On January 17th, CMT debuted their Next Women of Country class of 2023 at the Nashville City Winery. It also happened to be the tenth anniversary of the Next Women of Country, an organization that promotes women in country music. In addition to the new members of Alana Springsteen, Ashley Cooke, Angie K, Avery Anna, Carter Faith, Catie Offerman, Georgia Webster, Julie Williams, Kasey Tyndall, Kimberly Kelly, Mackenzie Carpenter, MaRynn Taylor, Megan Moroney, O.N.E The Duo, Pillbox Patti, and Roberta Lea.
Notable alumni in attendance included Kelsea Ballerini, Maddie and Tae, Mickey Guyton, Danielle Bradbury, Kalie Shorr, Miko Marks, SACHA, Brooke Eden, Nicolle Galyon, and Brittney Spencer alongside my Music Spotlight artists, Chapel Hart, Laci Kaye Booth, and Erin Enderlin plus many more.
Including the Class of 2023, 111 female acts have been supported through the program over the past decade, among them Ashley McBryde, Brandy Clark, Carly Pearce, Gabby Barrett, Kacey Musgraves, Margo Price, Runaway June, Lainey Wilson, Lauren Alaina, Maren Morris, and Morgan Wade.
The evening would not have been possible without the vision of CMT’s Leslie Fram who noticed a disparity in the air time that female artists were receiving and came up with a proactive approach to help bring equality to the genre, thus the creation of CMT’s yearly Next Women of Country.
Bethany Bowman is a freelance entertainment writer. You can follow her blog, Instagram, and Twitter.
Bethany Writes 
Perfect venue to showcase this year’s group of women and to celebrate TEN years of this very cool vision! Women helping and celebrating other women to excel in their own gifts and talents is powerful. And man, such great songwriting and music!! ❤️
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