A troubadour (English: /ˈtruːbədʊər, -dɔːr/, French: [tʁubaduʁ] was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Nowadays, it means Jade Bird, Katy J Pearson, Orla Gartland, Billie Marten, Clairo, Julia Jacklin et. al.
Words & curation by Keith, Jade Bird cover portrait by Mick
According to definition, a troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word troubadour is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz.
So, it seems that the male appropriation of all things music began back in medieval times. When we think of the idea of the troubadour - we picture the romantic, dishevelled but handsome guy - the lone singer-songwriter travelling the road with a guitar slung across his back, going from town to town, living hand to mouth by the power and poetry of his songs.
Bunk!
Women are the new troubadours now. This is because, in the tradition of the genre, they are writing better songs and performing them better than their male counterparts. And they are doing it against all odds, navigating their way through an essentially still male-dominated music industry.
In my day job, myself and the good team at MIDiA Research have been working toward the publication of a groundbreaking study of 400 female creators (songwriters, musicians, producers, technicians and managers from around the globe) in conjunction with music distribution company TuneCore and independent label Believe. The full results will be published during Women’s History Month, March 2021. The study will reveal some shocking and well-known truths about the challenges faced by women creators from sexual harassment to the ‘motherhood burden’. From the genderization of music production and under-representation in music media. Also, the report will examine some deeper revelations about the endemic issues of unconscious bias and poor access to industry resources for female creators, along with positive developments and a forward path to change.
Yet as the discourse increases and women’s voices are heard more loudly in the music industry one thing I see little about is the simple calling out that women are making music that is better than their male counterparts: across a good few genres in which we curate here at The Song Sommelier. How do we know this? Because we have the best research tools in the industry - our ears.
In country-pop, neo-soul/R&B and pop, it is women who are blazing a trail with innovative musicality, powerful songs with brilliant lyrics and strong narratives, and great artistic creative concept. As a curator, it is obvious to me - because our playlist series in these genres are so much easier to fill with female artists. Their songs stand out and, as artists with something to say, so do they.
Just recently, the same goes for a lot of indie and Americana too - the genres that work well in the troubadour (or should we say trobairitz?) tradition. So in this volume III of New Troubadours, we focus on the current crop of female singer-songwriters. For the remainder of Women’s History Month we will do the same for our Dark & Stormy and Postmodernist Pop series as well as adding some iconic female artists to our artist pages.
But right here we have something special: a collection of 30 new or recent tracks by some amazing women who are in our humble opinion, way out there on the vanguard of brilliant music. Most are original songs, though we could not resist a couple of peachy covers, notably Stella Donnelly’s devastating cover of Boys Will Be Boys and Connie Constance’s raw, emotional take on English Rose (both selected by our cover artist Sir Mick Clarke). Where to even begin when the well of great songs is so deep? When new songs are coming from the likes of St Vincent, Sharon Van Etten, Bess Atwell and Zella Day?
On this particular occasion it had to be Jade Bird and her latest song ‘Open up the heavens’. As you may or may not know, Jade is an English troubadour/trobairitz/musician making music that blends pop, Americana, country and folk rock, all of which make their presence felt on the new track. It just feels to us like Jade is someone who is making music unbound by both gender and genre. And we like the sound of that. On the cover she goes then and what a pose - dynamic is the word (and nicely captured by Mick!).
Once you’ve listened through the collection ask yourself something: could you pull together in a few short hours 30 new and recent songs by male troubadours with a similar level of quality to what’s here? If that’s a yes, please be our guest!
In 2019, the report Counting the Music Industry found that PRS for Music, the royalty collection organisation for songwriters and composers in the UK, had 17% of its 140,000 members registered as female. PRS for Music revealed just last week that the number of women registering as professional songwriters and composers in the UK was up 12% in 2020, which might just have pushed that ratio up to one in five.
MIDiA and TuneCore/Believe’s report will be published March 2021.
With thanks to Stella Jopling and Mick Clarke for additional track selections.