I was flipping through the new issue of Entertainment Weekly over the weekend when I was suddenly startled and alert. I went back, reread, recounted and realized that EW had published a "10 best" music list that featured more women than men! Of "The 10 Most Exciting Artists Now" (or "... Right Now" in the online edition), four are female solo artists, two are bands fronted by women and one has a woman in a prominent, albeit not central, role. The times, they are a-changing.

Now, I don't have anything against male recording artists. My CD collection is full of them. I'm going to buy the new Springsteen album the day it's released. And I like exciting new artist No. 5, Josh Ritter. But I get tired of music lists that overwhelmingly recognize the boys, so I'm going to be excited by this list and highlight the many women featured.

Let's take a look at them. (And by the way, you can listen to the full-length sample tracks by clicking the link to each song and using the player at the bottom of the EW.com page.) I'm preserving EW's numbering below.

1. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings

I love a band that hyphenates.

I had never heard of Sharon Jones (with or without the Dap-Kings), but I listened to the track "It Hurts to Be Alone" and thoroughly enjoyed the classic Motown sound. And from what I read about them, Jones is a woman to be reckoned with. She's 51, grew up in the segregated south and worked as a prison guard at Riker's Island. … continue reading