Over the course of 2015 we saw many talented female country and Americana artists put out fantastic albums. Determining who will win Country Perspective’s 2015 Female Artist of the Year award will be no easy feat. The main guidelines for determining who should win are the following: the quality of music they’ve released in 2015, the impact they have made on the genre over the course of the year and the amount of growth they made as an individual artist.
Derek and myself will ultimately determine which artist will win, but we also want to hear from you the readers who is deserving of the award. Your comments will be highly considered for determining who wins and you could possibly sway who should be the winner. So be sure to sound off in the comments! Without further ado the nominees for Country Perspective’s 2015 Female Artist of Year (in alphabetical order):
Brandi Carlile
One of the most underrated albums of the year has to be Brandi Carlile’s The Firewatcher’s Daughter. Blurring the lines between country, rock and Americana Carlile delivers music that touches the mind and heart. She’s a truly great artist that deserves more attention. As I said in my review of her newest album:
The Firewatcher’s Daughter is an album you’ll need to hear multiple times to fully grasp, but trust me it’s well worth it. Carlile’s dynamic voice and the cornucopia of genres mixed together make for one hell of an album. While Music Row continues to push cookie cutter female artists who produce music that panders to the latest fad, there are talented female artists outside that bubble like Carlile making innovative music. Some people will call this album a rock album. Others will say it’s alternative or a country album. Does it really matter though? This is just great music that any music fan can appreciate.
Kacey Musgraves
I feel like Kacey Musgraves sort of got lost in the fray in 2015. Throughout 2013 and 2014 she received lots of critical praise and awards from multiple outlets for her major debut album Same Trailer, Different Park. One of the big reasons why I think this happened is because her sophomore album Pageant Material didn’t have the incendiary political commentary that attracted so many outside fans and media outlets with her first album. That’s a damn shame because I felt like Pageant Material was not only a better album, but a big step forward for Kacey. I don’t think she liked all of the political attention, even though it really helped elevate her close friends Shane McAnally and Brandy Clark. Kacey considers herself just a “dimestore cowgirl” who loves to make authentic country music and that’s the place she wants to be going forward. And she’s still having plenty of success without any support from country radio.
Lindi Ortega
Like Kacey Musgraves, Lindi Ortega has generated her own critical buzz in recent years. Her previous album Tin Star was called by many one of the best country albums of 2013. So the anticipation and hype going into her new album this year was certainly high. While Faded Gloryville didn’t quite live up to its hype, it was still a very good album full of solid music. While many mainstream female country artists love to sing about pleasing their man, Ortega sings about what pleases herself and doesn’t pander to stereotypes. She goes against the grain and sets a great example for young female listeners everywhere. Not to mention, she wrote a great piece on women in country music after the TomatoGate incident.
Tami Neilson
For the second straight year Tami Neilson finds herself on many of our year-end awards list. And for great reason, as she once again delivered one of the best country albums of the year. Don’t Be Afraid copes with the loss of a loved one (Tami’s father) and how to deal with this heartache and the memories you had of them. Neilson’s big and dynamic voice is capable of belting out the loudest and softest of songs, conveying the perfect amount of emotion to connect with the listener. While I don’t think many music outlets in the U.S. give her the respectable amount of attention she deserves, her home country New Zealand certainly does. Not too many artists can deliver great albums in back-to-back years, but Neilson has done it and that makes her favorite to win this award.
Whitney Rose
We saw a lot of great new artists burst onto the scene from country and Americana this year. One of the best was undoubtedly Whitney Rose. Hailing from Canada, Rose teamed up with smooth-voiced frontman of The Mavericks, Raul Malo, to make her sophomore record Heartbreaker of the Year. And when you combine two great minds like this, magic happens. Heartbreaker of the Year is one of the most uniquely sounding and creative country albums I’ve heard this year. Infusing retro pop with classic, traditional country, Rose delivers stirring love ballads and quirky stories. She more than holds her own singing next to Malo on “Be My Baby” too. What’s crazy is I don’t think this is even her best work and it’s still yet to come.
Who do you think should win? Be sure to comment below.
No Gretchen Peters? She’s definitely #1 on my year-end list with “Blackbirds”! ^__^
Going along with the names you provide, Tami Neilson’s “Don’t Be Afraid” is my favorite with Whitney Rose the runner-up.
The former is just gut-punching and intimate in a way the other contenders don’t quite replicate in their own mostly strong efforts. I was able to connect with her ache and story from front to back listening and, on top of that, some exquisite production.
Brandi Carlile deserves quite an honorable mention though in that, while hardly country musically, it’s stone cold country lyrically and “The Firewatcher’s Daughter” is so well-rounded. Ashley Monroe also deserved an honorable mention for “The Blade”.
