Every couple of years, I write a piece on the subject of five female artists you should hear. There’s a lot of music out there these days and it can be hard to sift through all of it — particularly since, unlike years ago, you’re not going to hear most of the good stuff on the radio. These “five female artists” pieces are a way to highlight some of the women who are making good music but flying under the radar. That could be because they are newer artists or just because they’ve never broken through to the mainstream.
This year’s group of five is another talented and diverse bunch. You’ll find everything from old school R&B to Gen Z pop and from tongue-in-cheek country to more serious synth-based music. Perhaps not all of these artists will be your cup of tea — but I’d be willing to beat one or two will be.
Skip The Needle
Skip The Needle is a band from Oakland that plays, in their own words, “black dyke rock.” STN formed a decade ago, but their experience in the Bay Area music scene goes even further back. The four members — guitarists Katie Cash and Shelley Doty, bassist Vicki Randle (a veteran of The Tonight Show) and drummer Kofy Brown — draw on a wide variety of influences. The result is a sociopolitical blend of soul and rock that gets you moving as it makes you think.
Asked what each member of the band brings, Cash says “Vicki is a lead singing bass player; she brings the vocal heat and infuses activism into her lyrical contributions. Kofy is a lead singing drummer; she brings an infectious joy to both her drumming and singing. Shelley rocks with a jazz attitude. She puts the ‘play’ in playing music and brings an exploratory energy to the band’s writing process. [And I] bring a punk rock urgency [as] lead singer and guitarist. [My] deep love for humans brings a cohesive and intuitive balance to the band.”
Skip The Needle released a terrific new EP called Wake Up Wake Up Wake Up in May. “The concept was born out of the early pandemic days in Oakland,” explains Cash. “Protests in the streets, helicopters circling day and night, police in riot gear blasting tear gas into crowds of students… [The title track] is a message of love and a call to action.”
Jennifer Hall
Jennifer Hall is a singer-songwriter who’s been kicking around the Chicago music scene for a bit, making what she calls “vulnerable synth-pop.” She is currently at work on her sophomore album. “I [think] this upcoming record is more honest [than my last],” she states. “Painfully so at times. Noam [Wallenberg], my partner, produces all [my] work and he has created some incredibly magical production for this record.” Her influences range from St. Vincent to Stevie Nicks and Edith Piaf.
When asked about the Windy City music scene, Hall replies, “Chicago can be underestimated sometimes in comparison to New York or LA or Nashville. Because of that, I have felt like a challenge has been posed, like there is something to prove in a way! It has inspired me to do my best work and to represent a city that I love so wholeheartedly… I find that there’s a great deal of approachability and openness in the music community here.”
One of the highlights of Hall’s last disc was the track “SFA,” which she says is about the desire to act from a place of empathy instead of judgment.
Belle Blue
At just 15 years of age, NYC-based Belle Blue is by far the youngest of these five artists. Her inspirations range from Blondie to the Riot Grrrl scene to her family (Belle’s grandmother was a record producer in London back in the ‘60s). Belle’s greatest influence, though, is David Bowie. “His unique view on music, his style and persona make him one of my biggest inspirations and one of the prodigies of our time,” she says of The Thin White Duke.
Her debut song, “Woof,” finds her reading the Riot (Grrrl) Act to a boy who has done her wrong. “‘Woof’ was such a fun song to make!” she gushes. “I wrote it on my guitar in my bed, as I write most of my songs, and I knew that I had to record it and produce it. I wanted to bring that punk rock, girl band vibe [to] the music video, which I really think I accomplished.” Indeed she did.
Belle recently completed a brief tour with the band Kids That Fly and is planning to hit the road with them again in August.
Alex Isley
Music was in Alex Isley’s DNA. Her father is Ernie Isley (of the legendary Isley Brothers) and her grandmother was an opera singer. So it was no great shock when Alex herself turned out to be a musician. “It felt normal to me to see my Dad and uncles on stage or in the studio,” she remembers. “But I also think maybe I didn’t understand the magnitude of what it meant to watch and see them up close in their element. Music having a profound impact from the beginning was inevitable for me.”
In the last few years, she has worked with other artists but is making increasing waves as a solo act. Her recent single “Hands” is a lovely throwback to old-school R&B. “I just remember wanting to create something moody and sensual that had a romantic vibe,” Isley says of the song. “That idea came together pretty quickly — start to finish in one session!” She also has a new EP out called When and she recently gave an NPR Tiny Desk performance.
Outside of music, Isley is a passionate advocate for mental health, women’s rights, mindfulness and physical fitness. She is also one of the rare musicians who grew up with synesthesia, the condition where people see sounds and feel colors. “I didn’t know that synesthesia was a thing until high school,” she tells me. “I remember associating colors with keys and chords since I was little. So when I found out what it was in high school, I thought it was super cool. To me, the key of a song is a big part of what dictates the mood of it — and changing the key can definitely shift that mood.”
Gwen Levey and the Breakdown
Country rocker Gwen Levey was born in Virginia but is now based in Nashville. She is currently working on the follow-up to her 2023 debut, Not the Girl Next Door. Levey performs with her band The Breakdown which includes guitarist James Britton, keyboardist Amy Frederick, bassist Alex Butchart and drummer Marcus Davis.
The standout track on Not the Girl Next Door was “Barefoot and Pregnant,” a wise but witty sendup of the view of women held by conservatives. She was moved to write the song after Roe V Wade was overturned. “I have a lot of respect for the spiritual principles of religion, but immense disrespect for the way it has been twisted and used against marginalized communities,” says Levey. “When it comes to ‘Barefoot and Pregnant,’ I am directly calling out the religious extremists who view women not as human beings but as incubators. The continuous degradation of women and other marginalized communities in the name of religion — especially those who claim to be Evangelical Christians and follow the teachings of Christ — is a big reason we are in this mess about abortion today. Not to mention the hypocrisy of calling themselves pro-life but having no benefits in place when the child is born.”
When asked which female musicians have inspired her, Levey replies, “Linda Ronstadt is a big influence for me as a trailblazer — not only in music but also in her existence as a woman challenging the status quo as the first female rock and roll star. She did all of this while standing up for her Mexican heritage when she was told throughout her career to hide it. As an openly bisexual pro choice woman with Jewish heritage, in an interracial relationship, I too have been told throughout my career to hide these parts of myself. But having the ability to openly be who I am is important to me — and it’s artists like Linda who showed me that’s possible.”
