Song Suffragettes Honors Jessie Jo Dillon & Celebrates Community During Anniversary Show

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Maddie Lenhart, Jessie Jo Dillon & Todd Cassetty. Photo: Courtesy of Song Suffragettes

Song Suffragettes, Nashville’s only weekly all female singer-songwriter round, held its annual anniversary show on Monday night (March 3) at The Listening Room. Celebrating its 11th year, the night featured performances from Song Suffragettes alumnae spanning genres, and also honored Jessie Jo Dillon with the Yellow Rose of Inspiration Award.

To kick off the night, Song Suffragettes Founder Todd Cassetty and Event Director Maddie Lenhart welcomed the crowd and shared the meaning behind the organization.

“Nashville is a real struggle for women creatives. In 2013, before Song Suffragettes started, there were 8% of females played on country radio,” Cassetty shared. “The idea was to create an environment where women singer-songwriters can come and grow and meet like-minded creatives and work on their craft.”

Photo: Mike Feher

Lenhart then shared some hopeful statistics about the 500+ alumnae who have played the shows over the years, including Laniey Wilson, Kelsea Ballerini, Megan Moroney and many more. She reported that 52 alumnae have received record deals and 76 have signed publishing deals.

After a video highlighting the program’s history flashed across the screens, the crowd cheered as the first round of women took the stage. First up was Nashville Harbor Records & Entertainment’s Shaylen. After sharing the story of how she had two failed record deals in L.A., leading her to move to Nashville, she played her breakout hit “What If I Don’t.” Shelby Raye was up next, who used her impressive vocal prowess and honest lyricism to treat the crowd to “Devil’s Daughter.”

Next up was Regan Stewart, who showed off her cleverness with “You Should See The Other Girl.” Abby Cates then added some pop sound into the mix with “Amelia,” before Moriah‘s smooth vocals wowed the crowd on “Whiskey’s His Wife.” The last solo performance of the round was from Song Suffragettes’ resident performer Mia Morris, who has played over 300 shows with the organization. Despite a broken loop pedal, she still mesmerized the crowd with “Everywhere.” The round ended with a group cover of Megan Moroney’s “No Caller ID,” co-penned by Dillon.

Karely Scott Collins, Molly Grace, Summer Joy & Anna Vaus. Photo: Mike Feher

Round two kicked off with Shantia, who got the crowd swooning with “What I Wouldn’t Do.” Sony Music Nashville’s Karley Scott Collins used her signature rock-country sound for the deeply personal “Quit You,” before former Song Suffragettes intern Molly Grace led the crowd in a clap-along for her new single “Mad At Her Forever,” releasing this Friday (March 7).

Summer Joy sent the room into full body chills with her unreleased “Siren,” hitting vocal notes that had the crowd standing on their feet at the end. Anna Vaus brought her storytelling to life with “Scenic Route,” a song she wrote to navigate being in her twenties. Morris then got to treat the crowd to a second song, “The First Move.” To end the round, the group covered another song penned by Dillon, Maren Morris’ “Rich.”

After hearing inspiring stories from the up and coming singer-songwriters, the crowd was buzzing as it was time for the main event. Cassetty introduced MusicRow‘s LB Cantrell to lead the on-stage interview with Dillon. Cantrell gave a highlight of Dillon’s career highlights, which includes 2024 ACM Songwriter of the Year; Billboard Rising Songwriter of the Year; Grammy nominations for Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical and Best Country Song and NSAI’s Songwriter of the Year in 2019, alongside six No. 1 country songs, including “10,000 Hours,” “Break Up In The End,” “Memory Lane,” “Back Then Right Now,” “Halfway To Hell,” and “Lies Lies Lies.” Dillon has also had cuts with Post Malone, Megan Moroney, Kelsea Ballerini, Hardy, Keith Urban, Miranda Lambert, Luke Bryan, Tim McGraw, Nate Smith, Jon Pardi, Brothers Osborne, Maren Morris, Darius Rucker and many more.

LB Cantrell & Jessie Jo Dillon. Photo: Mike Feher

The inspiring and honest conversation touched on topics such as Dillon’s journey to becoming a full-time writer, advice she has gotten along the way, her own words of wisdom, how she finds inspiration for her songs, songwriting craft, her favorite career moments and more.

“Female writers here, stick with your girls and be good to them,” Dillon shared when asked about the female writing community in Nashville. “Everybody’s trying to make a living and write the music they love. I think it’s so important to have that sisterhood with people, whether you’re a writer or artist or both. Always pull each other into things when you can.”

A piece of advice Dillon shared for any aspiring songwriter was to get out there and network. “So many things are TikTok or Instagram these days, there’s no fighting that. But in Nashville, nothing beats relationships.”

Alana Springsteen. Photo: Mike Feher

After Cassetty and Lenhart presented Dillon with the Yellow Rose of Inspiration Award, an annual honor given out to someone who has inspired up-and-coming female songwriters, it was time for more honoring for the woman of the hour. Alana Springsteen took the stage to perform a collection of some of Dillon’s tunes, as well as share some personal anecdotes about her experiences with Dillon.

“Being an ‘outlaw’ in country music today is standing up for yourself and the people you love, and Jessie is the epitome of that,” expressed Springsteen.

The performance began with Morgan Wallen’s “Lies, Lies, Lies” before going into Springsteen’s own “Trust Issues.” She then evoked the emotion behind Dillon’s writing with Brandy Clark’s “Buried,” before ending the night with Dillon’s biggest hit, “10,000 Hours” recorded by Dan + Shay, featuring Justin Bieber, as the evening came to a close.

Song Suffragettes is held every Monday night at The Listening Room at 6 p.m., featuring a new lineup every show.

Madison Hahnen
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