Music / st george's bristol
Night of music planned to celebrate ten years of project that empowers female musicians
A project that was started to empower female musicians in a largely male-dominated industry is celebrating ten years of success.
Co-founded in 2011 by Samantha Lindo, a Bristol-based soul and jazz artist, Clean Bandit singer Eliza Shaddad and Bristol-based Brit nominee Beth Rowley, Girls Girls Girls was not only started as an empowering platform for female creatives to come together, but also as a way to raise awareness around FGM (Female Genital Mutilation).
“I spent time in Uganda where a dancer friend I had met introduced Stephen Rwangyezi, director of the Ugandan National Theatre and leading actor in the Last King of Scotland,” says Samantha when discussing the additional focus of the group on FGM.
is needed now More than ever
“FGC (Female Genital Cutting) was an issue that the women brought up in the workshops, but it was hard for them to talk about it and was still such a stigmatised subject. I had not heard of it before then, it really affected me and had no idea it was happening in the UK.
“My friend Ruth, who had been in Uganda with me, then started working for the Orchid Project, who raised awareness around FGC in the UK and Internationally.”
Samantha describes Girls Girls Girls and the Orchard Project as the “perfect partnership” and the collective has supported the charity at many events.
The tenth birthday celebrations, planned for Thursday, June 10 at St George’s Bristol, will support the Orchid Project.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YzH_15RnTg&feature=youtu.be
The night will feature Beth Rowley, Eliza Shaddad, and Samantha Lindo, as well as Bristol’s Murmuration Choir.
The contemporary music choir, inspired by BBC Radio 6 Music DJs and the alternative music scene led by Isolde Freeth-Hale, were asked to perform at the event by Samantha.
“I’ve seen them perform a few times and Isolde connected with me over lockdown to explore how we could work together, particularly around using our music to affect social change related to climate and racial justice as lots of what I put out is around this,” she says.
“Isolde and the Murmuration Choir make such beautiful sounds and it felt like the right fit for the space and the show.”
Samantha, who lives in St George, says that representation in the music industry, especially in promotion and production, has improved somewhat – but there is still a long way to go until all genders are represented.
While organisations such as Saffron and Women Make Music are making dents in inequality, but groups like Girls Girls Girls are needed so that women have a space to empower and encourage each other.
Saffron are helping more women and non-binary people into the music industry. Photo: Ash Reynolds
The event on June 10 will end with a discussion between the artists around the arts, social justice and feminism and what has changed in the past decade.
“Doing something now to celebrate female artists in the wake of the pandemic is key,” says Samantha, who released her latest single, Lights Go Out, in early March.
“We are all busting to perform again and know audiences have missed the experience of live music. It feels like the right time.”
Main photo: Lizzie Goldsack
Read more: Review: Samantha Lindo, Rough Trade
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