The best new songwriters making waves in 2023

Welcome to our musical oasis, celebrating the vibrant talents of women and gender diverse musicians worldwide. In this curated collection, we’ve unearthed an array of fresh melodies spanning alternative pop, indie pop, folk, roots, and Americana genres. Join us as we embark on a melodic journey led by remarkable female-and gender non conforming identifying songwriters.


Jules Paymer x Miki Ratsula – The Daughter That My Mother Wanted

Jules’ first release of 2023, “The Daughter That My Mother Wanted” (Ft Miki Ratsula) earned praise from Billboard, Ones To Watch, Earmilk as well as Paramore lead singer Hayley Williams who posted the song on her IG to 3.5m followers saying “This is such a powerful song”.

At the age of 7, Jules Paymer (they/them) found their love for music playing bass in a garage band in their hometown of Los Angeles, CA, alongside Lydia Night, the future star of “The Regrettes”. They soon learned guitar and piano, and by age 9, they were writing full songs. After finishing high school in LA, Jules moved to Nashville to hone their craft in a city they call ‘Songwriting Bootcamp’.

Jules follows “The Daughter That My Mother Wanted” with the infectious, and aptly named “Mommy Issues”.


Bre Kennedy – Navigating

Singer-songwriter Bre Kennedy creates music soaked in rich, timeless storytelling with innate pop sensibilities. Influenced by mesmerizing talents like Brandi Carlile, Fleetwood Mac, Feist and Bonnie Raitt, Kennedy’s delicate, raspy sound soars as she touches on profound themes around life’s messy moments.


Annie Bartholomew – White Chapel Woman

Annie Bartholomew is an Alaskan songwriter and multimedia storyteller from Juneau. As a guitarist, singer, and clawhammer banjo player, Annie works to present folk music as an ever evolving tradition. Her songs explore themes of survival, resilience, and revelry, inspired by the ghosts of Alaska’s mining past.

Sisters of White Chapel is a collaborative songwriting project inspired by narratives of women during the Klondike Gold Rush in Alaska & the Yukon.

Through historic source material and modern songwriting forms, Sisters of White Chapel seeks to bring to light the lesser known histories of women who came North.

Led by Juneau songwriter, Annie Bartholomew, these songs celebrate the struggle and sacrifice made by those who risked safety and virtue for a chance of a better life.

Annie developed the project in the Yukon as the March 2019 Jenni House artist in residence where she woodshedded with her banjo in a timber frame log cabin. She has shared this project at the 2019 Alaska Historical Society and Alaska Museums Conference, the Alaska Folk Festival, the Alaska Musicians Summit at the Anchorage Museum, CD Baby’s DIY Musician Conference in Austin, in Montreal with the Alaska Room at Folk Alliance & many more spaces and places.

The studio album of songs funded in part by the Rasmuson Foundation Individual Artist Award is set to be released in 2022 with Gustavus music producer Justin Smith of Rusty Recordings.

About this next song: “A new song adapted from a 1901 miner’s poem anonymously published in the Klondike Nugget that shows why some women turned to sex work during the 19th century gold rush”


Cate Tomlinson – Damage Control

Cate Tomlinson is an 20-year-old singer, songwriter, and performing artist from San Francisco. Her music is inspired by pop, soul, and rock and roll. The young self-made artist now based out of Boston is working to develop her unique voice as an artist at Northeastern University as a Music Industry major. Continuing to explore her craft and passion, this young vocalist is bound to make waves this year.

Noteable lyric:

“If I can do one thing, it’s damage control…”


myie – Yours To Keep

myie (Miriam Ingrid) is a young alternative-pop musician from Uppsala, Sweden. The young artist is back with an acoustic pop version of the classic Teddybears hit “Yours to Keep” Taken from new Netflix film “One More Time,” where myie plays this song. The first song was written at 15 years old, five years later there’s an album.

Storytelling isn’t something new for myie, with roots within the film industry as an actress, music is just a new way of exploring a feeling.


blondfire – Age of Innocence (Acoustic)

The girl, the band. She’s a 2X Sirius XM Alt Nation Chart Topper with “Where The Kids Are” and “Waves”. 


