Growing up, dreaming of being a singer was pretty great. Visions of rhinestones, singing at the Grand Ole Opry, writing songs and getting to sing those songs all over the country, it all sounded like a beautiful dream.

Turns out, it pretty much is a dream.  Some days, you sing for crowds of thousands of people opening up for an amazing artist, or you write or record a song you truly believe in, or you have a big win where your record label decides to really support you.  (And while I'm about to get into some struggles, I have to say it is the privilege of my life to get to create music.  I've achieved more than SO many ever get the chance to and I will never take these opportunities for granted.)

Most days though, reality is a little different. I spend much more time on logistics than I do actually making music. Great gigs are hard to find, and I'm in a constant battle trying to get my record label to release my music.

Five years ago I turned a record in that I loved, that I spent a year of my life making, and was told they couldn't release it because I was a girl, and girls were too hard and expensive to work at county radio.  And here we are five years later and they haven't released a single on a female artist since. 

It's a tough road for women right now, and I'll get into all that in a later post.  This post is about how we persevere, how we build a better music community that actually empowers women, that raises up talented females and nurtures them into strong women creatives.  

The only answer I have is to start. Gather, love on your ladies and figure out how to serve them. I'm not a giant touring act, (YET) so I can't invite women on the road to open up for me.  I'm not a head of a label, or a publishing company, so I can't sign talented young women and help develop them into the artists and writers they've always dreamed of becoming. 

But I can get together with and share my insight, share my heart with the gals I love the most.  I can write with them, collaborate with them and help showcase their talents. Shine a light on other ladies who aren't getting the attention they deserve.  So stayed tuned for a series coming very soon to my youtube, blog and insta, cause you're going to be seeing a lot of these ladies.  

These pics are from a party Kelsea Ballerini hosted about a month back.  We laughed, drank, toasted each other and brainstormed about how best we could support our fellow female artists in the coming year. It was a great night with some wonderful and talented girls. Kelsea's home is lovely and it was such a great excuse to get the whole girl gang back together.  

Do you guys have any ideas about how we can all support each other better? I'm all ears and really want to commit to doing everything I can do help! Please let me know in the comments!

All my 💖,

Ruthie