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
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