Comments on: Sera Cahoone :: Only As The Day Is Long http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2008/03/27/sera-cahoone-only-as-the-day-is-long/ Los Angeles based mp3 & music blog Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:30:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.6 by: boyhowdy http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2008/03/27/sera-cahoone-only-as-the-day-is-long/#comment-217596 Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:33:55 +0000 http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2008/03/27/sera-cahoone-only-as-the-day-is-long/#comment-217596 Interestingly, I've been pondering this same issue in the folk world. But there, I think the issue isn't that the pool is smaller for one gender or the other -- it's that there are gender-specific archetypes on both ends. The end result is, when writ largest, there are only two types of core folk sounds -- the sweet-voiced female vocalist and the rough-edges Dylanesque male. Everything else, somehow, ends up being treated as either unique or subgenre-specific, or can be described as some sort of crossover into another genre -- infiefolk, folk pop, alt-country folk, what have you. I guess the point is that hearing Jack Johnson or Josh Ritter compared to Dylan or Guthrie is silly. And just as limiting, in a way. It's just not as gender-biased. Interestingly, I’ve been pondering this same issue in the folk world. But there, I think the issue isn’t that the pool is smaller for one gender or the other — it’s that there are gender-specific archetypes on both ends. The end result is, when writ largest, there are only two types of core folk sounds — the sweet-voiced female vocalist and the rough-edges Dylanesque male. Everything else, somehow, ends up being treated as either unique or subgenre-specific, or can be described as some sort of crossover into another genre — infiefolk, folk pop, alt-country folk, what have you.

I guess the point is that hearing Jack Johnson or Josh Ritter compared to Dylan or Guthrie is silly. And just as limiting, in a way. It’s just not as gender-biased.

]]> by: j. neas http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2008/03/27/sera-cahoone-only-as-the-day-is-long/#comment-217435 Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:03:33 +0000 http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2008/03/27/sera-cahoone-only-as-the-day-is-long/#comment-217435 Heather, I'm sure you noticed that even with my being aware of our tendency to judge female artists that way, I couldn't help but do it in my own writing. I just think that, more than any other 'type' of songwriter, women get compared to a smaller than normal group of artists. It could just be that you have a smaller pool of people to pull from if you want to compare women to women, but as an example, I was about to scream if I heard one more person who I tried to introduce Kathleen Edwards to tell me that she sounded like Sheryl Crow. I don't know what the solution or the path forward is, but it was something that I thought quite a bit about as I wrote the review. Heather, I’m sure you noticed that even with my being aware of our tendency to judge female artists that way, I couldn’t help but do it in my own writing. I just think that, more than any other ‘type’ of songwriter, women get compared to a smaller than normal group of artists. It could just be that you have a smaller pool of people to pull from if you want to compare women to women, but as an example, I was about to scream if I heard one more person who I tried to introduce Kathleen Edwards to tell me that she sounded like Sheryl Crow.

I don’t know what the solution or the path forward is, but it was something that I thought quite a bit about as I wrote the review.

]]> by: heather http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2008/03/27/sera-cahoone-only-as-the-day-is-long/#comment-217253 Thu, 27 Mar 2008 16:48:36 +0000 http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2008/03/27/sera-cahoone-only-as-the-day-is-long/#comment-217253 thanks for the interesting ruminations about female artists. even as a female, i think i have a tendency to judge women musicians with a different standard than I do males and i have no conclusions on where to go with that. thanks for the interesting ruminations about female artists. even as a female, i think i have a tendency to judge women musicians with a different standard than I do males and i have no conclusions on where to go with that.

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