Last week, Keith Hill compared female vocalists in Country music to tomatoes.  He suggested that radio channels should, “feature less female vocalists on their stations if they want to keep ratings [high].”

Keith, those are fighting words.  

Sara Evans has more to combat Hill's public suggestions.  She notes:

“Country would not be what it is without women. Some of these huge, iconic artists and songs, like Loretta and Dolly. I was born to be a country singer, and it's all I've ever done. To get to a point in my career where you feel the doors are closed for women is not only frustrating, but it's scary. I want my career to continue. I have a family to support. If country radio is not going to play female artists, that's a scary thing. You feel blocked out that you have no genre or outlet for your music. To me, that's asinine. Think about it: If Hollywood was only going to cast men, then the movies would start to become boring and narrow. I just feel that the country format has become narrow in what they allow us to hear. In other genres, the subject matter is so much broader and diverse. It's very frustrating.”

Basically, it challenges people in the music and entertainment industry to look forward, and not revert back to a Shakespearean era.  Sara Evans has a right to be this concerned.  She has shattered ceilings with five number one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, not to mention 14 more in the Top 40 Singles list.

Sara Evans says she's glad Hill made the statement — for one simple reason.  ‘I'm really glad Keith made that statement, because we women of country music have been talking about and dealing with this for the past five to seven years, and I don't really know what happened.  As a female artist, we have seen it get harder and harder to get played on the radio — almost to the point that we feel that we have no genre anymore. They just will not play women. It's so ridiculous. The reason I'm glad that Keith Hill made the statement is now we have a way to talk about it. It's a touchy subject, because you don't want to offend the people [who] play your records [on the radio]. Since he brought it up, we can respond to it.'

A counter argument Keith Hill has voiced is that, “Female listeners would simply rather hear male artists.”  Sara Evans countered back with:

“People keep blaming it on the women fans. I would love to appeal to the fans as well to not only listen to men… I don't know if they're only playing men, so that's all they are hearing, or if they are only wanting to hear men.  When I came into the scene, there were so many dynamic and fabulous women who were happening. Reba McEntire, Patty Loveless, Trisha Yearwood, Faith Hill, Martina McBride, the Dixie Chicks, Lee Ann Womack and LeAnn Rimes.”

Evans suggests if the radio decides to stop playing women  artists, they should create another genre for them or split the Country music genre.  Doing this will give females an outlet to release their musical talents and share their art of story telling.  Obviously, she doesn't believe the industry will do this.  But she says it to bring up a good point.  Either radio collects itself and give both genders equal or overlapping air time, or be ridiculous and create a new genre of music.  If you were a radio executive, how would you address and handle this situation?  What would you say to the press?  Would you change what you play or stay the same?

To visit the original article, please go to: Billboard