ROCHESTER, N.Y. — As the popularity of country music continues to grow in the U.S., female artists continue to trail male artists when it comes to success. But Claudia Hoyser is doing her best to change that narrative — and she gets to do it in her hometown.
“It’s been amazing to have the community coming out and supporting us and then lifting us up to new places and recommending us everywhere in other states,” Hoyser said. “Seven years ago, I played my first all-original show at the Tango Cafe in Rochester and that was like a life-changing moment for me because up until then I had just been playing a ton of covers and making little YouTube videos in my college dorm.”
Years in the works, Hoyser has released an album, countless singles, and traveled across the country with her high school guitar player, and growing band.
“It’s getting to the point where we show up and there’s people there who have followed us online for years and years and they know more about me than I would ever expect because I forget all this stuff I share,” she laughed.
The Fairport native has even broken into the coffee and whisky-making industries.
“It is pretty cool to like, look out at a group of people when I’m singing a show and have like, all these women holding whiskey glasses up. I think it’s the coolest thing. We don’t need to tell anybody that it tastes like iced coffee,” she said.
However, Hoyser’s growth within the industry is one of few as country music tends to be male-dominated. Female country artists are played on the radio and other larger platforms less frequently, according to a study by The 19th.
“The picture of female underrepresentation in country music continues to become clearer, as a new study conducted by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative finds only 16% of the top-charting country songs from 2015-2018 were performed by female artists,” the Grammy Awards reported in 2019.
“I can see how the country music world, especially, is super saturated with male country singers. And I think more than ever now, there’s been so much opportunity for new talent to shine through,” Hoyser said.
It’s a trend that adds even more pressure onto female country music artists.
“We have like his time bomb on our backs like you only have so much time to do this, you to to do it while you’re young. And I think that sometimes guys are a little bit more easygoing,” Hoyser explained. “So timing has always been one that’s like really easy for me to write about because I feel that pressure all the time.”
But as a woman in the industry, working alongside both men and women in the band and on the management team, she sees the statistic as an opportunity.
“I definitely see that there’s only a small amount of room for the women right now. On the playlists for country music playlists and stuff on radio. But then, on the other hand, I think people are seeking new so they’re just like looking. People want to see that fresh face, which is very exciting for me,” Hoyser said.
As she and the band prepare to release another single, they also have plans to travel to California to open for Keith Urban in July. She says, at the end of the day, she’s singing to be able to connect with the world.
“So I’m like, ‘I don’t care if I’m a girl or a guy or whatever, it just has to be really good’,” Hoyser explained. “And I think it always comes back to the song. If you have that song that people are going to connect with, it doesn’t matter what you are, who you are. People want to connect.”
In order to do that, Hoyser says she’s always working on perfecting her sound and creating new content for her and the band.
“I’m always just trying to keep writing, keep getting better and taking inspiration day by day. And I’m really excited to be putting new music out soon,” Hoyser said.
Her new single will be released in the coming weeks and can be found on her social media, or on Spotify.
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