Today we’d like to introduce you to Donna Piano.
Hi Donna, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
As an avid music lover my entire life, I noticed the disparities of women in the industry and being heard on the radio. Back in the 1990s, there appeared to be a huge wave of women across all music genres. Many of the women I had heard on the radio or through fairs and festivals. One, in particular, was the all-women, Lilith Fair, which was founded by Sarah McLauchlin and included women in every genre, signed, unsigned, indie, and so on. Over the last decade, we have heard it change the conversations, let the girls play, the outcry to country radio to play women back to back, and the infamous “salad gate.” I wanted to do more than just change the conversations and request more women on the country radio stations. Thus, the concept for Crazy Women Country (CWC) was conceived.
In late 2019, I was talking with a mutual friend, Paula, my CWC co-host, about my CRAZY idea for a podcast. Honestly, at that point, I wasn’t sure where this journey was going or what exactly we were going to do on the podcast. We wanted to introduce women in music and play their songs for others to hear. New releases, classical hits, and so on. However, as we started to record podcasts in the first quarter of 2020, we quickly realized that we could be hit with copyright infringements as well as other obstacles that would prevent us from reaching our goal of providing women in the industry to be heard by the masses. From those obstacles, we learned valuable lessons and moved forward to create the interview forum of Crazy Women Country. The first half of 2020 was discovering CWC and starting our social channels, website, and booking artists for interviews all while balancing family and a full-time‘ 9 to 5’ position. We kicked off our first interviews in September and officially aired the first episode with Ava Paige in early November. By the end of 2021, our first season is in full swing to include 100 regular interview episodes, 10 Special Episodes, and countless live interviews and events, and Instagram Artist takeovers. Crazy Women Country (CWC) started as a concept and idea to help spotlight women in the music industry that became a reality in late 2020. CWC is rooted primarily in Country and Americana music genres, and we are inclusive of all genres and careers within the music industry. Interviews are with women of artist management companies, songwriters, public relations owners, producers, executives, and of course, the artists.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Of course, the road was smooth and then we encountered a bump, a pothole, gravel, and dusty dirt roads along the ride. Technological issues are the first thing that comes to mind as we do the majority of everything remotely and internationally. One issue was how to create the live event on YouTube and then Zoom into that live stream using the keys and reset every time you wanted to go live in advance. Podcast platform recording was another stumbling block as there are no platforms to which you can record various persons without those people creating an account. Who wants to create accounts for a platform they will never use again? WordPress is one of the best and not the most user-friendly website options unless you are a techie or really open to a learning curve. Other website options will do things like adding your SEO metadata to be found and rank in Google or other search rankings. Since Paula and I are on different continents, finding the best times to schedule the interviews was a serious consideration. She stays up late and I leave work on time to ensure the best timing for us and our guests. Each obstacle and struggle will teach you a lesson in some fashion. It could be learning new technology, information, or about yourself and your own strengths and weaknesses to improve upon.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Crazy Women Country is a Vlog/YouTube Channel and Podcast which interviews women in the music industry. Crazy Women Country (CWC) started as a concept and idea to help spotlight women in the music industry that became a reality in late 2020. CWC is rooted primarily in Country and Americana music genres, and we are inclusive of all genres and careers within the music industry. Interviews are with women of artist management companies, songwriters, public relations owners, producers, executives, and of course, the artists.
Any big plans?
The goals and future plans include increasing awareness of our platform to help spotlight and gain industry-wide views of the women who are unknown. Growing CWC to be more widely recognized gives us the ability to bring forth the music of many artists people will never hear on traditional radio. With growth comes even more opportunities to broaden awareness and increase female visibility in music. In the near future, possibly a CWC radio or tv show. Who knows, maybe one day we look to create and host our own internet or satellite radio station playing all women segments in every genre. The possibilities are endless to our imaginations. It was Walt Disney who said, “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible,” as well as,“ When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable.” Although it may seem impossible to shatter some glass ceilings and walls in a male-dominated industry, the time for industry change to equitable male and female is now. We look forward to breaking glass and having fun doing the impossible.
Contact Info:
- Email: crazywomencountry@gmail.com
- Website: https://crazywomencountry.com/
- Instagram: crazywomencountry
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/CrazyWomenCountry/
- Twitter: CrazyWomenCoun1
- Youtube: https://bit.ly/3jy4Dy6
- Other: https://anchor.fm/crazywomencountry
