Women in Texas Music: Stories and Songs (review)

In Texas, a group of women are igniting a statewide blaze of creativity, emotion, and depth. Katherine Hudson appreciates the journey of these women, and she has spent several years interviewing thirty-nine female musicians including Emily Robison, Lee Ann Womack, Terri Hendrix, and Susan Gibson about the process and motivation behind their songwriting. Women in Texas Music: Stories and Songs is a beautiful anthology of interviews that reads like a relaxed conversation between old friends.

Hudson began her journey interviewing musicians whose music spoke to her; however, through speaking with both men and women performers, she found a commonality between herself and the women with whom she spoke: they shared the same goals, the same values, and the same fears. “They tell stories of rich and diverse lives where family and relationships matter, AND they are committed to pursuing their dreams,” Hudson declares (xvii). Therefore, she set out actively to capture the stories of this powerful force in the Texas music scene.

Several oral history projects concerning women have been conducted over the years spanning a variety of subjects, including ethnic studies, manufacturing, and changing roles during World War II, yet none comes more from the heart than Hudson’s compilation of the raw, sincere words of these musicians. Rivaling only the book in its intimacy would be Texas Women Writers: A Tradition of Their Own, by Lou Halsell Rodenberger, which the back cover cites as a “sweeping account of a rich yet largely ignored literary history covering over 160 years of women’s writing in the Lone Star State” (Texas A & M University Press, 1997). However, Hudson tugs at the heartstrings of all who not only listen to the words of a song but have experienced them; she reminds us we are bound together by the universal emotions of the human condition. She encourages readers to look at the collection “with an eye for the patterns” (xx), and it is certainly not hard to do. Readers identify with these women and easily join the conversation.

Hudson does not employ any scientific methodology in terms of interviewee selection but rather refers to this collection as a “sampling of a mine rich with treasures” (xix). Hudson’s first interviews came from a convenient sampling of musicians she encountered at music festivals and events. Soon, word of her project traveled around the state, and other women musicians were contacting her, expressing their interest. Hudson goes beyond phone calls or e-mails and actually goes out in the field and catches these women in their element. This proactive approach to exploring this subject and gathering potential interviewees sends an inspirational message to other researchers.

She certainly seemed to master building a rapport with her interviewees. Whether the musician invited Hudson to her home or met with her at a hotel or venue, each woman felt comfortable discussing her personal struggles and dreams. This raises an interesting question for oral historians as to the importance of the location of the interviews. Certainly both the setting of the interview and the verbal exchange between interviewer and interviewee should be considered, but Hudson seemed to create a comfortable venue for disclosure no matter the location. Her eclectic compilation of voices encourages further exploration of the subject by oral historians, sociologists, and anyone interested in the music and culture of the Lone Star State.

In Women in Texas Music: Stories and Songs, Hudson is engaged and thoughtful; her additions to the conversations are not only thought-provoking for the interviewee but manifest openness and discussion. A quiet intensity arises from which Hudson herself claims to draw strength and courage. The journeys of these women explain the importance of songwriting and performing and the value and satisfaction gained from self-expression. As Lloyd Maines eloquently states in the opening of the book, “baring one’s heart and soul takes courage, and Texas women artists have a lot of courage” (xiv).