Coming to terms with, and starting to get over the death of someone close takes time. For each person this amount of time can vary. For Carla Green, aka femcee CMG of legendary Oakland female hip-hop duo The Conscious Daughters, it has taken up until now, 15 months since the sudden death of her longtime partner in rhyme Karryl "Special One" Smith, to feel like she has come to terms with the sudden passing of her "sister" and musical partner of two decades.

For The Conscious Daughters' CMG, whose rap name is an acronym for "Cash Makin Girl," it was only earlier this month when she felt fully ready to go out and perform the Daugther's music again. The show was a special show celebrating National Women's History Month two weeks ago at Yoshi's San Francisco on a bill along with Suga T, Yo-Yo, Lady of Rage, and The Coup's DJ Pam The Funkstress.

The concert was the first show that CMG felt ready to do since Special One's passing but it wasn't the first show she had  done. "That was the second show I did without Special One," she told the Amoeblog recently. "The first was when I had opened up for Too $hort back in March of 2012 and it was just too soon for me to perform.  I felt so empty and “not there”.  I was onstage but I was 100% absent. It was like I was in a dream and just standing there rapping. It wasn’t a good look!," she shared. But fast forward to March 2013 and CMG was finally ready, she says.  "I am [now] at peace with Special One’s death. I have regrouped and reinvented myself. I have a new DJ (Deeandroid) and she is fabulous.  We have been rehearsing and vibin’ – so, for this last show with Rage & DJ Pam, Yo-Yo and Suga-T, I was in rare form, feeling good, and really feeling juiced about performing again." Part of that reinvention and regrouping for CMG is realizing that she now has the responsibility "to carry on the legacy of Conscious Daughters" but that she is not doing it alone.  "I do feel that Special One is there on stage with me and most definitely watching over me….and I always hear Spesh’s voice in the back of my mind telling me what to do," she said adding that having DJ Deeandroid up on stage with her as her new partner is a real positive as a performer. "I don’t feel all alone and I can vibe off of her," she said of the gifted turntablist who many know as one half of the DJ duo Deeandroid & Celskiii.

Dido returns to the shelves of Amoeba Music tomorrow (March 26th) with her brand new album Girl Who Got Away on RCA Records. Available in both regular and Deluxe CD versions, Girl Who Got Away is the UK artist's fourth album to date and her first since 2008's Safe Trip Home. With production courtesy of her brother/frequent collaborator Rollo Armstrong - in addition to Brian Eno, Jeff Bhasker, Rick Nowels, and Greg Kurstin - the 11 track (17 on the DeLuxe version) new album of self-penned songs spans folk, ambient, dance, electro infused pop, and hip hop. In addition to such tracks as the lead single "No Freedom" (see video below) critics have been lauding praise upon the new album track "Let Us Move On" that features an engaging guest feature from hip-hopper of the moment Kendrick Lamar.

As part of the ongoing Amoeblog series honoring Women's History Month (Which ends today, March 31st), this blog is the second part of the two celebrating women blues artists. The first, earlier this week, focused on women from the classic blues era (circa 1920s), while this one takes a look/listen at women blues artists spanning the decades since.


"When you in trouble blues is a girl's best friend" sings Koko Taylor on her 1975 recording of "Blues Never Die" (audio above). Taylor, like many of the longtime blues women here (including Big Mama Thornton, whose track "Bumble Bee Blues" with Muddy Waters Band is also above) have also been categorized over the years as rhythm and blues, rock & roll, and jazz. The late great Etta James, who we lost just two months ago, is an example of a blues artist who was also classified as jazz, rhythm & blues, rock n roll, and gospel too. A 1992 concert version of her singing "I'd Rather Go Blind" - written by Ellington Jordan and co-credited to Billy Foster but first recorded by Etta James in 1968 - appears above. As we know, the moving song has in the years since become a standard for countless artists to cover.

By Kaitlin

Growing up, I was never allowed to fiddle with the radio in the car. I listened to whatever my folks were listening to and that was that. I knew kids who would get in the car and change the music, turn it up, and I was a little jealous. In retrospect, I realize that I received a huge musical education in those car trips that I wouldn’t trade for a pile of gold. Seriously!

In my dad’s car was where I first heard the Carter Family, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, Tammy Wynette, Bob Wills, Jimmie Rodgers, and so on and so on. In honor of Women’s History Month, I’d like to share some of my memories about hearing these legendary, moving, and talented women.

I believe I first heard of Loretta Lynn when watching Coal Miner’s Daughter, the film based upon her life starring Sissy Spacek. She grew up dirt poor and skyrocketed to fame with an amazing voice and moving storytelling in her songs. She was a strong woman and sang about issues that real, working women dealt and still deal with such as cheating men, being a single mother, birth control, and divorce, among other themes.

In observance of the ongoing Amoeblog series honoring Women's History Month, this blog salutes women blues singers from the classic blues era. I will also post a second part celebrating women blues artists from later decades. But for now, I am focusing on the classic blues era of a century ago. It was a time when these women artists were pioneers by being both among the very first black singers and  blues artists to be recorded.

This first wave of recorded female blues was spearheaded by such American music legends as Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters, Mamie Smith (no relation to Bessie), and of course Ma Rainey.  Born in 1886, Ma Rainey earned the title “Mother of the Blues” for being instrumental in bringing the music to the public first. She is credited with both influencing all other female blues singers that came after her and with being the first to perform the blues on stage as popular entertainment. This she did when, at the turn of the century, she first incorporated blues into her broader vaudeville act that was built around comedy bits and show songs of the time. As legend has it Rainey would close every show with a song about a woman losing her man that she called “The Blues." Rainey, along with her husband Pa Rainey, is credited with discovering Bessie Smith on one of her early tours.