Chicks With Guitars

Edith Van Halen

How could we have all forgot about Edith?! Oh, and then there's Nina Bettencourt and Jackie White.

Richard's got his finger on the pulse of my hard drive for sure. Great stuff from all here and one of my personal favorite genres. Much of my faves are on Richard's lists. I'll try to add a few that may not have been mentioned yet.

Rory Block
Gillian Welch
Emily Barker
Deb Talan
Carla Bruni
Patty Griffin
Dar Williams
Beth Orton
Agnes Obel
Patty Larkin

A bunch of these chicks started out with just guitars and ended up, sadly to my ears, accompanied by larger ensembles and plugged into over-attenuated amplifiers.

Tracy Chapman
Joni (of course)
Lucinda Williams

Sara Jarosz (ok, she's a chick with a mandolin)
Michelle Shocked

Marty - right on! Dar is certainly a great songwriter. I did not get specific about shared tastes with Richard, so let me clear that up before he's out building an outbuilding with his power tools. There are quite a few that have been mentioned here that I'd recommend to you as amazing writers as well (and I'm a big fan of great lyrics). I am blown away that women of this age can be writing with such depth, intelligence and passion. Here are those I'd loudly echo in that light:

Sara Jaffe (check out Suburban Nature)
Laura Veirs (Triumphs and Travails of Orphan Mae)
Martha Tilston (Love her voice too - any of her stuff - reminds me of a young Joni Mitchell)
Emily Barker (I much prefer her first album, Despite the Snow)

Not quite as young, but writing with the depth of true experience in the darker aspects of our nature, and also a great songwriter, a big, bold second for Mary Gauthier.

A chick with a banjo that may appeal to those who are enjoying the guitars...

Abigail Washburn (married to the great Bela Fleck) - speaking of Bela...anyone who loves music should see his documentary film, "Throw Down Your Heart" - just wonderful!!!

And a bunch of chicks with stringed instruments - wonderful stuff for those who love the likes of Be Good Tanyas and Po'Girl:

The Wailin' Jennys

That reminds me - No one has mentioned Cat Power yet, have they?

I was just reminded of the whole southern CA wrist-slitting set on another thread. These bands are all lead by the distinctive female vocalist. I don't know that that they all are accompanied by guitars, but the shoe fits, as it were. These all fit into a darker, more melancholic genre so if you aren't into that, don't go here. Trespassers does move a bit upbeat, but not by much.

Mazzy Star - Hope Sandoval branched out to do solo work

Golden Palominos - Lori Carson branched out also doing solo

Trespassers William (no longer in CA - moved to Seattle for the great weather no doubt) - check out Anchor and Different Stars. I'm not fond of their later efforts myself. Anchor is a gem. Not that well recorded, unfortunately, but a beautiful album nonetheless.

The new Feist is coming out in a few days. Did anyone mention her yet? The Reminder is a great album.

Yes, additional thumbs up for the new Feist and Lisa Hannigan - both are excellent.

Kami Thompson

This is the daughter of Richard and Linda Thompson so there are some damn fine musical genes at play here.

And lets not forget her brother, Teddy Thompson, who is also an excellent musician. Of course he's not a chick, but he does play the guitar pretty damn well like his dad. Not a bad voice either. I like his album, Separate Ways, and his contributions to, I'm Your Man (Leonard Cohen tribute) are excellent as well. He came out with a new album recently called, Bella. Haven't heard it.

Great genes indeed!