From Trio to Boygenius: in praise of all-women supergroups

There have been few all-women supergroups: by my count, 14 of note, spanning 60s R&B trio Honey Cone to Boygenius, the trio comprising burgeoning indie talents Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus, who release their debut EP today. It is a comparatively rich era for such allegiances: Boygenius's existence is mirrored in country by Pistol Annies and in folk by I'm With Her. Even so, the "supergroup" designation can feel like a bad fit for bands comprising noted women musicians.

When their male counterparts unite, it's often in a show of strength that upholds tired rock norms: behold, wearily, the travesty of Hollywood Vampires (Alice Cooper, Johnny Depp and Joe Perry). Groups of famous men joining forces often feels like fantasy football – all-star names with no cohesion – whereas for women it's often more akin to sharing a single easel, creating a space for their talents to complement each other. The young members of Boygenius – named to mock how easily male musicians are lauded as prodigies – found solace in one another as their careers rose in parallel and they encountered the same issues. Miranda Lambert started Pistol Annies to lift up two struggling songwriter friends; I'm With Her have remarked on the creative possibilities that exist when they're not relegated to singing high parts with men.

Another reason is that the scourge of jam-band culture lends itself to these male formations. The handful of noteworthy women supergroups stem from collaboration-oriented genres. The most famous example is Pistol Annies'predecessors Trio, the Grammy award-winning group of Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris that formed in the mid 70s; country music is rooted in the idea of the songwriters'circle. Riot grrrl was rooted in Olympia, Washington State, and produced a not-insignificant number of super-unions. Many of them included Sleater-Kinney's Carrie Brownstein and Mary Timony of Helium and Autoclave: they followed 90s duo the Spells with 2010 four-piece Wild Flag, and Timony later formed Ex Hex with some fellow punk lifers.