The State Of Women In Country Music

New York Magazine music critic Jody Rosen is absolutely nuts for commercial country. This year, he's dug albums by Ashley Monroe, Kellie Pickler, the Pistol Annies and the Court Yard Hounds — the group that's two-thirds of the Dixie Chicks. But one album in particular has had his full attention all year: 12 Stories by Brandy Clark (her single 'Stripes' is above).

Here's the thing: Big-city critics love these female country singers, but they're not selling especially well. In fact, says Rosen, except for a few huge solo acts named Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert and Taylor Swift, women are basically marginalized on the country charts right now.

So why are these women not owning the country charts? Rosen says he has absolutely no idea.

Historically, Rosen says, you looked at women in country — women like Kitty Wells or June Carter Cash or Loretta Lynn — and you saw artists who were the moral center of the genre. Today's female artists still are, he says. But the moral center appears to be out at the edges. MORE HERE