Celebrating Women’s History Month
March officially marks Women's History Month, and we are excited to celebrate all women and the journey to gender equality! Although women should be praised daily, this month is especially important in highlighting their achievements. What better way to celebrate than to honor the female musicians and artists who have enriched our lives and inspired us right here in the Blue Élan family. Join us this month as we celebrate the incredible contributions of Blue Élan’s women musicians and artists!
Los Angeles-based, female rock icons Cherie Currie and Brie Darling have been shattering glass ceilings their entire career. The two ladies carved a name for themselves and made people sit up and take notice of the female presence in rock music. Cherie Currie of The Runaways, and Brie Darling of the original, all-girl band Fanny, kicked down the boundaries of female acceptance half a century ago.
“We have been through very similar circumstances, coming from all-girl bands in the very beginning, and the trials and tribulations of that,” Currie says, when she and Darling called from their homes in California. “So it was just a really neat concept, to be able to do it right this time. To actually have each other’s back, and know that we can persevere no matter what.” Darling agrees: “Cherie is so supportive. She constantly gives you room to be who you are. This is my first experience where someone gives it to you. It’s just different. It makes it fun, it makes it exciting, it’s room to grow instead of having to grab what you need. It’s a giving situation. I’m enjoying myself instead of trying to find where I belong.”
The Runaways front-woman and solo artist, Currie, met the Fanny drummer and singer, Darling, in 2017 and immediately connected. Currie had come in to contribute vocals to
Fanny Walked the Earth, a reunion album from the trailblazing Fanny, the first all-female band signed to a major label (Reprise) in 1969. Though the two musicians were certainly admirers of each other, they had not yet met until that session. Once connected, the idea to continue collaborating was hatched and soon the idea to record an album was solidified.
The Motivator debuted in the Top 20 on Billboard’s Heatseeker’s Chart and has received rave reviews with The Big Takeover, saying “the chemistry of Currie and Darling is awe inspiring as the vocal gymnastics of both complement each other perfectly,” while Uncut magazine raves “The pick of their three originals is the defiant pop-rock anthem, “This Is Our Time”. “It ain’t over yet, turn up our voices past 10,” sings Currie. And they have.”
You can support their most recent project here:
https://www.blueelan.com/store/cherie-currie-brie-darling/
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Fanny were the first-ever all-female rock band to sign a record deal for a full-length album, and would pave the way for women for decades to come. Nearly 50 years later, Fanny reunited in 2017 as Fanny Walked the Earth — a name that reflects all that they’ve accomplished in their lives; all they’ve seen, done and lived through.
The groundbreaking band Fanny was “the most masterful all-female band of the classic rock era” (NPR), and a band David Bowie deeply respected: “One of the most important female bands in American rock has been buried without a trace. And that is Fanny. They were one of the finest... rock bands of their time, in about 1973. They were extraordinary... they're as important as anybody else who's ever been, ever; it just wasn't their time. Revivify Fanny. And I will feel that my work is done.”
According to a story in
Pitchfork, discrimination in the 1970s kept the band from being recognized as the rock pioneers they were. But now, with our highly charged and changing cultural landscape, and the interest in feminist rock and intersectional politics, there couldn’t be a more perfect time to tell the band’s story.
You can support their most recent project here:
https://www.blueelan.com/store/fanny-walked-the-earth/
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Rita Coolidge is an American recording artist with Native American roots who got her start as a backup singer for The Likes, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and Eric Clapton. After being a featured part of Joe Cocker's
Mad Dogs & Englishmen, singing the song “Superstar,” Rita became known as The Delta Lady.
In her subsequent career comprising five decades and millions of record sales, Rita captivated audiences with her signature hits “We’re All Alone,” “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” “All Time High,” and “(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher.” And in a remarkable eight-year romantic and artistic marriage for the ages, she and former husband Kris Kristofferson earned multiple Grammy Awards.
In 2017, Rita assembled songs for a new album with GRAMMY winning producer, Ross Hogarth. With
Safe in the Arms of Time, Rita’s odyssey from the hills of rural Tennessee to the recording studios of Los Angeles and concert stages around the world has come full circle. As Rita recalled in her book,
Delta Lady: “It’s all about the journey. Sometimes the path is surrounded by rainbows, and sometimes it’s buried in the mud. I’m still here and I still have a lot of gratitude for the whole process of being able to make music.”
You can support
Safe in The Arms of Time here:
https://www.blueelan.com/store/rita-coolidge/
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The careers of Cherie Currie & Brie Darling, Fanny Walked The Earth, and Rita Coolidge are truly legacies to be celebrated! Along with these music icons, wee have women breaking barriers of their own as they continue to build their career, check them out below:
An award-winning singer-songwriter, Cindy Alexander just announced her 10th studio album
While the Angels Sigh, set for release on April 23rd, 2021.
