On this episode of Acoustic Tuesday, I’m featuring 10 women who are leaving their mark on acoustic music. Whether it’s through their guitar chops, subtle banjo playing, lyrical prowess, or all of the above, these women are absolutely awesome to listen to.
Now, I chose this list of female artists based on a couple criteria. I wanted to feature people who are little more under-the-radar. So, this list won’t feature Molly Tuttle or Sierra Hull. Instead, I’m willing to bet money you haven’t heard of seven of these artists.
I hope you find some artists that you truly resonate with, that inspire you to go out and live your best acoustic life. At the very least, I hope you have fun and enjoy hearing some new music from incredible artists!
I want to give a shoutout to all of the artists featured on today’s episode as well as the YouTube channels Gems on VHS and Western AF and Ranch Jams— they are the people behind the camera in most of these videos! So, if you want to look for music beyond the artists I am recommending today, check out those two YouTube channels!
If I missed any under-the-radar female artists you think should have been included on this list, let me know in the comments and I’ll try to find their music!
As always, you can catch Acoustic Tuesday at 10 am every Tuesday in these four places:
- Acoustic Life YouTube channel
- We Play Every Day Facebook Community
- Get show notes emailed directly to your inbox.
- Listen to audio-only below or in iTunes
Show Notes
10.) Kaia Kater –
https://youtu.be/Np5GJL6QXTw – Sun to Sun
https://youtu.be/mliWTa9W9WY – When Sorrows Encompass Me Round
9.) Libby Decamp –
https://youtu.be/gWy5-jOMZ68 – On The Range
https://youtu.be/cXrG8U5d9UM – Orchard
8.) Kassi Valazza –
https://youtu.be/m_s3NVI1res – Johnny My Dear
https://youtu.be/BRDjgrlyku8 – A Fine Colour
7.) Melody Walker –
https://youtu.be/kTN2zPg0SMg – Bigger Than This
https://youtu.be/GCszBhqKODc – We Made It Home
6.) Kiki Cavazos –
https://youtu.be/S1xyL8fVIrw – Cold Love
5.) Rhiannon Giddens –
https://youtu.be/b1Z4PAZX9Bs – Wayfaring Stranger
https://youtu.be/supfx7HVdmA – String of Pearls w/ Laurelyn Dossett
4.) Belle Plaine –
https://youtu.be/DeNoxVbomJg – Squared Up
https://youtu.be/NQxCwTKlpn0 – Good Heart
3.) Molly Parden –
https://youtu.be/GRWN_oHgtMU – Weather
https://youtu.be/BaFyjxxCvj8 – Seasons of Love
2.) Sabine McCalla –
https://youtu.be/1lYigC2Jn20 – Baby, Please Don’t Go
1.) Riddy Arman –
https://youtu.be/RPradQUSDoA – Spirits, Angels, or Lies
https://youtu.be/hkJ-bMf0r6c – Problems of My Own
Kazi Valazza my pick of first 3 artist: great voice
Melody Walker : My pick of next group best song and performance. great vocals
Rhiannon Giddon is in a category of her own and been around for awhile. (fabulous)
Did Melody & Molly Tuttle try to imitate Minie Pearl with the price tags still on the guitars? Kiki is very good, my favorite so far. You’ve featured Rhiannon Giddens before with that fretless banjo, or maybe I got it off the internet (she was also on TV earlier in this quarantine) She has other great stuff. Even though Molly Parden is not from Montana, but her GUITAR is. And your No 1 I think is No 1.
Thanks Tony P… Now you have me sniffing all my guitars in my guitarsonal. They do smell good. Never noticed.
I liked Kassi the best of the first three.
A little too much reverb on the voice but Kassi is my choice. She is absolutely classic country, a real throwback and hard to stop listening to.
Agree with you Tony…Kaia gets my vote…
Rhiannon…on that one…I’m not from MT!
Of the first 3, Kassi Vallazza rises right to the top. Great, unique voice to go with that guitar
Rhiannon Giddens
All of them new to me…many thanks will definitely check them out further. Toss up between Riddy and Sabine on the last set…thanks again…
Rhiannon Giddens, and she is spellbinding. All the artists featured today were fantastic. Thanks so much for keeping us up to date on new musicians Tony!
I liked Rhiannon Giddens best — great voice
Kassi Valazza from the first three.
