{"id":16132,"date":"2019-06-22T12:20:26","date_gmt":"2019-06-22T18:20:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/news\/?p=1808354"},"modified":"2019-06-22T12:20:26","modified_gmt":"2019-06-22T18:20:26","slug":"why-lindsay-ell-wants-the-music-to-move-the-needle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/music-news\/why-lindsay-ell-wants-the-music-to-move-the-needle\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Lindsay Ell Wants the Music to Move the Needle"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"byline\">by <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/news\/author\/bonaguroa\/\" title=\"Posts by Alison Bonaguro\" rel=\"author\">Alison Bonaguro<\/a><\/span> <span class=\"date\">15m ago<\/span><\/span> <\/p>\n<div class=\"photo\" id=\"3a8a1f74\">\n<div class=\"deferred_content\"><noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;img&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:file:http:shared:cmt.com\/news\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/06\/GettyImages-1151386282-1561220609.jpg?quality=0.85&amp;format=jpg&amp;width=480\" srcset=\"http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:file:http:shared:cmt.com\/news\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/06\/GettyImages-1151386282-1561220609.jpg?quality=0.8&amp;format=jpg&amp;width=481 481w, http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:file:http:shared:cmt.com\/news\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/06\/GettyImages-1151386282-1561220609.jpg?quality=0.8&amp;format=jpg&amp;width=660 660w, http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:file:http:shared:cmt.com\/news\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/06\/GettyImages-1151386282-1561220609.jpg?quality=0.8&amp;format=jpg&amp;width=768 768w, http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:file:http:shared:cmt.com\/news\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/06\/GettyImages-1151386282-1561220609.jpg?quality=0.8&amp;format=jpg&amp;width=980 980w, http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:file:http:shared:cmt.com\/news\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/06\/GettyImages-1151386282-1561220609.jpg?quality=0.8&amp;format=jpg&amp;width=1200 1200w, http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:file:http:shared:cmt.com\/news\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/06\/GettyImages-1151386282-1561220609.jpg?quality=0.8&amp;format=jpg&amp;width=1500 1500w, http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:file:http:shared:cmt.com\/news\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/06\/GettyImages-1151386282-1561220609.jpg?quality=0.8&amp;format=jpg&amp;width=1800 1800w\" title=\"2019 Lakeshake Festival\" class=\"js-srcset-img shortcode-image\" alt><\/p>\n<p><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div class=\"photocredit\">Michael Hickey<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>You can talk about the gender disparity in country music all you want. But Lindsay Ell prefers that we all talk about the great music instead.<\/p>\n<p>Ell was one of 11 female country artists to perform on opening night of Chicago\u2019s LakeShake Festival on Friday night (June 21). It was the first time a country festival hosted an all-girl line up. And before she took the stage at the Northerly Island venue on Lake Michigan, she told me what she hopes will come out of a line up like this one.<\/p>\n<p>But first, she had to give credit to a man.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is such a cool thing, and it\u2019s all because of Brian O\u2019Connell,\u201d Ell said of the man who is president of country touring for Live Nation and the winner of last year\u2019s touring lifetime achievement award from the Country Music Association.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGod bless that man. He is so creative and so supportive of the artists, and of the artists\u2019 perspective. He is a leader of a new wave of festivals. He always wants to make shows have a full-fledged fan experience, where they can get right up to front of stage. He came up with this idea, and when he called me he was like, \u2019Hey, I have this plan.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After that call, Ell remembers thinking, \u201cIt\u2019s time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSelfishly, I get to be on stage with all of my friends in one day. I would pay to be part of this line up. Everything about it \u2014 from the Ms. Pac-Man game to the Ladies Night Punch in the artists\u2019 area \u2014 is next level. We\u2019re all so used to being at a festival where we are the only girl on the line up. Or the only girl on a tour. There is just not a lot of women even on the road. So to walk backstage today and see all these badass women, it\u2019s really cool and it\u2019s really inspiring. I have been looking forward to this day for a long, long time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And like the other 10 women at the festival \u2014 Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris, Lauren Alaina, Cassadee Pope, Angaleena Presley, Ashley Monroe, Clare Dunn, Rita Wilson, Rachel Wammack and Kassi Ashton \u2014 they know their fans better than anyone in or out of the music business.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I look out at my fans at shows, it\u2019s always 75 percent women. And seeing that again today, it\u2019s so obvious that women want to hear women. I\u2019m all for things that support women.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut now the conversation needs to be less about the lack of females and more about just great music. Because great music is accepted in so many different circles, and is accepted so universally and unconditionally.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>LakeShake may be the first time a country festival has carved out an entire day to devote to female artists, but Ell acknowledged what Carrie Underwood has done for the movement as well. She\u2019s currently on tour with two female openers, Maddie &amp; Tae and Runaway June, but for years she\u2019s been a pioneering advocate for what Ell called the girl-power movement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy first time playing on the CMA Awards show was with Carrie when she put together an all-girl band in 2016. We performed her \u2019Dirty Laundry\u2019 on live television. To be part of that then, and see what she\u2019s doing now, I really look up to Carrie. That was so inspiring. And today, it\u2019s so inspiring to be part of a line up like this, and to be on the bill with women I admire.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\">Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zgS6m1csnR8?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zgS6m1csnR8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p>Ell shared that she gets instant gratification from the crowd, when she can see happiness on their faces. \u201cTo see the crowd, that\u2019s a good indicator that we are all moving this cart down the road. And hopefully it will help balance a few things out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The social media posts from the artists who performed at Friday\u2019s girls\u2019 night are another good indicator of how well the fest went over, for the artists <em>and<\/em> for the fans.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\" xml:lang=\"en\">7 women. 1 stage. Completely different artists. Living in each of their own lanes. Supporting each other and lifting each other up. Thank you <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/boccountry?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@boccountry<\/a> &amp; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LakeShakeFest?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@lakeshakefest<\/a> for making this day happen, and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mirandalambert?