- A 100% female selection, organized by instrumental universe — guitar, bass, sax, percussion, vocals, and more.
- Artists who play, compose, produce — and who push boundaries without asking for permission.
- Several of them have done a Tiny Desk NPR: links are in their bios, go check them out directly.
- For each profile, an instrument to explore at Woodbrass if their sound inspires you to start playing.
March 8th is International Women’s Rights Day, and on this occasion, I wanted to share some of my musical crushes from recent months. Spoiler alert: there will be quite a bit of indie pop… and probably a slightly higher ratio of bassists (yes, I’m learning bass, so my feed is a bit biased 😌). The idea here is not to make a perfect or exhaustive list, but rather to immerse you in new worlds.
These musicians, producers, and creators push boundaries, each in their own way. I hope this article inspires you to discover them… and maybe even fall in love with a new instrument along the way. 🎸✨
Guitar
Saya Gray — the indie UFO
Instagram: @sayagray
I probably spammed half the office with her Tiny Desk session in private messages saying “You absolutely have to listen to this!” Saya Gray is a Japanese-Canadian musician from Toronto who makes experimental pop, indie, folk, alternative R&B, and at the same time none of those exactly. Her father is a trumpeter who played with Ella Fitzgerald and Aretha Franklin. Her mother founded a music school in Toronto. She started playing in a Jamaican Pentecostal church, then toured as bassist for Daniel Caesar and as musical director for Willow Smith.
Her first official album SAYA (2025) confirms everything. You move from introspective poetic folk to heavy psychedelic grunge riffs. She’s the kind of hybrid artist who makes music with her guts and blends sounds we’d never dared to combine, with a groove and musicality that make her fascinating.
To get closer to her style, check out the Lâg Tramontane T118D-Blk Dreadnought Black.
Grace Bowers — the kid who plays better than everyone (and knows it)
Instagram: @grace__bowers
At 19, this Nashville guitarist has already played at the Grammy Awards alongside Chris Martin from Coldplay, signed a Gibson endorsement, made her debut at the Grand Ole Opry on her 18th birthday, and was named Instrumentalist of the Year by the Americana Music Association in 2024. Honestly, it’s outrageous.
Her thing is blues, soul, funk, and classic rock, with an old-school feel that makes you think you’re listening to someone with 40 years of touring under their belt. Rolling Stone dubbed her “Nashville’s new guitar hero.” I love her freshness and the way she has a real conversation with her instrument rather than just running through notes.
Grace plays a cherry red Gibson SG — lightweight, slim neck, biting tone with dual humbuckers. The kind of guitar that takes you straight into no-nonsense blues-rock.
🎸 Her reference guitar — the Gibson SG Standard Heritage Cherry:
Fatoumata Diawara — free, committed, electric
Instagram: @fatoumata_diawara__
Fatoumata Diawara. Malian singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actress, she left her country at 19 to pursue her artistic life in France, notably escaping a forced marriage. Her first album Fatou (2011), sung in Bambara, was named best world music album of the year by the Sunday Times. Since then, she has continuously built a universe blending Wassoulou Malian traditions, contemporary influences, and electric textures.
She has collaborated with Gorillaz, Disclosure, Paul McCartney, and Nicolas Jaar. She has played at Glastonbury. And her Tiny Desk Home Concert NPR, recorded with her loyal musicians, is an absolute moment of grace. On the Lamomali tour with -M-, her mystical aura captivates the audience every time she starts singing.
What a pleasure to discover her Epiphone SG signature guitar, a natural extension of her stage identity: vibrant, committed, unique.
Bass
Adi Oasis — the badass bassist
Instagram: @adioasis
Besides being stunning and badass, Adi Oasis fully embodies the sexy feeling of her instrument, the bass. Her feed is honey for the eyes and ears. A Franco-Caribbean based in Brooklyn, singer, bassist, and producer, she fuses soul, funk, and R&B with a retro-futuristic production that sounds both like the ’70s and tomorrow. She plays bass with a physical energy close to Prince, while laying down lines of absolute delicacy when needed.
Her album Lotus Glow (2023) was a worldwide hit with nearly 200 million global streams. She toured with Anderson .Paak, Gregory Porter, played at the London Jazz Fest. And the anecdote I love: after losing her suitcase at the airport before a live show, she ended up shooting several videos in a hotel robe and towel. An accident that became almost an artistic direction in itself — minimalist, spontaneous, and totally aligned with her universe. Nothing stops her, and everything she touches becomes cool.
🎸 Her reference bass — the Fender Precision Bass Player II:
Vocals
Noga Erez — the sharp nonchalance
Noga raps, sings, performs with a flow and charisma that take up all the space, drowned in her oversized suits that have become a true visual signature. With her life and stage partner, producer Ori Rousso, she builds sound architectures that groove with surgical precision.
