In honor of Ladies’s Historical past Month, Atwood Journal has invited artists to take part in a collection of essays reflecting on identification, music, tradition, inclusion, and extra.
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At this time, Nashville-based singer/songwriter Taylor Bickett shares the private story that impressed her new music “The Crime” and her partnership with The Circle, a company devoted to stopping world violence in opposition to girls, for Atwood Journal’s Ladies’s Historical past Month collection!
Taylor Bickett is a storyteller at coronary heart. Hailing from Indiana, she’s been writing music for so long as she will keep in mind. Along with her intimate lyrics and spectacular vocal vary, she crafts introspective indie-pop tunes that resonate deeply with listeners. Following the success of her wistful anthem “QUARTER LIFE CRISIS” in 2022, which went viral on TikTok, Taylor shortly captured the eye of a era scuffling with maturity. The music amassed almost half 1,000,000 fan-made movies and amassed over 35 million streams, with notable celebrities like Drew Barrymore and Kevin Jonas sharing their very own transformations to Taylor’s lyrics, “I swear 16 was yesterday, however now I’m nearer to twenty-eight.”
Taylor’s 2023 EP ‘grown up and lonely’ continued her success, showcasing her uncooked, unfiltered songwriting. She started 2024 with the discharge of the fan-favorite “I Like Mondays,” and adopted up along with her EP ‘This Isn’t Me Lacking You’ within the fall. All through 2024, she toured with artists akin to Ron Pope, Blü Eyes, and Áine Deane.
Along with her new single, Taylor Bickett is saying a particular solo acoustic tour with reveals in Nashville, New York Metropolis, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Chicago. Tickets are actually on sale. For all U.S. reveals, Taylor has partnered with Plus One, a company devoted to constructing a extra sustainable, simply, and equitable world. For each ticket bought, $1 might be donated to The Circle.
Plus One is a registered 501(c)(3) group that companions with artists and their communities to mobilize for significant advocacy and philanthropy. Since 2014, Plus One has helped increase over $30 million for greater than 850 nonprofit organizations worldwide.
“The Crime” is now accessible on all digital platforms, offering a uncooked and emotional anthem that many ladies will discover deeply relatable. Pay attention wherever you stream music, and skim Taylor Bickett’s particular Ladies’s Historical past Month essay under!
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by Taylor Bickett
Set off warning: Violence, Assault
If I have interaction, he may homicide me. If I ignore him, he may homicide me.
Within the fall of 2023, I used to be on a stroll close to my home in Nashville, Tennessee, when a person pulled up beside me, calling from the window. I’ve by no means recognized fairly the right way to deal with these items. Principally, any response I give might lead to my rape or homicide. That is one thing they train you early. They put ladies in self protection lessons. They discourage strolling alone at night time. They train you the right way to grip your keys like a weapon. They put a lightweight purple pepper spray in your Christmas stocking subsequent to the Reese’s Items and sweet canes.
Instantly tense and vividly conscious of my vulnerability, I opted to disregard him. With a slight shake to my legs, I stored strolling, hoping he’d get the trace and drive away. They often do.
Earlier than I grasped what was taking place, the person was hitting me along with his automotive. I rotated simply as he was rushing in direction of me, eyes locked and foot on the pedal. The remainder, I don’t absolutely keep in mind. My glasses had been knocked from my head, my cellphone flung from my fingers. I by some means ended up behind the car, and all the pieces snapped into focus. I grabbed my cellphone from the bottom and ran like hell.
When the police arrived, my intuition was to shake it off, assuring them I used to be high-quality, begrudgingly climbing into the ambulance to be checked out. In truth, I had really known as the non-emergency quantity, afraid of creating an enormous deal of nothing. Of being dramatic. The officer checked out me with wide-eyed concern. He requested, “Ma’am, do you perceive that what occurred to you was aggravated assault with a lethal weapon?”
That may be a Class C felony within the state of Tennessee, a critical crime. And the one factor operating by my mind was what I ought to have achieved in another way. Effectively, perhaps if I had stated howdy to him… Oh, if I had simply smiled again, he wouldn’t have tried to harm me… Trying again, the largest shock is the psychological acrobatics I put myself by, looking for a fault that was mine.
My crime was solely this: Being a girl.
I’ll by no means actually know what drove the person to assault me that day. It doesn’t matter. What I do know is that each girl I’ve ever met has felt that very same concern. In keeping with the World Well being Group, 1 in 3 girls expertise violence of their lifetime, mostly perpetrated by an intimate associate. As a consequence of low reporting charges, consultants suspect that the precise quantity is even increased, significantly in impoverished communities. Violence or the specter of violence is a continuing within the lives of ladies and feminine-presenting folks. It’s accepted as a truth of existence.
For thus lengthy, the burden has been on girls to guard themselves. The media has discovered refined (or not-so-subtle) methods accountable victims. Perpetrators have been given a slap on the wrist in court docket. However the tide appears to be shifting, with courageous girls like Gisèle Pelicot on the forefront, demanding accountability and refusing to provide into disgrace. It’s not shameful to be abused. It’s not shameful to be attacked.
For months after my assault, I grappled with what occurred, attempting desperately to make sense of one thing mindless. In the end, I discovered therapeutic by writing music, as I’ve so many occasions in my life. The music that was born from the incident, “The Crime,” was launched on March sixth. “The Crime” explores my very own ache, confusion, and anger in addition to my understanding of the feminine expertise, and it was produced, combined, and mastered by girls. It was vital, all through the method, to uplift girls within the areas the place they’re usually handed over and outnumbered within the music trade. I additionally had the chance to create a music video with a wholly feminine forged and crew. It was an honor to movie such an impactful challenge with a various group of supportive, passionate, and provoking girls.
30% of the proceeds from “The Crime” might be donated to The Circle, a world group created by Annie Lennox that seeks to economically empower girls and ladies and finish gender-based violence.
I’m hopeful that by sharing my story and the music that introduced me closure, I might help others heal and put to phrases an all-too-common feeling, whereas elevating funds for a company that’s placing within the work to raised the lives of ladies all over the world.
Artwork is likely one of the strongest instruments at our disposal to encourage change. Once we as girls in music really feel empowered to debate our experiences, to create disruptive and significant artwork, we demand consideration. We get our voices heard. – Taylor Bickett
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