All the Female Ladies Now Put your Hands Up for Maddie & Tae And Runaway June

Friends Don’t let talented female artists go unnoticed & I am too proud of these rising stars to keep quiet, trust me you’d rather ruin your lipstick by singing every new song than your mascara from crying if you missed out on what’s next for Maddie & Tae and Runaway June.

It is no secret there is a lack of female representation across the board on country radio, so an all female tour announcement is extra exciting! CMT put action behind the woman in country music movement with this years CMT Artists of the Year awards being exclusively for the females. As a woman the awards were inspirational in of itself, but also the speeches and behind the scenes interviews of the winners talking about and lifting each other up added to the ‘we got this’ feeling of the whole evening. Carrie Underwood closed out the evening with a great point. When she received her award she said to all the amazing women who performed that night “You are not here because you are women. You are here because you are dang good.” Carrie also closed the show with a knockout performance with her new all female touring mates Maddie & Tae and Runaway June who will be joining her in 2019 on the Cry Pretty 360 Tour. They performed an eight song medley covering 50 years of the most iconic female country stars. Beginning with Tammy Wynette Stand by Your Man, Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5, Shania Twain’s Man! I Feel Like a Woman wrapping it up with Carrie’s most recent hit Cry Pretty. It was awesome to see all the girls on one stage and hopefully just a hint of what to expect from the tour.

Maddie & Tae recently stopped in the New York City and sat down with BUILD Series. The duo is coming back after their label Big Machine Label Group folded out of the blue three years ago. The girls describe the time as the most difficult time of their lives, yet a blessing in disguise because they had each other and were able to write through their situation. They now have a great home with their new family at Universal Music Group Nashville. Since they’ve resigned with Universal Maddie & Tae have released two singles Friends Don’t and Die From a Broken Heart. As Maddie explained they feel successful as songwriters when a song can have multiple interpretations. Die From a Broken Heart doesn’t just have to be about a relationship, for the girls they wrote that at their most vulnerable time when they were with no label. Tae specifically had not told her parents right away knowing they would be feeling the pain and failure that she was feeling so she didn’t know how to tell them. Just like a man driving away the imagery of the song is as if their dreams were driving away, how could the label leave them so easy? After listening to what they wrote Tae told her parents. Friends Don’t also can be referencing multiple sides of a relationship or friendship. Maddie brought her 18 year old younger sister’s situation into the writing room that day, talking about a guy friend who does things that ‘just friends’ don’t do. Check out their performance of the song from their gig at iPlay America in Freehold, NJ back in July (video cred: rockinroxpromo).

The multidimensional relationship concept album is going to cover love, heartbreak, and redemption. I for one cannot wait to interpret each lyric for myself! A fan in the audience asked what it is like to be a female in country music right now. Tae answered first and said “It’s awesome and empowering”. Maddie agreed and mentioned to be the direct supporting act on Carrie Underwood’s all female Cry Pretty Tour is such an honor. One day it won’t be a big story headline to have an all female lineup, but until then it takes action like CMT with all female Artists of the Year or Carrie’s tour lineup to bring attention to the talented voices women have and give them their well earned time center stage and on the radio.

55 of the tour dates will also include Hannah Mulholland, Naomi Cooke, and the granddaughter of John Wayne Jennifer Wayne. These three talents and beauties combine make up the ACM Vocal Group of the Year nominee Runaway June. Runaway June joined NASH FM 94.7 at their Hackensack Meridian Health Stage 17 on Halloween. The all female trio dressed up as the all male trio Midland each with a mustache (which only lasted on Naomi and Jennifer for the first song, but Hannah trooped through the entire interview and six songs in costume). They released their self titled EP only two months ago, but have already earned ACM recognition for Vocal Group of the Year with their single Wild West. A huge accolade for the trio includes them being the first female trio in over a decade to score a Top 25 hit with their debut single Lipstick. Their talent exceeds their stage presence because they are also songwriters. Jennifer Wayne co wrote She Don’t Love You She’s Just Lonely with Eric Paslay. Their latest single Buy My Own Drinks is a sassy and empowering song about a girl not needing a man to mend a broken heart ‘well since we been done I’ve been trying to un-fall apart//I might be heart broke but that don’t mean I’m gonna stay home// i can medicate my own headache I can be my own boyfriend’. Check out the performance of Buy My Own Drinks at Stage 17 for a small crowd of fans- the day before they performed it for national TV on the Today Show (video cred: rockinroxpromo).

For my fellow New Yorkers we get to see this magic tour lineup at the infamous Madison Square Garden in the city on October 2nd, 2019. Wherever you are this is a tour not to miss. Any Carrie Underwood tour is not to be missed, but this all female lineup is a triple threat. Three acts, six amazing individuals representing women on the mainstage. Tour dates are at all of their websites: https://www.maddieandtae.com/home, https://www.runawayjune.com/, & http://www.carrieunderwoodofficial.com/home/. There really is no excuse to miss this tour and support the women who are representing strong, resilient, talented females with a powerful voice and something important to say. See you on the road! Until then return back here for Maddie & Tae’s sophomore album which is hopefully out early next year and more singles from Runaway June, maybe even a full length album before they hit the road next year!