University of Texas PressIt may be harder than ever to find female voices on country radio, but there’s no shortage of feminine viewpoints in a new collection of country music essays.
In Woman Walk the Line: How the Women in Country Music Changed Our Lives, Taylor Swift considers the impact of her fellow trailblazer, Brenda Lee, while Rosanne Cash writes about the country icon who was also her stepmother, June Carter Cash.
Though the 27-story collection won’t be out until fall, it already counts Reba McEntire as a fan.
“These personal stories — from women, about women and the way music impacts lives — are entertaining, thought-provoking, and, most of all, memorable,” Reba says.
The book also features Kenny Chesney’s frequent collaborator Grace Potter sharing her connection to Rock-and-Roll Hall-of-Famer Linda Ronstadt, while second-generation country artist Aubrey Sellers, daughter of Lee Ann Womack, offers her thoughts on Alison Krauss.
Writer Holly Gleason, who edited the collection and brought the project to life, has also penned an essay for the project, on Tanya Tucker.
“I’ve been fortunate to know so many dynamic women whose voices you may not know,” Gleason says, “but how they came to be the women they are is often more tied up in the artist they identified with than you’d imagine.”
“So this anthology was built around the notion of reminding people how much music informs life, and offering readers access to some amazing female writers who generously share their own lives, wisdom, and love of music.”
You can pre-order Woman Walk the Line now, ahead of its September 20 release.
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