Sounds of Progress

Rhiannon Giddens (Gus Philippas), Yola (Alex Brennan), Vagabon (Nora Doyle), Brandi Carlile (Laura Fedele), Rosanne Cash (Gus Philippas), Self-Esteem (Gus Philippas), Nadine Shah (Tim Topple), Brittany Howard (Neil Swanson), and Lily Fontaine (Gus Philippas)
by WFUV Staff, Meghan Offtermatt | 03/05/2024 | 12:00am

Rhiannon Giddens (Gus Philippas), Yola (Alex Brennan), Vagabon (Nora Doyle), Brandi Carlile (Laura Fedele), Rosanne Cash (Gus Philippas), Self Esteem (Gus Philippas), Nadine Shah (Tim Topple), Brittany Howard (Neil Swanson), and Lily Fontaine (Gus Philippas)

Coinciding with International Women's Day on March 8, WFUV premiered an original documentary, "Sounds of Progress." 

"Sounds of Progress" is available on demand in the player above and will also air on these dates: Tuesday, March 12 (2pm), Wednesday, March 20 (6pm) and Wednesday, March 27 (10am), EDT.

The 90-minute special highlights the experiences of many artists who've spoken with our hosts at WFUV, including Brittany Howard, Rosanne Cash, Brandi Carlile, Rhiannon Giddens, beabadoobee, Self Esteem's Rebecca Lucy Taylor, Yola, Nadine Shah, Trousdale, Vagabon, English Teacher's Lily Fontaine and more, about representation in the music industry — the good, the bad, and the needs-to-be improved. Additional conversations with other women in the music industry — Jennifer Daunt of Dauntless Promotion, Andie Aronow of Women That Rock, and Vanessa Silberman of A Diamond Heart Production — are also featured.

"So within the recording industry, it’s always been, like, mostly a male industry, but the women, in my opinion, are the ones that are thinking exceptionally outside of the box, because you have to, you have to be better than the best," says Howard in the documentary. "I just want to shine more light on the women who are working so hard, and being so thoughtful and learning everything there is to learn. They’re not given a leg up, they’re actually given a hard time to get into those studios. Especially in the engineering space and in the production space, I see a lot of women doing interesting, interesting things."

Listen to "Sounds of Progress," an original WFUV documentary, hosted and produced by Meghan Offtermatt with additional reporting, editing, and contributions from Kara Manning, Laura Fedele, Alisa Ali, Robin Shannon, and Sam Sumpter. Following the broadcast on March 8, the documentary will be archived and available on demand.

Songs played:

“She Remembers Everything” by Rosanne Cash
“Raise Hell” by Brandi Carlile
“Think” by Aretha Franklin
“Too Little, Too Late, Too Bad” by Rhiannon Giddens
“If You Don’t Know How Sweet It Is” by Rhiannon Giddens
“Four Women” by Nina Simone
“Walk” by Nadine Shah
“Every Woman” by Vagabon
“I’m Your Man” by Mitski
“I Do This All The Time” by Self Esteem
“Smart Iowa” by Trousdale
“Boyhood” by The Japanese House
“Another Day” by Brittany Howard
“Barely Alive” by Yola
“Stand For Myself” by Yola
“Albert Road” by English Teacher
“See You Soon” by beabadoobee
“Keepin’ The Light On” by Joy Oladokun

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