Today I have a new single out which is not being released in the traditional way. It was a song commissioned by the organisation POWA- which stands for Protection of Women in the Arts- a musical collective run by some wonderful women including Ashley Stein and Siobhan Wilson. They are a bunch of good (scotch?) eggs who try are trying to help women succeed in music as well as providing a space where women can feel safe and supported online and off.
Please check them out, if only to hear my latest song- you won’t find it on any platforms- only on their Patreon page and if you signed up for a month just to listen it would only cost you £1! Artists often have to tread a line of having music available to people on all the usual streaming platforms (which gives them no income) but also to try to leverage their art where possible (in order to be able to keep making art) so although this method of listening to music is a bit more unusual it is meant to provide maximum benefit to the artists involved and if you’re a fan of any of the featured artists I suggest you get involved! https://www.patreon.com/POWAscotland
I wrote the song “Fifteen Times a Day” for International Women’s day last year and the song is essentially about mansplaining- about how many a times a day a man might correct or explain to a woman that they are wrong about various things (including subjects they may be an expert in).
I remember overhearing once that I looked like “a doll” (and I’m not saying I’m so beautiful people are falling over in the street crashing into lampposts because of my distracting beauty btw)- I’m saying that as women we have been trained from a young age to understand we are taken at face value and we can either look too nice to be taken seriously… or not nice enough to even be recognised as a valid person.
It’s been said so many times it feels like a very tired trope but if you’ve ever had your ideas ignored or dismissed then repeated by a man where they were listened to and valued by others, you’ll know what I’m talking about about. My (otherwise wonderful) husband recently thought I didn’t understand which part of our fridge freezer was which- explaining to me “no, the fridge is at the top?” And err… so the patriarchy runs deep even in those who are on our side. And yes I do consider myself an expert in my own fridge (contents) obviously. And no, I will never let him live this one down, hence telling you.
Fifteen times a day is a kind of a sweet sounding soulful guitar song with production and instrumentation developed by Susan Bear. I told her I wanted to go for a soulful boppy vibe maybe a bit like James Morrison but with a sort of shouty chorus and I love how it’s ended up- there’s nothing more thrilling than giving a bare bones song you’ve written to someone who develops it into more than the sum of its parts, all hail gooddogsuse.
I work in a very male dominated industry but organisations like POWA provide a platform that recognises the work women are doing and lifts them up so they can be seen and appreciated. I feel seen and appreciated, thanks POWA.