I think all of this is the reason I have MAD respect for the women I see in the music industry. They're living in a, for the most part, male dominated world and giving the guys a run for their money. Sure there are tons of female solo artists out there (Miley, Gaga, Britney, Xtina...the list could go on), and they're great, but I want to focus on the girls out there who are in a boy's world every day that they're on tour, rehearsing, or just hanging out with the band. I'm talking about female lead singers of male dominate bands.
To even begin to talk about this subject, I think it's important to address the girl who brought the idea into mainstream music. Sure, female lead singers have been around for ages, but it seems to me that Hayley Williams, lead singer for Paramore, made it okay for girls to embrace playing such a role in music.
Hayley brought a different dynamic to the role of female lead singer. Here was a girl, with a bunch of guys, who wasn't a typical show girl. She wasn't out there just to look good and sing well. Finally, there was a girl on the scene who showed that it was okay to be a little rough around the edges. She brings a different idea of what being a girl means. Before Hayley, I don't remember many punk rock, "emo" girls actually owning the personality, the look. To me, Hayley made it ok for us girls to rock out just as hard as the guys. It was cool to wear studded jewelry, cut your hair and dye it outrageous colors. Girls could be rock and roll and still hang on to being girly. We started rocking straight leg jeans and everyone owned at least one pair of Converse.
In an interview with Absolute Punk in May of 2007, Hayley commented on the aspect of being a girl in an all guy band.
We don’t look at ourselves as everybody else does, as this girl-fronted band that’s limited by so many things just because it’s a girl. I think we have more opportunities and we are available to do more things. It’s retarded. Just because I have boobs AP.net has a couple more threads about Paramore. It’s weird. Whatever, I don’t care. We make music for people to enjoy music, not so people can talk about my sexuality.
I've written about my love for Hey Monday on a number of occasions and when people used to ask me about them I would compare them to Paramore, because honestly, Paramore was the only band out there that even begins to touch on what Hey Monday is. I think a lot of it has to do with this girl right here.
Cassadee Pope's vocal capabilities are constantly compared to Hayley Williams and the pop punk princess herself, Avril Lavigne. I would 110% have to agree with that. My sisters turned me on to the band at the end of my senior year of high school and I fell in love with them. All through my first year of college, their songs were the anthem of my life. What Avril and Hayley made popular and acceptable for rocker chicks, Cassadee is bringing to an entirely different level. Hey Monday is still a fairly new band, so it'll be interesting to see what Cassadee can do to build on the legacy left by Hayley and Avril. 
The band just announced that their sophomore album, Beneath It All, will be released August 17, 2010. Pre-orders are being taken on the band's official site. The first single, Wish You Were Here was released a few weeks ago and the band is performing it while on the 2010 Vans Warped Tour.
It's hard to imagine who could even begin to come after these two amazing girls and make pop punk/alternative music even better than it is. Maybe it's Just Kait, maybe it's somebody else that the world hasn't heard yet. Maybe it's you! Pick up that guitar, grab a mic and start singing and playing your heart out.
YOU ROCK GIRLS! Don't ever forget that!
<3 Jen
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