Maggie Rose has opened for artists such as Martina McBride and promoted several singles to country radio when women were not getting the respect and airplay they deserved. She is now a champion for female artists through her own music as well as her new podcast where she interviews the likes of Nancy Wilson, Martina McBride, Cathy Valentine (The GoGos), and many more. Her goal is making space at the table for women in the music industry.

I am excited to be here today with Maggie Rose. She is such a champion for women in the Music Industry and is a big platform for me. She talks about her journey as a musician, encountering roadblocks in the industry due to gender and what we can do about it.

She has been in Nashville for 13 years and she moved from the DC area when she was 19. She had a lot of heavy hitters surrounding her from the beginning. She was singing a lot of country songs on the radio in the early years of her career. She learned from the best songwriters at 19 years young. It was very formative and she was finding her voice but she was also dealing with a lot of politics. In the last 6 years after removing herself from that scene and being an independent artist, she found herself on a more soulful lane in making American rock and soul. It’s been a wild journey making space at the table for women. Being a woman and having that perspective has influenced it a lot.

She has learned a lot from being surrounded by people who have been in the business a lot longer than her. She was green and malleable and impressionable. She was very aware how the success or failure will impact those who are involved. That is a lot of pressure for someone in her teens. Maggie was very polite, eager to please, wanted to conform and be liked, and that came with her to Nashville. With the great resources surrounding her, she started realizing what her own capabilities are. She saw that a lot of women having evolution in Nashville. Her genre evolved with her surroundings. When Maggie was growing up, she mentioned that women ruled country radio.

There’s a lot of discrepancy. A lot of talent wasn’t getting representation on radio. During the time of Britney Spears and Cristina Aguilera, people had this thinking that career has an expiration date but that is not true. I am a known advocate of pursuing your career no matter what age. There has always been an abundance of music created by women in all genres. The research that were done is not adequate. There is so much work to do.

Now that she has more control of her career, she has a lot of female on her bands. This is one of her ways of making space at the table for women. She found her drummer in a bar in New Jersey and she has been with Maggie for 9 years now. She’s such an amazing player. Her keyboard player can play like no other and has this spirit that is amazing. Their abilities are so good. Her album “Have A Seat” tackles everyone having a seat at the table. The title itself is about inclusivity. Listening to one another is one of the most loving thing you can do. Maggie tracked most of the record before the pandemic but it’s been so relevant after all we’ve been through. She already released 2 songs from her album and it’s all over the map.

There is a common thread in what you’re hearing on the radio. It’s an artist that have been around then they’ll play a new artist. It’s really cool. This is just like how I have envisioned it for Women of Substance Radio. Radios and playlists have leveled up the playing field for different artists.

Maggie’s podcast, “Salute the Songbird” started because she felt a huge void when touring was essentially cancelled. She connected with a lot of artists. She wanted to amplify the voices of artist that I want more people to know as well as celebrate the artists who inspired my career as well as my friends and talk about how they achieved success and sustained success. It’s been pretty wild how being a woman has colored their experiences. I’ve learned a lot and you just don’t really know what a person goes through.

Follow Maggie on @iammaggierose on the social media platform of your choice and check her podcast Salute the Songbird.

Links mentioned in this episode:
profitablemusician.com/livedemo
@iammaggierose