Hit Songwriter Nicolle Galyon to interview Ballerini on her success
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – On Monday, March 28, Nashville’s all-female, singer-songwriter collective, Song Suffragettes, will celebrate its 8th anniversary with two performance rounds featuring 11 singer-songwriters as well as performances by country superstar Kelsea Ballerini, who will be presented with the Song Suffragettes’ “Yellow Rose of Inspiration Award” for her contributions to the songwriting community. Tickets to the show at Nashville’s The Listening Room Café are on sale now at the Café’s website; the show will also stream live on the Song Suffragettes YouTube channel.
Hit songwriter, and frequent Ballerini collaborator, Nicolle Galyon, will interview the “Yellow Rose” honoree, and discuss many of the songs that have inspired the nearly 350 women who have performed on the Song Suffragettes stage through the years. Ballerini is only the fourth woman to receive this honor after esteemed songwriter/publisher Liz Rose (2019), hitmaker Laura Veltz (2020) and singer-songwriter extraordinaire Ashley McBryde (2021).
From her wildly popular albums The First Time, Unapologetically, kelsea and ballerini, Ballerini has achieved 25 RIAA certifications and seven #1 singles including “Miss Me More,” “Peter Pan,” “hole in the bottle,” and “half of my hometown” which recently hit #1. An accomplished songwriter, a Grand Ole Opry member and a CMA and ACM award winner, Ballerini will also co-host the upcoming CMT MUSIC AWARDS, as well as perform.
Sharing the Song Suffragettes stage with Ballerini on March 28, the first songwriter round will feature TMWK Records artist Kalie Shorr hosting a performance round featuring Ava Suppelsa, Autumn Nicholas, Ava Paige and first-time Song Suffragette and Republic Records recording artist Lanie Gardner.
The second songwriter round of the evening will be hosted by Song Suffragettes alumna Lauren Hungate and feature singer-songwriters Caroline Watkins, Emily Brooke, first-time performer Peytan Porter and BMG recording artist Madeline Merlo. Both rounds will feature Song Suffragettes’ long-time resident cajon player and musical savant Mia Morris who will be playing her 144th show that night and performing two of her own originally penned songs.
Song Suffragettes was founded in 2014 to create a community of like-minded female singer-songwriters whose talent would shed more light on the systemic music industry disparities faced by female creatives. Unfortunately, despite an increase in awareness about the discriminatory behaviors in the established Nashville ecosystem, opportunities for women in music are still egregiously lacking.
Dr. Jada Watson, professor at the University of Ottawa and principal researcher, SongData, indicates that of all the songs played on country radio by female artists in 2021, songs by women received just 14% of the annual airplay – 0.02% of which were spins for songs by Black women. Just 18 (13.4%) of the 134 songs that charted in 2021 were by women, 6 of which reached the top 10 (4.5%), and 4 of which topped the chart (3%). Women are also underrepresented as songwriters on charting songs, with just 3 (2.3%) written solely by women in 2021 versus 93 songs by men-only writing collabs. This type of programming does not just influence how labels sign, promote and support artists, as Dr. Watson reflects, but these figures show that it impacts the entire ecosystem, perpetuating and reinforcing racial and gender inequities within country music. Visit SongData.ca to access past reports on representation in the country music industry.
Notwithstanding the existing inequalities, many Song Suffragettes alumnae have gone on to successful careers including Kelsea Ballerini, Carly Pearce (“Every Little Thing”), Lainey Wilson (“Things A Man Oughta Know”), Tenille Arts (“Somebody Like That”) and GAYLE (“abcdefu”). In fact, of the heavily curated singer-songwriters who have played the show, 25 have gone on to receive recording contracts and more than 50 have landed music publishing deals.
For more information, visit SongSuffragettes.com and follow @SongSuffragettes on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and TikTok.