When Kathleen Hudson reflects on her first book, Telling Stories, Writing Songs, she is struck by an imbalance in the space dedicated to male and female artists (the ratio is roughly 4:1). Also worried about the resurgence of patriarchy in American society, she set out specifically to give greater voice to women musicians in Women in Texas Music: Stories and Songs, new this fall from UT Press.

I was shocked to find that over 800 women are listed in the Texas Music Industry Guide, yet most festivals around the state feature the boys' club. Even Willie's picnic lacks female performers. I know they are not all out there knocking on doors and being told no, but I also know festival producers are not looking them up and asking. The Billy Joe Shaver Birthday Concert at the Paramount in Austin, Texas, had one woman on the lineup: Pauline Reese. And I know Billy Joe appreciates the women. It seems the young guns of Texas music get a lot more play with a lot less work. I read through a magazine that runs my monthly column, and the lineups at many festivals advertised include men only. The covers are mostly photos of men. I am sure more men are out there on the road. What does that say? That more men are talented? I think not.
 
I do have a great appreciation for the men of Texas music. Just ask Charlie Robison. I went to his 2004 CD release in both Helotes and Kerrville, taking photos of Charlie and his son Gus onstage. I have a huge appreciation for Charlie and for the spirit of Guy, Townes, and Billy Joe that he evokes. I was thrilled that Emily Robison, mother and wife as well as Dixie Chick, decided to contact me and create some time for us to talk.
 
As I look back at my first book on songwriters, I am painfully aware that many women were left out. I wrote about the people around me, and it looks like most of them were men! This book became a deliberate search for the stories of women. It is not a definitive collection, but rather a sampling of a mine rich with treasures. Again, I am painfully aware that I cannot include all the stories I've heard, and that this collection is eclectic rather than definitive.
 
…from the author's introduction

Along with Robison and Reese, Hudson includes oral histories from Lee Ann Womack, Terri Hendrix, Carolyn Wonderland, Sara Hickman, Ruthie Foster, Lana and Bobbie Nelson, Tejano queen Lydia Mendoza, and another two dozen influential women.

Hudson is founding director of the Texas Heritage Music Foundation and an English professor at Schreiner University. She lives in Kerrville.