So by request of maehemsez over on twitter, here’s my list of favorite female/female identified bands or fronted bands. I’m using favorite rather broadly here. Basically I went through my Google music list of artists and picked out all of them that I knew had multiple songs I liked. So there’s probably a lot that I’m missing because I only have one or two tracks or they’re all listed under soundtracks. One of these days I need to spend like a snowstorm ripping all of my old CDs.
Some of these, I’m sure, really date me. Some of them are probably relatively obscure. Like, I am half certain I was the only person who ever bought Pet’s album. (bought purely because it was produced by Tori Amos back in the 90’s and I had a horrible case of fangirl, but I still know all of the songs!) I also didn’t put down some of the mainstream stuff from that time period. Probably because I’m attempting to pretend that I have taste. And there’s a couple I didn’t list because I’m pretty sure that they can’t be found for sale any more like some obscure Canadian artists I picked up off MP3.com in ’99 or stuff by a friend of mine who I recently had to upload a copy of her album for because she didn’t even have a copy of it any more.
Neko Case, late 90’s Tori Amos, Vienna Teng, Regina Spektor, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, The Be Good Tanyas, The Nields, Florence and the Machine, Lianne La Havas, Madeleine Peyroux, Adele, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Rasputina, Ani DiFranco, Bat for Lashes, The Bird and the Bee, Bjork, Darling Violetta, Pet, Drain STH, The Dukhs, Erin McKeown, Erykah Badu, Escala (string covers of a lot of famous stuff), Estelle, Gypsy Soul, Hilary Hahn, Imogen Heap, Indigo Girls, Janelle Monae, k.d. lang, Lhasa, Melody Gardot, PJ Harvey, Nina Simone, Norah Jones, Paloma Faith, Paris Combo, Poe, Portishead, Sarah Harmer, Sarah Jaffe, Shana Tucker, Zoe Keating, Patsy Cline
I am also debating including Band of Skulls. The songs trades vocals back and forth between a male lead and a female lead. Dead Can Dance, same thing.
Alright, your turn. Give me recs!
Annie Lennox, Susan Tedeschi, Bonnie Raitt, Concrete Blonde, Eve, Salt N Pepa, Missy Elliott, Dance Hall Crashers, Detroit Cobras, Deb Talan, The Donnas, Fleetwood Mac, No Doubt, Jill Sobule, Le Tigre, Linda Ronstadt, Liz Phair, Luscious Jackson, Pink, Tegan and Sara…This list is ridiculous. And I could go on.
Fun fact: Stevie Nicks was the first concert I ever attended. I went with a friend who had an extra ticket, not having any idea that she was in Fleetwood Mac until I started recognizing a bunch of songs.
I’m definitely going to have to check these out. I know some of the names but have never really gotten into their catalogs. Hope you find some great new music, too!
I’ve never managed to see Stevie Nicks or Fleetwood Mac in concert and it will haunt me forever.
Definitely some crossover with folks that I like! A few additional bands/artists on my list are Veruca Salt, Sons & Daughters, Missy Elliott, Mirah, Liz Phair, Lavender Diamond, First Aid Kit, Ingrid Michaelson, Fiona Apple, Dolly Parton and Aimee Mann.
I wish I had better appreciated the Stevie Nicks concert when I was there. I was just more excited to be there than anything. My mom had a thing about me not getting to go to any concerts until I was 18. Makes me wonder what she got up to.