Leannie – Smaller

“My name is Leanne Tarrab, but I go by Leannie. I’m 21 years old. I’m from Los Angeles. I’m a singer and an actress!”


Aisha Badru – Insider

“Everything has a purpose,” says Aisha Badru, the Nigerian American, sometimes earthy, sometimes ethereal singer-songwriter. “I was meant to be here, doing this. And it’s just part of my purpose to experience certain levels of trauma that are very universal, go through every process of healing, and somehow put it together so I can help guide someone else.” Tellingly, she’s titled her latest, which explores the intersection between romantic entanglements and self-care, Learning to Love Again (out June 2, Nettwerk). “Everyone can relate to having self-esteem issues or being hurt,” she adds. “Those themes have played a big role in my life.”


Floramay Holliday – Long Goodbye

We’re excited to share new Music by Texas by way of South Carolina country / Americana legend, Floramay Holliday.

Watch the Official Music Video for “Long Goodbye” from Floramay Holliday’s fifth studio release, ‘Hearts Have Wings’ (Roseneath Records 2023). The music was recorded, mixed and mastered at Chillhouse Studios in Boston, MA, and was produced by Will Holland.


Anderson Hao – HAND2BIBLE

“Hi this is the fourth single off my ep, it’s out now! Thanks for listening :)”

https://open.spotify.com/track/5kDZxoID5wbDjGMhrBpsv8


Zoya Zafar – Jack and Gin

For those who like: Meiko, Ingrid Michaelson, songwriters


Darcy Fox – Lonely

Hailing from Gippsland and now residing in Melbourne’s inner north, Darcy has been performing since the age of 15. But really, she’s just getting started. With a knack for pouring her heart out over ear-worm melodies, she dives deep into love, loss and friendship.

Darcy came out in 2017 and is passionate about authentic queer representation in media. Her recent and upcoming work explore the facets of living and loving as a queer person. While the tales are her own, she uses broad enough strokes for the wider LGBTQIA+ community to connect over shared experiences.

Throughout her career, Darcy has garnered a diverse and dedicated fanbase. In 2021, during the midst of the global pandemic, they rallied behind her to crowdfund her sophomore album.


Aistè – What’s Going On

AISTÈ is a powerhouse artist-musician based in East London. Originally from the Baltics, she lived all over Europe until settling in the UK. After graduating from LSE, she began her life’s work on music. Her first-ever R&B-infused release ‘Say When’ appeared in 2019. Since then, every new release proves that she’s destined for greatness. She says, “Now I feel that the learning phase is over, and I’m ready to deliver the real goods”. Hence, since the Summer of 2022, she’s been working on her debut album. The album that she’s managed to write in its entirety in a single day! She’s notably influenced by the Stax Records artists, Jimi Hendrix, Cleo Sol, Pink Floyd, the Beatles, “[…] anything that comes from an open heart to talk to another.”

She also produces, choreographs, and edits her music videos. The ‘Money is Life’ video has been nominated in the Best Director category at the 2020 KlipVid Awards: the empowering anti-capitalistic lyrics, sarcastic tone, and girl-power stance bring voice to the notion of freedom, the idiosyncrasies of modern life, and the question at the forefront of both: “Is this what our dreams are made of?”.

Currently, she’s polishing her debut album for the ultimate experience. Once it is released, she’ll be touring Europe and maybe even the US. “I’ll do anything to make sure that as many people as possible hear this. It’s so much bigger than me. I’m hella excited!”


Jade Marie Patek – Last Straw

Jade Marie Patek delivers a soulful southern rock sound that is inspired by artists like Janis Joplin and Allman Brothers Band . After the 2018 release of her debut EP, “Fly Bird – EP” , she was named Texas Regional Radio’s New Female Vocalist of the Year. Jade can be found playing everything from large events and festivals around the country with her band, to short acoustic sets online with the Sequestered Songwriters group. With her first full album release scheduled for June 2nd, Jade is looking forward to continuing the evolution of her sound and songwriting.


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