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As much of a hard time as I’ve given Kacey Musgrave for what I thought was a highly overrated debut album (good, mind you, just not remotely as outstanding and award-worthy as critics made it out to be)…………..she definitely improved, at least in my eyes, with “Pageant Material”. It still doesn’t rate among the Best of 2015 in my eyes, but she produced a strong effort for sure! =)
I was honestly considerably disappointed with Linda Ortega’s latest. Among releases outside the mainstream, it was second only to Jason Boland & the Stragglers’ “Squelch” in leaving a fair bit to be desired. Still a pretty good album all things considered, but it definitely felt like a transitional album: somewhat tentative and missing some of the punch of her earlier efforts and the country of “Tin Star”. Like Neko Case, it seems like she’s intending to move more to an intimate singer/songwriter style instead of squaring to a particular genre. Which I respect, but tends to make for efforts that sound a little more bland and a little less impactful.
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Nice solid list of nominees.
Personally, I’d add Courtney Patton and Jamie Lin Wilson to the list.
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Good call! =)
Jamie Lin Wilson also finished in my Top Twenty Country Albums of 2015 list! ^__^
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Agreed, both of their albums made my t10 of the year.
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Whitney Rose has my vote!!! Have seen her a couple of times and she is amazing talent!’
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Nice that the last 3 on the list are Canadian! (Tami is NZ based but WAS born here!) Whitney gets my vote, though.
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Rose!
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Whitney Rose is an absolute gem! Beautifully talented and a kind, gracious person to boot!
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Whitney Country all the way!!!
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My vote is for Whitney Rose. She has been opening for the most dynamic bands in music ,The Mavericks for the past few years. She has to be good to hold her own fronting for them. She has a great sound and is an excellent song writer.
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Whitney Rose gets my vote. Such a pure sound and amazing album !
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I have to vote for Whitney Rose. A very talented individual and also an all-around genuine person.
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Whitney Rose by far
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I vote for Whitney Rose.
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Whitney Rose
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Whitney Rose Definitely gets my vote….I own both her albums and can not wait to see what she comes up with next!!! She is an amazing person…kind hearted and very compassionate. She sings with her whole heart and puts everything she got into every lyric she sings….she truly has a voice of an angel!!
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I have to say I LOVE seeing all the Whitney Rose love here! =D
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Whitney Rose gets my vote, she is an awesome country girl!!!!
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Whitney Rose
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Whitney Rose gets my vote!!
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Whitney Rose all the way
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Holy shit, guess I’ll go with Whitney Rose lol
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Whitney Rose for me.
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Whitney!!
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Whitney Rose
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Whitney Rose!
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Whitney has my vote. She is amazing!!
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Whitney Rose!
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I haven’t listened to Brandi Carlile’s album unfortunately, but out of the other four I think I’d go with Tami Neilson.
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I would go with Whitney Rose.
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Obviously, somebody is posting under different pseudonyms in favor of Whitney Rose. They should probably be blocked, if possible.
Whitney Rose is, in fact, my favorite among the nominees. I love Lindi Ortega, but ‘Faded Gloryville’ is nothing special within her oeuvre. It’s a very solid album, but I would sooner recommend any of her three previous albums. But Whitney’s album is special, even though I would say that her previous (debut) is just as special. It’s a tragedy that she is still on the margins of the country industry.
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Actually it is not. These are all different people, as each have a different IP address. Whitney shared this on her social media accounts and her fans have flocked here like crazy. Gotta say I’m impressed with their support.
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Okay, that explains it. I should not have been as suspicious, but (after blogging for years) I am skeptical about these things. Kudos to Whitney’s fans and Whitney herself. She’s a superb talent.
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Whitney Rose. Can’t wait to see you again
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My vote goes to Whitney Rose !!! Truly an amazing singer and songwriter.She warms my heart when she sings .
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Whitney Rose for me. Love her talent as a singer and songwriter. Simply a beautiful young girl
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The talented Whitney Rose!
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My vote goes to Whitney Rose. An amazing artist with a voice of an angel.
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Whitney Rose has my vote
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Whitney Rose takes it hands down. Love her singing………
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Whitney Rose rocks !
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john Best
Whitney Rose is an exciting new artist, who can sing anything & has great stage presence !
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I vote Whitney Rose!
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A lot of good choices here, but I am throwing my vote to Whitney. She did some great shows in Austin.
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Whitney Rose has my vote, I’ve seen her a couple of times and what a voice!!
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Whitney Rose without a doubt.
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Whitney Rose
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Whitney Rose!!
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Whitney Rose
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Sorry I gotta go with Tami Neilson hands down. Never heard a voice like hers and I’ve been listening to her over and over
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I vote for Whitney!
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Gotta be Whitney Rose. She’s not only a great singer but a very talented song writer. And by the way, my wife voted from the same IP address.
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Hands down Jamie Lin Wilson or Courtney Patton, nobody on that list competes vocally and their albums are easily in the top 10 2015 releases.
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The incredible Whitney Rose and “Heartbreaker of the Year” get my vote! For the ultimate… get out and experience one of her live performances!
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