My Favourite Discovery of 2020

For me it is quite a rare occurrence, but now and again I hear a new artist and I am completely stopped in my tracks. I have discovered many new artists to listen to courtesy of Linda's show Voice of a Woman, however one stands out head and shoulders above the rest in 2020.

Voice of a Woman broadcasts on a Sunday at 6pm and listening to the show is normally something I combine with getting tea ready, eating tea and clearing up afterwards. I remember vividly that I was in my kitchen washing up the first time that I heard the music of Jenny Colquitt. Linda played her song “Tell Me Where The Light Is” and I was instantly captured by the sound. I was truly mesmorised and it was only the song finishing and the realisation that I was dripping soapy water all over the kitchen floor that snapped me back to some level of awareness of what was going on around me. This was not a feeling I had experienced since the first time I heard the music of Eva Cassidy.

Jenny is a talented and versatile singer-songwriter and her music spans many different genres. She has two EP albums of her own music out but she is also equally adept at producing excellent cover versions of many different classic songs, again covering many different styles. Jenny has what I would call a “magic ear”, when it comes to interpreting a song, putting her own twist on it while still retaining the original essence of the song.

Zombie - The Cranberries (cover by Jenny Colquitt)

The 2016 EP “The Quiet Kind” and the 2020 follow up “Dear Daughter” are both superb and I have posted the Bandcamp link at the bottom of this post. Please check out Jenny's music there, stream it on Spotify and look up Jenny's social media accounts. She also streams regularly on Youtube and Facebook and has just started streaming on Twitch as well so there are plenty of chances to hear Jenny live (or at least as close to live as we can manage at the moment).

Jenny's songwriting is very honest and genuine. She truly writes from the heart and her songs are full of passion and feeling. What I like is that she doesn't shy away from writing songs about difficult subjects. Songs such as “I am Yours” which is about addiction, it is difficult to not be moved by Jenny's performance as emotion seeps out of every pore.

I am Yours - original song by Jenny Colquitt

I can't wait to see where the journey takes her in 2021. Seeing Jenny live in concert is one of the first things I want to do when it is safe to do so, restrictions are eased and live music can begin to take place again. It will be a special moment.

Please visit Jenny's website by clicking on the link below:
Jenny Colquitt Music

Please see Jenny's Bandcamp page:
Jenny Colquitt Bandcamp

Happy birthday to Voice of a Woman!

Almost exactly twelve months ago, a message was posted to my Facebook group advertising the first episode of a brand new radio show. My Facebook group exists to promote women in country music and a radio show that does exactly the same seemed like a good match.

Voice of a Woman is produced and presented by Linda and broadcasts on Claremorris Community Radio every Sunday at 6pm. It is also repeated on a Tuesday afternoon at 4pm. The show promotes and shines a light on female artists in the country, Americana and folk genres. As these are my favourite genres and added to the fact that I mostly listen to female singers, I have become a regular listener of the show.

Linda is one of the most enthusiastic and genuine supporters of women in music that I know. I enjoy finding new artists to listen to and, in the last twelve months, a large proportion of my new favourites are thanks to listening to Voice of a Woman. This time last year, I'd never heard of names such as Robbie Harte, Kree Harrison, Nell Bryden, Cerian, Lorraine Nash, Emily Ann Roberts and Jenny Colquitt – just to name a few. All of these and many more have become artists that I regularly listen to. Variety is the spice of life as they say and I've always liked listening to many different artists – I could never just listen to the same handful of singers and bands over and over again. I love that there is just so much variety out there, a sound for every mood!

The music industry must be so difficult to crack and with the added problems caused by a worldwide pandemic, I can only imagine how important Linda's unwavering support is for these artists. Not being able to hold a tune to save my life, I will never be an artist myself but promoting your own music must seem like a relentless slog at times. It must mean the world to have Linda in your corner shining a light on your work, her positivity and ebullience when it comes to music is pretty unmatched in my experience.

The turbulent year that was 2020 contained very few constants but for me listening to Voice of a Woman has been something that I have come to rely on. I have worked full time throughout the pandemic, and just at that point on a Sunday evening where the worries about going back to work are starting to manifest themselves, listening to the show feels a bit like nectar for the soul. For that one hour every week I can forget about whatever else is going on in the world and truly immerse myself in some great music.

Please keep doing what you're doing Linda, speaking for myself I really appreciate it and I'm positive that there are many artists out there who also greatly appreciate what you do. Under normal circumstances I'm sure that we would have met in person at a gig by now. Rest assured, when that time comes I'm sure there will be a lengthy conversation all about music! I look forward to that day.

Listen to Voice of a Woman at the following link:
Claremorris Community Radio

Listen to previous episodes at the Mixcloud link below:
Voice of a Woman - Mixcloud