Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Female singers

There was probably a time in high school when I didn't own a single CD by a female vocalist or female-fronted band (but honestly, was there much to choose from as far as good music was concerned?) Eventually I picked up a few here and there. Bands like Velour 100 , Sixpence None the Richer/ Leigh Nash , Evanescence, or Kate Jones.

So it's kind of strange that the two artists I've recently been listening to the most, for two different reasons, are female-fronted groups. I discovered Abigail Washburn because she released a couple of CDs that have banjo savant Béla Fleck on them, and The Sparrow Quartet showed up on a youtube search for him. She plays clawhammer-style banjo to Béla's 3-finger picking, and she also sings. It's clearly bluegrass music, but she's spent so much time in the Chinese culture and language that it makes it's way into her music. Most obviously in the songs sung in Chinese.







And then there's Zooey Deschanel, and her new band with M. Ward called She & Him. I've been waiting for her to release an album ever since I heard her sing in the movie Elf. Ward finally convinced her to share some of her own music, as well as some covers, but most importantly, to sing. Her voice and musical style are about 50 years "behind", but that's a good thing in this case. A very good thing.












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