Cindy has garnered a multitude of awards including David Foster's/NBC
Star Tomorrow, L.A. Music Awards Songwriter of the Year/ Independent Pop Album of the Year/ Producer’s Honors - Best of Last 25 Years Female Singer-Songwriters, All Access Magazine's Best Female Pop Vocalist, and many more.
Pre order
While the Angels Sigh here:
https://cindyalexander.lnk.to/preorderwhiletheangelssigh
Up and coming singer-songwriter Amy Wilcox, debuted her EP
WEST in 2019. The rising star’s debut single, “Bandwagon,” immediately drew listeners in to Wilcox’s world with its bright jangly rhythm and carve your own path anthem.
Listen to
WEST here:
https://open.spotify.com/album/7lAnzfHrn0k2Z19sv2eqzD?si=SVO8HfbdQwqeu-zZ2lcV6A
New York-based pop powerhouse Car Astor has gone softer and much more personal on her new ‘mostly’ acoustic album,
you say you love me…but i don’t believe you, available now.
Listen to
you say you love me…but i don’t believe you here:
http://lnk.blueelanrecords.com/carastor-yousayyouloveme
Performing five hours a day, four days a week, Chelsea Williams honed her skills busking at Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade, where she captured the attention of passersby including Ron Howard and Sheryl Crow.
The Palomino Sound Sessions follows the studio release of Williams’ sophomore album
Beautiful & Strange, which was heralded by NPR as one of the top albums to come out on May 8, and received featured placement on Apple Music’s coveted New Music Daily and NPR’s All Songs Considered. Williams has also been named one of Rolling Stone’s “Top 10 New Artists You Need to Know.”
Listen to
The Palomino Sound Sessions here:
http://lnk.blueelanrecords.com/chelsea-palominosound
Hot on the heels of Gina Sicilia‘s recent Cody Dickinson-produced album,
Love Me Madly, and its follow up single, “
Married Man,“ “
Unrequited Love” is a single about that familiar feeling of one-sided love.
Listen here:
http://lnk.blueelanrecords.com/gina-unrequitedlove
Since the early ’90s, Magness has built an impressive career in American roots music, brick by hard-earned brick. She has traveled millions of miles, sung on thousands of club and festival stages, and made a string of recordings that have earned accolades and awards. Today, her albums rise to the top of Billboard’s roots music charts and the apex of the Americana and blues radio charts. She is only the second woman, following blues giant Koko Taylor, to receive the Blues Foundation’s B.B. King Entertainer of the Year award, and it was presented to her at the Memphis ceremonies by King and Bonnie Raitt. As anyone who has seen her performances or listened to her albums will attest, Magness has, indeed, earned a place in the history of American music.
Listen to her latest album
Change in the Weather: Janiva Magness Sings John Fogerty here:
https://smarturl.it/janivamagnesschange
Lisa Lambe, is one of Ireland’s best-known performers. Described by the Irish Times as the finest singer and actor of her generation, she is attracting a global audience with her most recent album release,
Juniper.
Listen to
Juniper here:
http://lnk.lisalambe.online/juniperoutnow
Mint Trip is a Los Angeles-based alternative pop band that’s not afraid to take risks. Whether experimenting with intricate rhythms and atmospheric soundscapes or performing melodically driven music with strong vocal hooks, the young band’s distinct mix of traditional and modern pop influences draw a fine line between the digital and analog worlds.
Their sonic palette features the vocal prowess of Amy Gionfriddo, whose dynamic voice can be both soothing and fierce, the pulsing rhythms of bassist Brian Gross, and the experimental guitar work of Max Molander.
Listen to their debut album,
Animator, here:
https://smarturl.it/minttripanimator
“Mustangs of the West have made an album for where the world is right now, and the title song “Time,” with special guest Poco’s Rusty Young on steel guitar, is an indisputable anthem for the challenges of today–and tomorrow. Hear and believe. ” - Bill Bentley
Listen to their most recent release,
Time, here:
http://lnk.mustangsofthewest.com/timealbumoutnow
While just one person graces the cover of their debut album
Indigo, Roan Yellowthorn is technically a duo. Growing up in Maine, Jackie McLean was drawn to music from an early age, performing in musicals. McLean continued to sing and act in leading roles throughout her formative years at Bard College, where she first met producer, multi-instrumentalist, and now husband Shawn Strack after inviting him to a game of Ping-Pong.
Listen to “Vampire,” the second single off their upcoming album,
Another Life here:
https://roanyellowthorn.lnk.to/vampire
Many years before she made audiences laugh starring on MTV’s
Mary + Jane and Oxygen’s
Funny Girls, she knew that being different was her greatest strength. That free spirit defines her first album for Blue Élan Records,
Take One Thing Off. Scout Durwood has since released
Comedy Electronica Vol. 1, her second digital video series with accompanying EP.
The five song set is now available on
all streaming services, and all five videos are available here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXmMtP8TGcDwJXK4qiDA_YXq0OakPuZYe 
