The commercial narrative of Americana's early-2010s growth was written largely around male artists: Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, Ryan Bingham, Hayes Carll, John Fullbright, the Avett Brothers. These were genuinely important artists, and their contributions to the genre's development were real. But a parallel story involved a cohort of female singer-songwriters who were producing equally important, and in some cases superior, work without receiving comparable commercial attention.
Patty Griffin and Lucy Kaplansky represent two poles of this cohort: Griffin as one of the most celebrated and influential songwriters of her generation, working in the space between folk, country, and soul; Kaplansky as a somewhat less commercially prominent but critically respected artist whose recordings demonstrated consistent craft and emotional intelligence.
Patty Griffin's 2010-2012 Period
Patty Griffin released Downtown Church in 2010, a gospel album recorded at the Downtown Presbyterian Church in Nashville that was both a departure from her previous work and a deep statement of artistic values. The album won the Grammy for Best Traditional Gospel Album, which was an unusual recognition for an artist without traditional CCM industry connections.
Griffin's previous albums, particularly Impossible Dream (2004) and Children Running Through (2007), had established her as one of the finest songwriters in American music: her lyrics combined poetic compression with immediate emotional impact in ways that influenced a wide range of subsequent artists. Mary Gauthier, Eliza Gilkyson, and various other female singer-songwriters cited Griffin as a formative influence.
Her gospel project was not a commercial pivot but a genuine spiritual and musical engagement with traditions that had always informed her writing. The church setting, the choir, and the specific material she chose (traditional gospel alongside originals) demonstrated that her ambitions were larger than commercial folk stardom.
According to Grammy Award records and critical coverage from publications including Rolling Stone and NPR Music, Griffin was recognized as one of the essential voices in American roots music during this period, even if her commercial profile was smaller than her critical stature suggested it should be.
Lucy Kaplansky and the Folk Circuit
Lucy Kaplansky had been recording and touring since the 1990s, building a devoted audience through the folk circuit (Folk Alliance showcases, house concerts, folk society venues) and through recordings that combined vocal clarity with thoughtful song selection and arrangement.
Her work during 2008-2012 was representative of a specific category of career that the Americana and folk world sustained: an artist with genuine quality and a devoted, if modest, audience who built a sustainable career through touring and recording without ever achieving mainstream commercial recognition. These careers were numerous and important to the ecosystem, even if they generated less press attention than breakthrough artists.
Kaplansky's willingness to work both original material and carefully chosen covers (particularly of writers including Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin, and various other singer-songwriters in her circle) demonstrated the folk tradition of song as shared property and community resource.
The Industry Disparity
The disparity in commercial attention between male and female singer-songwriters in Americana was not a new phenomenon in 2010-2012, but it was pronounced during the early 2010s commercial revival. Most of the artists who received breakout coverage (from outlets including Pitchfork, major newspapers, and booking agencies looking for the next commercially viable roots act) were male.
This disparity had practical consequences for career development: booking fees were lower for comparable career stages, festival headliner opportunities were less frequent, and label interest was more limited. The structural disadvantages compounded over time.
The Americana Music Association's Emerging Act Award had a somewhat better record of gender equity than some other industry recognition mechanisms, and various individual critics and outlets (No Depression in particular) maintained attention to female artists' work regardless of commercial positioning. But the overall landscape was skewed.
What These Artists Produced
What Patty Griffin and Lucy Kaplansky produced during 2008-2012, alongside contemporaries including Anaïs Mitchell, Eliza Gilkyson, Mary Gauthier, and various other female singer-songwriters, was a body of work that demonstrated the full range of what serious American folk and roots songwriting could accomplish.
Their records were evidence that the tradition was alive and developing, that the specific skills of literary folk songwriting (emotional honesty, lyrical compression, harmonic intelligence) were being practiced at a high level, and that the genre's health was not determined entirely by its commercial profile at any given moment.
---
FAQ
What Grammy did Patty Griffin win in this period? Best Traditional Gospel Album for Downtown Church (2010), recorded at the Downtown Presbyterian Church in Nashville.
What made Patty Griffin's songwriting influential for other artists? Her combination of poetic lyrical compression with immediate emotional impact influenced a wide range of subsequent female singer-songwriters, including Mary Gauthier, Eliza Gilkyson, and others who cited her as a formative influence.
How did Lucy Kaplansky build her career without mainstream commercial recognition? Through the folk circuit (Folk Alliance, house concerts, folk society venues), consistent recording, and a devoted if modest audience built through the relationship-driven economics of folk touring.
Was there a gender disparity in commercial Americana attention during this period? Yes. Most of the artists receiving breakthrough commercial attention in early-2010s Americana were male, creating a structural disadvantage for female artists at comparable career stages in terms of booking fees, festival opportunities, and label interest.
Why are these artists important to the Americana story beyond their individual profiles? They represent a cohort producing work of equal or superior quality to the more commercially recognized male artists, demonstrating the genre's health and its capacity for serious artistic development beyond whatever was generating commercial momentum at any given moment.
More from the Singer-Songwriter desk
Honest, working reporting on the business of independent music from From The Stem.
Visit the Singer-Songwriter vertical →