Women make music – Joan Armatrading
If there is one musician who represents my college years more than any other, singing songs I still remember all the lyrics to, wrapping me up in her voice, it is Joan Armatrading.
That voice, those lyrics, the sound. A deep, deep love for her. I wanted to be her, imagined myself her, singing like that, playing the guitar like that, on stage like that.
She is the first female UK artist to debut at number 1 in the Billboards Blues chart, the first female UK artist to be nominated for a Grammy in blues category, the first black UK artist to debut at #1 on Billboard blues chart, and the first black UK artist to be nominated for a Grammy in blues category. "I write," she says, "because I love it."
In a world of pop stars who are more focused on being famous than on what they have to say, how their words and rhythms will stir, and how they can spark change, here’s to Joan and to women musicians who write, play, perform their own music. They have messages for us; we must listen. And, perhaps, sing along.
