I’m in Nashville this week for some pickup shots and to pump up my B-roll. I’m feeling extremely positive about the great interviews we’ve had and the private concert in the Magic Room with legends like Wood Newton, Mike Loudermilk and Robin Ruddy. Feeling blessed to get an interview with up-and-coming singer/songwriter, Ariel Jade, who just debuted her new song, “Hard to Trust a Man.” She is my kind of woman … she sings, writes music and can parallel park on a busy street.

Tonight we’ll go to the Opry to see Mandy Barnett, who we interviewed a few months ago. Another high point of this trip was a tour of RCA Studio B where Elvis recorded dozens of hits. The tour guide from the Country Music Hall of Fame immediately recognized Wood Newton and introduced him to the other tourists on the tour, then asked him to sit at the Steinway that Elvis played.

I’ll have a PR intern (Tavleen Kaur) working with me this summer to help with the final leg of this journey. Here’s a link to the trailer AKA sizzle reel. The plan is to get this to the screen by the end of summer.

We filmed at Freight and Salvage in Berkeley where we caught two shows. Mya Byrne and Swan Real, who are real life lovers and leaders for the presence of queer trans women in country and Americana, opened the show. Lizzie No gave a breath-taking performance proving her expertise as a singer-songwriter in indie folk music. Lizzie No is a rising star that this documentary will follow as she completes the last leg of her West Coast tour.

Today was devoted to shooting B-roll in and around the Country Music Hall of Fame. Every corner and in between there’s a honky tonk with high quality music. Our first stop was Legends where they featured a country western cover band that was really good. Here’s the rub … since I’m shooting a documentary movie that focuses on women in music, that’s what’s on my mind all the time. We sat there for two hours without hearing a single song that had been recorded by a woman. It wasn’t until I requested a song by a woman that they actually played one.

This website is a companion to the documentary currently in production, “She Sang, and that made the difference.” Filming started in July 2022 by interviewing Donna Halper and William McKeen.

Interviews

July 2022 Boston: William McKeen, Donna Halper

October 2022 Studio City: Brad Schreiber

November 2022 Nashville: Stella Parton, Robert K. Oermann

January 9, 2023 Nashville: Scheduled interviews include Kathy Mattea, Wood Newton, Karen Waldrup, Justyna Kelley, Mary Bufwack and Robert K. Oermann.