If you haven’t listened to Melody Gardot or Lissie you might want to give them a try.
Most underrated female recording artists..
I'm always looking for female singers who make my 2 channel system seem worthwhile for all l have spent...the list includes Nora Jones, Diana Krall , Sade and many others.... there are some fabulous singers out there but not recorded very well...lm adding Bonnie Raitt to my top list..The Bonnie Raitt collection red book cd...tracks 16 and 17 are spectacular on my system... I'f anyone could add a suggestion it would be appreciated..
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Who’s rating this to be qualified for underrating? Never heard before, poor quality, never mentioned in this thread? One of my most favored categories as is with many here. |
The list is large, but here are a few of my favorites: Linda Thompson - (ex of Richard Thompson) Dreams Fly Away Laura Nyro - Eli and the Thirteenth Confession Allison Russell - (no kin) with Quantic- Look Around the Corner Emmylou Harris - Wrecking Ball Dusty Springfield- Dusty in Memphis Nanci Griffith- The Complete MCA Studio Recordings Karla Bonoff- All My Life: the best of Patty Griffin- Servant of Love That’s a good start…. |
There are so many you can't count them. Many made a small living putting out a few albums and singing at coffee houses. Here's a few of my favorites that are undervalued: Bonnie Koloc - when she was a young a voice that could soar from one note to another effortlessly. Priscilla Herdman - a voice like an angel. Her version of 'And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda' an anti war song is chilling due to the contrast of the words and her angelic voice. Jo Ann Kelly - the best white blues singer I've heard. She actually sounds black. June Tabor - awesome sense of timing Mary McCaslin - small voice that just grows on you. Wrote songs that bare her soul. Sandy Denny - well known but I believe under rated both as a brilliant singer and song writer. |
This post is turning into a insight to some of the best vocal music out there..hand picked by audiophiles and music lovers.IMO these types of recordings sound better on a monitor or a bookshelf speaker..the midrange is more forward and immediate....lm being a little critical, full range will work but not the same effect...l did listen to these suggestions and l will be buying some of these recordings... |
@wolfie62 has noted: LINDA RONSTADT She has more range and has SUCCESSFULLY recorded more styles of music than most of these fine ladies put together. The fact that she sold more copies than most of them (the modern ones have a larger audience and streaming, etc.) isn’t really germane. She can actually SING. You should also read her first book, "Simple Dreams" where she writes that she can LISTEN to most any (beginning) singer and identify the singer(s) they are copying. THAT, friends, is talent in my estimation. (The album of the same name ain’t bad either, FYI.) Finally, her version of a superb Smokey Robinson song (Ooo, Baby, Baby) is my favorite, and I would NEVER denigrate Smokey, who is one of a kind as well. Also, hard to beat Joan Baez singing "Diamonds and Rust" on a good pair of Maggies with quality ARC gear driving them. Cheers! |
If you like blues, Susan Tedeschi is a terrific singer. You het the added benefit of Derek Trucks slide playing. They did a live reprise of the entire Layla album that stands up to the original in every way, just amazing.
For a more traditional female singer I would offer Eva Cassidy. She has a pure voice as demonstrated on Live at Blues Alley. She was taken fromus far too young by cancer. |
Great recommendations. I’ve heard maybe 1/3rd of these. (Guess Spotify’s algorithm for finding "similar" artists was pretty good). Looking forward to trying these artists out. For instance, the 2022 Ella Henderson album "Everything I Didn’t Say" is ostensibly better than Adele’s last album. YMMV. I’ve complied most of these except the ones I thought were sort of obvious and not "underrated" as a single list here to make copying and pasting easier: Lissie Etta James Lily Kershaw Lydia Ainsworth Lydia Gray Sophie Zelmani Christel Alsos Laura Fygi Eva Cassidy Sara K Freya Ridings Chantal Chamberlain Malia Emily Barker Ma Muse Blossom Dearie Silje Nergaard Ela Vos Anette Askvik. Dido Enya Beth Hart Imelda May Jill Barber Madeleine Peyroux Nina Simone Tracy Chapman Kate Bush Kiki Dee Patricia Barber Lisa Gerrard (with or without Dead Can Dance) Mary Fahl - “ Can’t Get it Out of My Head” Nichole Atkins Nico - her solo offerings. Bianca Castafiore Jane Olivor (eary works) Ronda Vincent: bluegrass, country Laurie Anderson Flora Purim Kate Wolf Nina Simone Linda Thompson - (ex of Richard Thompson) Dreams Fly Away Laura Nyro - Eli and the Thirteenth Confession Allison Russell - (no kin) with Quantic- Look Around the Corner Emmylou Harris - Wrecking Ball Dusty Springfield- Dusty in Memphis Nanci Griffith- The Complete MCA Studio Recordings Karla Bonoff- All My Life: the best of Patty Griffin- Servant of Love Bonnie Koloc Priscilla Herdman Jo Ann Kelly June Tabor Mary McCaslin Sandy Denny Natalie Merchant - MTV Live....and any of her 10,000 Maniacs work Mary Black Her albums “Babes in the Woods” and “New Frontiers” are outstanding. Alison Moyet Ella Henderson Aimee Mann - Lost in Space and Mental Illness.
Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gathering, Vuur, Agua de Annique) Eva Cassidy Kim Gordon Kacey Musgraves Jenny Lewis Zooey Deschanel (she and him) Kim Deal Karen O. |
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Yes, I wouldn’t call some of the above-mentioned underrated. People that come to mind the OP might like: Agnes Obel—classically trained singer/songwriter from Denmark originally, listen to her first album Philharmonics (2010) and go from there. Aventine (2013) is my favourite, very beautiful and serene. Beth Orton—a folktronica singer/singwriter, from UK, a long career but try her latest Weather Alive (2022). Maybe a stretch to call her underrated but depends where you live. Martina Topley-Bird—also UK best known for her collaboration with Tricky (likely not your taste) but solo work spans Quixotic (2003) through to Forever I Wait (2021). Less likely for you perhaps but very good if your taste skews more rock-adjacent: Erika M Anderson (aka EMA)—from US, best known for Past Life Matyred Saints (2011) but recent Exile in the Outer Ring and Outtakes from Exile (2027 and 2018 respectively) are also good, as is her moody soundtrack for Tara Subkoff’s movie #Horror Kelsey Lu—also classically trained, from US, great singer/cellist, try their debut album Church (2016) or Blood (2019) which is impressive: the track Foreign Car is much more fun than audiophile staple Fast Car. Wonderful voice in the lower range too. Mariah Rose Piera (aka Poppy)—from US, a genre-fluid corpus but her latest Flux (2021) is fabulous and includes the first performance by a female artist nominated for Grammy in the metal category (I did say rock-adjacent). It really took that long, can you believe it? And some electronic/experimental flavour if you want to stretch: Tahlia Barnett (FKA twigs)—from UK, recent album Magdelene (2019) displays her very nice vocal range and compositional talent and is fairly accessible (also an excellent dancer/choreographer). I guess ditto on the under-rated thing. Nat Ćmeil (aka yuele)—originally from Singapore, their first album Serotonin II (2019) is fairly accessible, but the more complex Glitch Princess (2022) is the best album anyone has produced this year (that said, you’ll likely hate it). Some other female performers I’ve come across (more or less) recently that are less known than they should be (some new, some not so, a mix of genres with sonically interesting but not necessarily mainstream vocalisations): Alice Glass (escapee from Crystal Castles), Cherry Glazerr, COUCOU CHLOE, Ethel Cain, Fifi Rong, Hania Rani, Honey Gentry, Jack Off Jill, Julia Holter, Kilo Kish, Let’s Eat Grandma, Lil’ Bo Weep, Midwife, Nastya Kreslina (half of IC3SPEAK), Pan Daijing, Reba Fay (aka Swan Meat), REI AMI, Rosie Diamond, Shygirl, Stella Donelly, Utaha (new singer for Wednesday Campanella), Yara Lapidus ...
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She is "new" and NOT what I would call a "great voice" by any means, but I like her approach to putting her poems to music--Hailey Whitters. This is what people call "country music," so it is not for everybody. The songs are basic as they are meant to be, and like most popular music, somewhat "catchy." Anyway, just giving her a plug--hope she does well in the profession. Cheers! |