Check out Macyn Taylor from Milwaukee and tell me what you think!
Please do tell who’s doing the flat picking in the intro clip (0:15)
Kaia, Kiki, Sabine & Riddy – thanks so much for introducing me to them
Rhiannon Giddens has absolutely the most beautiful voice I have ever heard.
Check out Shawn Hopper !!!
Fantastic artist tony.i never heard any of them.but they all contributed to something, which I think is great.thank you,see you at #153.😷😁👍🎼🎸🎤
I had not heard of any of the female artists, but what a delight. Liked them all.
Just got done the entire episode and you won … I had not heard of any of these wonderful artists. My top 3 in no particular order: 1. Melody Walker – loved the message and the harmonies! 2. Libby Decamp – I too loved her voice! I find it very smooth and soothing with a hint of sultry mixed in. 3. Rhiannan Giddens – loved the way she “emoted” with both her singing and her playing with this old spiritual.
Riddy Arman is truly amazing – thanks for introducing us Tony 🙂 Every one on the list is really, really good! Nice to see the ladies represented.
Hey Tony, gotta give a shout out for Belle Plaine. A great talent from right here in Sask. Canada. Thanks for including her in this great group of musicians.
Rhiannon & Kassi. Tony, how about an honorary mention of Amythyst Kiah: Great banjo player with a soulful voice: check out “Aragon Mill”
Wow, Tony! Great concept and execution on this episode. There were several personal connections for me in this show. I’m happy to say I saw a short set by Kaia Kater at the Station Inn in Nashville when Quicksilver Productions was showcasing a number of artists in their portfolio during a lunchtime concert during Americanafest 2018. I was treated to a “Dirty Kitchen Experience” that day when they literally provided a lunch prepared by the one-pot wonder himself, Frank Solivan (whose band you featured on AT95!).
But what really knocked my socks off was at 14:25, when you showed the clip of Rhianna Giddens performing Wayfaring Stranger. Yes, she’s amazing and I had heard her before, but that wasn’t what made my head snap. As soon as the clip began rolling, I immediately noticed the accordian player. It is none other than Phil Cunningham, who I first came to know when he was a teenager in the band “Silly Wizard.” In the “small world” department, I was friends with Phil’s brother, the late Johnny Cunningham, when he lived not too far from me in eastern Pennsylvania in the early 1980s. (Not the same John Cunningham whose daughter’s portrait of you was shown later around 28:45 of the same episode!). Also, I just transcribed and began learning an old Silly Wizard tune last Wednesday (the Fisherman’s Song – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC1ZY8SC4ew) and I performed it for the TAC-wice Friday Night Live open mic last week!
And yes, you win the bet, as Kaia and Rhianna were the only two of the 10 artists that I had previously heard.
Tony: Thank you for your super show today, I find them all interesting, but some, like today, are just over the top, when we get to compare subject matter. All lady artists were enjoyable. Love to hear their song/s in full and in person. But since we were limited to 20 something second clips for judging purposes. I will give you my opinions based on that scenario.
I ranked them separately on voice and instrument from 1 to 5 with (1) being the highest. I come from a background of theatre, folk songs, and recording. So in voice we look for Diction, Projection, & consistency in carrying a note, every word is important, every word counts. In instrument, we look for complexity, style adaptation, & a creative blend. I thought all artists had professional potential and thus they were graded on a curve.
The average voice score was 3.2 and the average instrument score 3.5. So from the Last to the First forward here is how I ranked them along with their individual voice/instrument score:
(10)Melody Walker 5/5 (9)Libby Decamp 4/5 (8)Molly Parden 4/4 (7)Kiki Cavazos 4/4 (6)Riddy Arman 3/4
(5)Sabine McCalla 3/3 (4)Belle Plaine 3/3 (3)Kaia Kater 3/2 (2)Kassi Valazza 2/3 (1)Rhiannon Giddens 1/3
Rhiannon just stole the stage in 20 seconds flat. But for my top ever female acoustic artist, which you may have never heard of; she never got further than a small coffee house audience, was a young lady by the name of Eva Cassidy. Cancer took her all to soon, but you can still find her on you tube. She still is my (1/1) and my comparison standard. If you like what you see in her, maybe she would be worth a clip on your show sometime.
.
Thank you again Tony. ~ Tom Dolan, Tennessee Stage & Film Co.
