Ogden Femme as Folk concert series preview 

• Cat Palmer
• Talia Keys

It's important to take time to examine our personal biases, especially when it comes to the media we consume. While it may be a little uncomfortable, it may lead to discoveries about yourself and steer you towards new artists you wouldn't have checked out before. That's how Ogden's newest concert series began—as a challenge to branch out.

For Spotify users, the "wrapped" playlists at the end of the year are something to look forward to. It's a fun snapshot of what you were obsessed with musically throughout the year, as well as a fun (or not so fun) look at your moods based on what you were listening to. The Ogdenite founder Deann Armes excitedly looked at her wrap up like the rest of us, but had a realization—only a small percentage of the music she was listening to was by women.

"I knew that women are very much underrepresented in music, and I've always felt like I'm a huge supporter of women in music. But then I saw my stats, and I looked at it and it was about 18% women artists, and it made me mad," Armes explained. This led her to think about how many all-female music festivals we have around, and there aren't a ton.

So that's where the challenge began. Armes went to Paddy Teglia, the entertainment manager at Ogden Bar Lighthouse Lounge, and challenged him to book all women for the month of March, it being Women's History Month and all, and Teglia accepted. During the course of planning the shows, it was expanded to feature trans and non-binary folks."It is womxn, with an X, because the X stands for the trans, non-binary community who are even more underrepresented in the music industry, more than women," Armes said.

That's where Ogden's newest concert series was born, and of course needed a name. As easy as it was to think of a lineup for this series, it was also pretty easy to find the name: Femme as Folk. "It's womxn with an X, but it's called Femme as Folk, and I just thought it was a fun, catchy name. And it's not all folk music; it's all genres. We have metal, we have rock, pop, everything," Armes said.

This event not only spotlights some incredible talent from cis female, trans and non-binary artists, but proceeds also go to Rock Camp SLC, a program that empowers youth from these demographics through music with music education, collaboration and performance. The Femme as Folk concert series takes place each Friday and Saturday night at Lighthouse Lounge in Ogden and with a $10 cover, all of the proceeds will be going directly to the artists, as well as funds for Rock Camp SLC.

There weren't a lot of challenges putting the event together—in fact, it was pretty uncomplicated, according to Armes. "It came together so beautifully," she said. There seems to only be excitement in the air from those involved with the concert series.

"A lot of these artists and performers are friends of mine, and with all of our busy schedules—and the extreme amount of bands on the scene—it's rare I get to work together with them," Teglia said. "We get to use a space we have and come together with many different organizations and businesses to raise money to help Rock Camp SLC so the next generation of women, trans and non-binary musicians see that this is something they can get out there and do if they are passionate about it."

Singer/songwriter Talia Keys was also excited when approached to be involved with the series. "I see a lot of lineups at venues and festivals that are mostly cis-men," she said. "Womxn, trans and nonbinary artists have always existed but are often overlooked. I love how this is celebrating marginalized humans and giving us a platform to share our art."

KRCL is one of the sponsors for the event, and DJ/staff member Shell Danis says that this series fits naturally with her passions for Rock Camp SLC and amplifying marginalized voices. "I love Deann's motivation for seeing her own playlists and realizing things aren't going to just naturally balance out; systemically, more male bands have access and are encouraged to perform," she said.

"Deann wanting to tip the scales to help lessen the gap is very admirable, but I wanted to take it a step further and also make sure we change the language to 'womxn.' Just to hold space for it also not being just about women, because as uneven as the scales are for women, the amount of trans and non-binary artists in the world are miniscule, and for many of them downright dangerous just for existing. I am glad Deann was excited about the suggestion and is even making plans for more events in the future to support queer artists."

While the world has made incredible strides in featuring diverse voices in the entertainment industry, it's not quite enough. There are hopes of making Femme as Folk a recurring event to get more underrepresented artists out there, and hopefully more cities will feel inspired to do the same.

For a full lineup and dates, head to theogdenite.com. It's also not too late to become a sponsor and send kids directly to Rock Camp SLC. Details about becoming a sponsor are also on The Ogdenite website.
theogdenite.com/femme-as-folk-music-series