I love Amy Rigby and I can’t believe she was excluded from NPR’s “150 Greatest Albums Made by Women” list that was published back in July. Don’t get me wrong. The list is a terrific series of reviews written by 50 women from NPR, and it’s an invaluable resource for anyone curious to explore the enormous contribution women have made to music over the past 53 years. I learned a lot reading the reviews, and many of them prompted me to seek out recordings I had never heard or had heard about, but never gotten around to giving them a listen. Some of the selections are obvious choices. Some are well earned. Some are long overdue acknowledgements. And some feel self-absorbed and ingratiating for the sake of being hip.
Of course the fundamental “problem” with any subjective list like this is that it can’t please everybody. It’s bound to leave someone off and, as a result, piss someone off. It’s a list. Interestingly, the introduction to NPR’s list says: “hopefully (this list) is the start of a new conversation.” I have no doubt that was the intention, but I would be more convinced if NPR’s website allowed readers to leave comments and voice opinions about the list. As far as I can tell, it does not. If you ask me, that’s not really how you start a conversation. Even the Happy Medium Song of the Day includes a comments box with every post. So maybe I can instigate a real forum on this subject by dedicating the month of September to all the talented women whose absence from NPR’s list surprised and disappointed me. Starting with Amy Rigby.
Amy’s 1996 debut, Diary of a Mod Housewife is a brilliant collection of songs that lays the groundwork for what has become her MO over the years: songs that find love and beauty and humor and sheer humanity in ordinary everyday things. In his ALLMusic review, Jason Ankenny states it perfectly when he says Amy writes “deceptively simple songs which cut to the heart of what day-to-day existence is truly like for women…Her songs are miniature character studies which find the pointed truths locked inside seemingly mundane circumstances.” Spot on!
Amy’s songs also resonate with me because they are distilled through an expansive musical sensibility steeped in a mutual appreciation and understanding of folk, pop, rock, and punk. Over the years I have seen Amy perform a number of times and her shows are always entertaining and memorable. She often spends as much time telling stories around the songs as she does playing them. I recommend Amy’s recordings and concert appearances to everyone I know because she never fails to delight. She is an underappreciated musical gem whose absence from the NPR list is a huge oversight.
“Knapsack” is one of the most beautiful songs about unrequited love that I’ve ever heard. It is a musical anecdote we can all relate to. It is quintessential Amy Rigby. It’s the start of a newer conversation, and it’s the Happy Medium Song of the Day. (Please use the comments box to share your thoughts.)
Of course the fundamental “problem” with any subjective list like this is that it can’t please everybody. It’s bound to leave someone off and, as a result, piss someone off. It’s a list. Interestingly, the introduction to NPR’s list says: “hopefully (this list) is the start of a new conversation.” I have no doubt that was the intention, but I would be more convinced if NPR’s website allowed readers to leave comments and voice opinions about the list. As far as I can tell, it does not. If you ask me, that’s not really how you start a conversation. Even the Happy Medium Song of the Day includes a comments box with every post. So maybe I can instigate a real forum on this subject by dedicating the month of September to all the talented women whose absence from NPR’s list surprised and disappointed me. Starting with Amy Rigby.
Amy’s 1996 debut, Diary of a Mod Housewife is a brilliant collection of songs that lays the groundwork for what has become her MO over the years: songs that find love and beauty and humor and sheer humanity in ordinary everyday things. In his ALLMusic review, Jason Ankenny states it perfectly when he says Amy writes “deceptively simple songs which cut to the heart of what day-to-day existence is truly like for women…Her songs are miniature character studies which find the pointed truths locked inside seemingly mundane circumstances.” Spot on!
Amy’s songs also resonate with me because they are distilled through an expansive musical sensibility steeped in a mutual appreciation and understanding of folk, pop, rock, and punk. Over the years I have seen Amy perform a number of times and her shows are always entertaining and memorable. She often spends as much time telling stories around the songs as she does playing them. I recommend Amy’s recordings and concert appearances to everyone I know because she never fails to delight. She is an underappreciated musical gem whose absence from the NPR list is a huge oversight.
“Knapsack” is one of the most beautiful songs about unrequited love that I’ve ever heard. It is a musical anecdote we can all relate to. It is quintessential Amy Rigby. It’s the start of a newer conversation, and it’s the Happy Medium Song of the Day. (Please use the comments box to share your thoughts.)