It’s always Women’s History Month on Grimy Goods, but for this year’s celebration we wanted to honor a certain type of womxn: mothers. You don’t know the true magic of motherhood, until you become a mama. It is one of life’s most challenging experiences, and most certainly one of the most beautiful. This year, Grimy Goods would like to celebrate our fellow music mamas and we’re doing that with our new “Sonic Motherhood” features. And what better day to make this announcement than International Women’s Day!
A woman has to give up so much when she becomes a mother, especially for the first time; however, the struggles of mothers in the music industry are very unique. This work can be 24-7 with much of it taking place at night in a live setting with concerts and music festivals.
For most musicians and creatives (in the music industry), there is no paid maternity leave. There is no corporate health insurance and there certainly aren’t any benefits (well, there’s lots of perks to working in music…). Their entire being is their job — from the way they look, to the way they feel (mentally and physically) — their work is who they are and the art they create. Sometimes finding a balance through all that, is near impossible. And when you do finally find a balance, it is short-lived.
It’s rare that an artist can just up-and-go back to their touring and recording life after 3 months postpartum. Hell even 6! There is so much that happens to a woman during pregnancy, during birth and during postpartum recovery. The recovery and changes are not just physical, they are also mental. Each birth experience is different, and a women’s sacred journey to recovery is her own.
As a womxn who recently had her first child almost 4 years ago, I struggled greatly with my identity (especially with this music platform Grimy Goods). I no longer could be the face of it and attend shows 3-5 days a week. I could barely keep up with emails and all the other demands of running Grimy Goods. Something had to give (I’ll dive into that in another post).
In this Sonic Motherhood series, we’ll be chatting with singers and musicians who are also mothers. How motherhood changed them, what kind of support they received, what struggles did they endure, what did they have to give up and how did they get themselves to a place where they felt harmony between their career in music and their newfound life as a mother.
Stay tuned, tomorrow we’ll post our first Sonic Motherhood feature.
Submit Your Favorite Music Mama
If you know of a music artist who is also a mother, visit our contact page to submit them for a Sonic Motherhood feature. Just select “Sonic Motherhood” on the dropdown and message us with the artist’s name and a link to their website or Instagram, and a link to their music on Spotify, BandCamp, SoundCloud, or YouTube.