Hey Tony! Thanks for the list. You got me thinking of some of some of my recent discoveries as well. Check out Carsie Blanton who I found just a couple of weeks ago. Here is a John Prine inspired song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2-2pZFtBxo
Rhiannon Giddens vocal style, range, inflection and feeling immediately thought of Eva Cassidy.
Libby Decamp spoke to me, great list of new artists to explore,except for of course Rhiannon Giddens who has been around making great music for some time now. Thanks for the list Tony.
I had only heard of Rhiannon Giddens, IMO the best vocalist of all of them. I own all of her albums. The biggest surprise for me was Riddy Arman. I went out and bought her demo on Bandcamp. I very much enjoy you showing us new artists that are under the radar. Always a joy to find a new artist to follow.
Hi Tony,
Great show! Off the top, it’d be a toss up between Kiki and Riddy. Looking forward to spend the time with all 10 of them during the week. I had just finished watching a short doc re. a woman living off the grid in the Wales’s forest. Incredibly spiritual resourceful human being. Your show on these exceptionally talented artists was the icing on the cake.
P.s. congratulations on the imminent arrival of your bundle of joy.
as far as the first group of three, I loved Kaia Kata. Never heard her before but her voice is incredible; looking forward to listening to more. the second group of 4 I think Rhianna Giddons is heads and tails over the others, even though the others were good. She recently learned Banjo and played fiddle with the Chocolate Drops. I actually believe Rhianna has one of the best voices out there right now. Riddy Armen was the best of the final three. I had only heard of one of them prior to this, Rhianna Giddons, who I believe is the best overall. Saw her live here in Tucson, she’s incredible.
one that wasnt there but maybe you’ve had before was Rebecca Frazier. I actually got to know Rebecca. I was Co Chair of our Bluegrass Festival for everal years and we wanted some new talant; not the usual fanfare that runs the Bluegrass Festival, I found Rebecca, she’s not only a remarkable player but a great person as well. She put on a flatpicking clinic that would rival any of the best flatpickers out there.
https://youtu.be/c3Y0_NvpKxo
You are certainly correct, Jeff Collins! She is new to me. Damn, can she pick.
Tony Tony Tony, complete audible caramel!! This is easily my most favourite episode so far in my Guitar Geek journey, and paints a roadmap to Nirvana (the mythical place not the band)!!
Just joined TAC tonight and found Acoustic Tuesday. Such talented female artists. Hard to choose BUT, Rhiannon Giddens emotional singing for just a short period, was a teary eye tune for me. Beautiful.
Did you realize that most of the women contributors have red hair. Should I dye my hair red ifI want to be and accomplished guitar geek?
Tony, thank you for introducing these ladies, of which I knew none.
Can’t decide between Rhiannon Giddens and Riddy Almann: toss up. Kaia Kaiter and Sabine McCalla run a very close third and fourth. By the way, glad that you broke your own rule.
Tony, my vote for the best of the first three is Libby DeCamp. I liked Kasi Valazza’s voice but the lead guitar drowned her out. Libby’s voice was beautiful and enchanting, especially on the first song “On the Range”.
Hey Tony, Dave S here Tac member and AT regular. What a great array of female artists.I was blown away by Riddy Arman’s “Spirits, Angels or Lies”. The only one I’d heard before was Rhiannon Giddens. She has such an unbelievable voice. She was featured on “The New Basement Tapes”. These were Bob Dylan lyrics put to music by various artists. Anyway, thanks for another great show.
sabine mc calla, WOW !
Libby Decamp sounds a bit like Neko Case.
Great show, Tony! All of the women artists you chose are wonderful! Time for a deep dive!
BTW–So glad you mentioned Picker’s Grip! I have been wracking my brain trying to remember its name from a previous mention on one of your shows. On order!!
Libby Decamp is my pick. She has a mythical siren-like lure sound in that song. I can dig it.
Your story regarding the pickpocket was very appreciated. You included the link to Picker’s Grip website. I promptly ordered some picker’s grip product. I got it within a couple days from “Billy”. He even signed the packing slip! I’m never licking my fingers again! The product works GREAT! thank you, Tony and Billy! Leslie D
You win! 9 new artists for me.
Favorites (and it was hard AF to pick):
first three – Kassi Valazza
Next four – Rhiannon Giddens
Last three – Riddy Arman
Overall – Kassi Valazza