you see female artists such as the Dixie Chicks, Alison Krauss, Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, etc. They all seem to draw from the inspirational careers of the women mentioned above. Women have come a very long way in the music industry in general but specifically there is much more credit given to the prominent women of country music. There is a loud voice within country music and she’s fighting for even more say. The demographic that country music serves is a traditional group but a shift is coming as women gain more say in every facet of our lives.

miranda-lambert-cover-story-3a-billboard-400Furthermore, female country singers seem to have very strong voices. Carrie Underwood, Kimberly Perry of The Band Perry, Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum, and Miranda Lambert are all great examples of women that have some very powerful voices present both in and outside of the recording studio. Popular among some of these female artists are songs centered around anger and frustration and they let that be known in their music. The popular phrase “Hell hath no fury like a woman’s scorn” rings true in the voices of these prominent women.

They are a force to be reckoned with in the future and the men of the country music industry will have to step aside as women gain a more prominent role in the country music industry. I will observe with interest and and an open mindedness to see how the women of country music will prevail.

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Filed under Politics, Women

by | November 15, 2014 · 8:00 am

The Queen of Country Music

loretta-lynn-real-ageSince I’ve been researching Loretta Lynn a lot lately, I started thinking about how the only reason I was interested in her was because my Grandma told me that Loretta is her favorite country singer. This made me realize that I really didn’t know much about her beforehand, because she is not someone that people of my generation will go out of their way to listen to. As someone who considers herself an avid listener of country music, this was very hard to process. I was starting to wonder if she had just been completely forgotten about, as I had not heard her name in a while.

Imagine my excitement when I received a message from my mother about Loretta Lynn on the CMAs. Kacey Musgraves was performing “You’re Looking at Country” for the award show audience, and in the middle of the song stopped and introduced Loretta Lynn as the “Queen of country music.” Loretta walked out in a sparkly long dress and finished off the song as a duet with Musgraves.

lorettaThe best part of the performance, in my opinion, is looking at the audience’s reaction. The second Lynn came on stage, everyone in the building was on their feet with a round of applause that could bring any performer to tears. The duo finished out the sound, harmonizing perfectly and standing side by side with their arms around each other. The audience was going crazy, and I think this could be attributed to the possibility that seeing Loretta Lynn on stage was very unexpected.

Aside from the research I have been doing on her the past few weeks, I have not really heard her name thrown around much. I feel like people are so focused on who the next up and coming country stars are, that they forget to take a step back and look at some of the most influential performers of the country music history. Loretta Lynn made waves across the country, topping charts year after year; so how could someone so big just fall off the grid? Back in the day, Lynn was all over the country world, and this just shows that she is not ready to be forgotten.

The Queen is has put herself back on the throne, and this can only mean good things for her, especially in the midst of her Coal Miner’s Daughter tour, which is continuing next weekend. From everything I’ve learned about her recently, I know that Loretta is a pretty amazing lady, so I cannot wait to see what she is going to do with the rest of the tour, as she never ceases to amaze and inspire those around her, and this is clearly seen in the adoration that fans showed her last week.

Take a look for yourself:

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

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Filed under Classic Country, Reflection, Women

by | November 8, 2014 · 8:00 am

Remember the Old “Country” Taylor Swift?

I understand that a lot of people have their own opinions, either good or bad, about how Taylor Swift officially went from country to pop as she just released the new album, 1989. For me personally, I have always loved Taylor Swift and will always love her because I think she’s a real prodigy. Instead of talking about the more recent version of Taylor, I just wanted to remind everyone of how she used to be a big country star in her earlier career, and point out some great songs in her country albums. So here we go:

Taylor_Swift

This was the cover of Taylor Swift’s very first album, Taylor Swift. She had signed her first contract with Big Machine Records as a singer-songwriter when she was 14 years old. Taylor for sure made a big impression to country fans from the beginning, as she became the youngest person to single-handedly write and perform a number one song on the Hot Country Songs Chart. I was in high school when this album first came out and I remember every single girl at my school obsessing over Taylor Swift, and even some boys, reluctantly. Taylor was 16 years old at the time, and she was already writing narrative love songs about her own experiences. (Yes, because she’s a genius and again, a real prodigy.) My favorite song on this album was “Teardrops on My Guitar.” I liked the song a lot more in my high school days, and now I don’t know how I feel about it. The lyrics are a bit cheesy, but I still like the melody, the guitar sound and her voice.

A few single albums were released right after, including Tim McGraw and Our Song. Both songs are true to the “country-ness” of Taylor Swift, since they have more country-sounding instruments and lyrics. (Listen to those songs and listen to her newer songs. They’re completely different sounding.) Taylor toured all over the country in support of Taylor Swift, and the single albums kept the teenage girls fans excited while she prepared for her second album, Fearless.

Taylor_Swift_-_Fearless

Just like the first album, Taylor continued to write at least a few of her songs by herself, with some help of others, to keep up with the title “country singer-songwriter.” This album was a huge commercial success for Taylor, as it became the best-selling album of the year, and stayed number one on Billboard 200 for 11 weeks. 5 singles spawned from Fearless, and my favorites are, just like many others, “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me.” I can still remember Taylor singing those songs on TV with her guitar and having a baby face.

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Speak Now was released in 2010, and this is the album where I think Taylor Swift started showing signs of being “Pop” instead of country. The instruments sound relatively modern, beats are faster, and she was rarely performing with a guitar and boots on anymore at this point. Some songs had definitely more country feels than others, depends on what the listeners would decide what defines “country.” Her lyrics were still her narratives about boy-centric themes and breakups, but I felt that she was more of a grown up than a young teenage girl. It may have been because I was about to be out of high school myself, or because Taylor was then in her 20s and started talking about college boys. I don’t really know. (If you want to know more about this album, click here.)

As she released her next album, Red, her fans admitted that she wasn’t so country anymore, and I don’t really see any true country songs on it, so we will skip it for now. Here is a list of songs (some of them were mentions above) that I selected in reminiscence of the old “country” Taylor Swift:

  1. “Teardrops on My Guitar” – Taylor Swift
  2. “Our Song” – Taylor Swift
  3. “Fearless” – Taylor Swift
  4. “You Belong with Me” – Taylor Swift
  5. “Love Story” – Taylor Swift
  6. “Speak Now” – Taylor Swift
  7. “Mine” – Taylor Swift
  8. “Back to December” – Taylor Swift

Even after Taylor went pop, her lyrics stayed pretty much the same as before, and she still writes her own songs. Hope everyone enjoyed reading this post and loves Taylor Swift as much as I do!

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Filed under Country Pop, Women