Womanhood has its challenges, and lately, these challenges have been more prominent in our society. Luckily, there are always women who are fighting to make the world a more transparent place for women to thrive. #WomenCrush Music founder, Ashley Kervabon, has been doing just that with her idea from 2017 to address the need for a stronger community among female musicians and songwriters. She started with a live showcase in Portland, Oregon, and after overwhelming support, decided to reach out to women in other cities to join in. From there, #WomenCrush has become a growing vision for women artists and the music industry at large.
By January 2018, #WomenCrush had reached 13 cities, and next week it is coming to our very own Denver. On Sunday, October 14th, Mercury Cafe will host the first-ever #WomenCrush Denver, which will feature the local music acts Sassfactory, a “nuclear fusion of electro-soul funk-hop” from Boulder, Sister Neapolitan, a trio of songwriters and Mirrors & Lights, an indie group out of Denver. #WomenCrush music appears to be thrilled to bring their movement to Denver and to also work with the new Chapter Leader for Denver, Britt Margit. Margit has been working in music for some time and felt like #WomenCrush Music was the perfect platform to help foster the community of female songwriters in the Denver area.
“I first came across [#WomenCrush Music] in a women’s music networking Facebook group,” Margit describes. “Their marketing director, Katie, was looking for people to contribute to a mental health podcast they were guesting on so I wrote in.” Kervabon was immediately excited about Margit’s interest, as she was aware of the talent in the Denver area and hoped that the chapter could further her dream of fostering a community of inspiration. “After listening to the podcast, I looked into the organization more and realized there wasn’t already a chapter in Denver,” continued Margit. “After gauging interest among my own network, I applied for the volunteer position. It took a few months, but I got the gig and started working to get the chapter up and running.”
Unfortunately, Margit had to learn quite a bit on her own without the assistance of a supportive community. That experience, however, contributes to her drive to ensure that other women in the industry do not have to go through the same thing. “After escaping a bad label deal a little over a year ago, I wanted nothing more than to be in a position to keep other songwriters from getting into the same situation,” she said. “These ladies are exactly the kind of advocates I aspire to be.” The support from local communities showing up to these events will assist in the continuing of the #WomenCrush movement and will help other women in music to avoid unfortunate interactions while trying to get themselves heard.
“Join our Facebook group and tell your friends about us,” explained Margit on how to get more involved. “The more women we can get involved, the more powerful a tool this chapter can be.” There are also ways to donate. #WomenCrush has a crowdfunding campaign running until the end of this month to help them become a bonafide 501(c)3. For any women musicians out there looking to join in on possible upcoming showcases, the process is very simple — any woman-fronted group or artist who writes their own material is able to play a showcase. Just fill out a submission form and #WomenCrush will be in touch. The next event will be in Boulder in December and is currently taking submissions.
While #WomenCrush is clearly gearing toward women, it is an inclusive entity. “This organization isn’t just about women songwriters,” said Margit. “We want to support them and give them the resources they need in their communities, but that also takes an entire community, not just women. Everyone is welcome, always.”
#WomenCrush Denver will be a free event on Sunday, October 14 at Mercury Cafe from 4 p.m. from 6 p.m. See more details here.