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@mirandalambert<\/a> for creating this moment. I still have chills. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/mWXqZzNKIu\">pic.twitter.com\/mWXqZzNKIu<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Lindsay Ell (@lindsayell) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/lindsayell\/status\/1142438487901253632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 22, 2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\" xml:lang=\"en\">I reminded myself in this moment to soak it up because of how beautiful it was. Just 7 women with 7 stories to tell. Thank you <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LakeShakeFest?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@LakeShakeFest<\/a> &amp; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/boccountry?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@boccountry<\/a> for yesterday, and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mirandalambert?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@mirandalambert<\/a> for sharing the last song of your set with all of us \u2764\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/2V9nj2dq6Z\">pic.twitter.com\/2V9nj2dq6Z<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Cassadee Pope (@CassadeePope) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CassadeePope\/status\/1142446983334043648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 22, 2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\" xml:lang=\"en\">Lake SHAKING after that performance. What a crowd. Everyone there was there for an all female lineup. \u2764\ufe0f What a blessing to be a part of that. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LakeShakeFest?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@lakeshakefest<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/boccountry?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@boccountry<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/OmXPgB9QrX\">pic.twitter.com\/OmXPgB9QrX<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Lauren Alaina (@Lauren_Alaina) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Lauren_Alaina\/status\/1142238494665953280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 22, 2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\" xml:lang=\"en\">LakeShake = LAKE SHOOK. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/CCcILMPQJS\">pic.twitter.com\/CCcILMPQJS<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 MAREN MORRIS (@MarenMorris) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MarenMorris\/status\/1142455971480035328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 22, 2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\" xml:lang=\"en\">TONIGHT!! Cannot wait to play <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LakeShakeFest?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@LakeShakeFest<\/a> in Chicago at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HuntBankPav?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@HuntBankPav<\/a>!! And I&#8217;m honored to be part of an inspiring and amazing ALL-FEMALE lineup! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MarenMorris?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@MarenMorris<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CassadeePope?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@CassadeePope<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mirandalambert?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@mirandalambert<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PistolAnnies?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PistolAnnies<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KassiAshton?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@KassiAshton<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RachelWammack?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@RachelWammack<\/a> and so many more! Can&#8217;t wait to see you there. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TTJZlD5E9V\">pic.twitter.com\/TTJZlD5E9V<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Rita Wilson (@RitaWilson) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RitaWilson\/status\/1142103543614234627?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 21, 2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\" xml:lang=\"en\">My first time at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LakeShakeFest?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@LakeShakeFest<\/a> and I got to be a part of the festival\u2019s first all female lineup. \u2728 hell yeah! Thank you for having me!<br \/>: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CatherinePowell?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@CatherinePowell<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ObE1XWBnGG\">pic.twitter.com\/ObE1XWBnGG<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 KASSI ASHTON (@KassiAshton) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KassiAshton\/status\/1142464706885668865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 22, 2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\" xml:lang=\"en\">WHATTA MEMORY <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LakeShakeFest?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@LakeShakeFest<\/a> \u2764\ufe0f<br \/>(: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CatherinePowell?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@CatherinePowell<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>thank u so so much <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/boccountry?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@boccountry<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/LakeShakeFest?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#LakeShakeFest<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ptcYjooElh\">pic.twitter.com\/ptcYjooElh<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Rachel Wammack (@RachelWammack) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RachelWammack\/status\/1142461551728824320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 22, 2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\" xml:lang=\"en\">Two words: GIRL POWER! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/LakeShakeFest?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#LakeShakeFest<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/CheersToFiveYears?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#CheersToFiveYears<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/EkUTcL3PX3\">pic.twitter.com\/EkUTcL3PX3<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 LakeShake Festival (@LakeShakeFest) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LakeShakeFest\/status\/1142320333539729410?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 22, 2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"author\">\n<div class=\"description\">Alison makes her living loving country music. She&#8217;s based in Chicago, but she&#8217;s always leaving her heart in Nashville.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/news\/1808354\/why-lindsay-ell-wants-the-music-to-move-the-needle\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: CMT News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Alison Bonaguro 15m ago Michael Hickey You can talk about the gender disparity in country music all you want. But Lindsay Ell prefers that we all talk about the great music instead. Ell was one of 11 female country artists to perform on opening night of Chicago\u2019s LakeShake Festival on Friday night (June 21). [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16132","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-music-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-12 07:35:20","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KRKY Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16132\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}