Her albums Off the Radar (2017), KIDS (2021), and The Vandalist (2024) each imposed a different universe, never losing that strong identity. Billie Eilish and Missy Elliott are fans. She has played Coachella, Primavera Sound, Lollapalooza. She collaborated with Missy Elliott on “Nails” in 2022. If you don’t know what to wear to a party, she’s a safe bet. You never get tired of her.
Ellie Dixon — the DIY knight of indie pop
Instagram: @elliedixonmusic
She’s been playing piano since age 7, sings, produces, and composes all by herself, and has managed to build a completely unique indie pop universe. Ellie Dixon is the definition of DIY elevated to genius level (yes, I’m a fan).
Spotted by the BBC, signed to Decca Records, with over 18 million streams, she didn’t need a big label to make a name for herself. What I love about her? The TOTAL freedom she grants herself. In her productions, her videos, her visual universe. She can go from a hyper-pop medieval art direction to a cartoon cowgirl quest, then wander around dressed as a dinosaur suit. And it works.
She talks about anxiety, doubts, everyday little battles, with well-aimed metaphors and humor that defuses everything. You feel she writes first to boost herself, and that’s exactly why it touches us so much. Future icon, clearly.
Ellie Dixon produces everything from her home studio — it’s her superpower. If you want to start creating your own music like her, good home studio gear is the game-changing investment. Discover our selection of home studio equipment at Woodbrass.
Percussion / Drums
Sarah Drums — the untamable
Well, here we have a slightly overcharged drummer. Sarah Drums has turned her grimaces into a true visual signature. Raw energy behind the kit, a totally uninhibited playing style, a kind of modern Kali who completely frees herself from usual aesthetic codes.
Her reference kit 🥁: Pearl Drums Roadshow 18 Bronze Metallic
Lubiana — the maestra of the kora
Let’s completely change universe with the enveloping softness of Lubiana. If you don’t know the Kora yet, now’s the time. This 21-string West African harp-lute has a crystalline sound in the highs and warm in the lows — something between a harp, a balafon, and an acoustic guitar, and it transports you instantly. Lubiana is one of the very rare women to play it publicly, in a universe traditionally reserved for men and passed down from father to son among griots. The kora literally chose her: she discovered it at 21 on the street, like an obvious calling. Toumani Diabaté, one of the greatest masters of the instrument, gave her his blessing.
Her song “Farafina Mousso” went viral worldwide on social media.
Saxophone
Lakecia Benjamin — the jazz comet
Instagram: @lakeciab
Alto saxophonist, 6 Grammy nominations, a stage energy that pins you down, Lakecia Benjamin makes jazz a physical, visceral act, impossible to ignore. Her album Phoenix (2023) is a statement of intent: bebop, spiritual jazz, funk, soul, spoken word. Everything passes through. Everything coexists. It’s dense, rich, and so alive.
An anecdote that says it all about her character: before her career took off, she regularly tried to sneak into Prince concerts until he finally invited her to play with him. She has a broken jaw from a car accident in her past and kept playing.
Her reference sax: Selmer Signature – Alto Mib Verni
DJ
POV: Nathy Peluso & Gia Fu carjack you
I really like Nathy Peluso, Argentine-Spanish singer-rapper, one of the most unclassifiable artists right now. Salsa, reggaeton, jazz, tango, hip-hop… she navigates from one universe to another with an absolutely magnetic stage presence.
Five Latin GRAMMYs under her belt, an album Calambre that broke everything, and a visual creativity in her clips that belongs only to her. And here, this DJ format with Gia Fu is a bit different from what she usually does.
Her reference controller 🎛️: AlphaTheta Pioneer DJ XDJ-AZ
And we finish with those who regularly pop up in my feed
Impossible not to mention Rosalia in an article like this. If you somehow missed this already iconic artist, catch up with our article, listen to her latest symphonic album, and watch the Berghain clip (and you’ll be forgiven).
The videos by @inbarheyman are so sa-tis-fy-ing. Gourd, djembe, cajon, asalato, electronic pad… no matter what she has in her hands, she extracts hypnotic sound textures that make you doom-scroll through her entire feed.
And finally, the account of the one and only @cablequeen.
There you go, now you really have no excuse to mistreat your cables.
In conclusion
This day is above all an excuse to celebrate female creativity, in all its forms, across all genres, with all instruments. These artists come from very different worlds, but they all share this thing in common: they do exactly what they want, and you can hear it.
Sources
- Official biography Adi Oasis — adioasis.com
- Nubya Garcia: Tiny Desk Concert — NPR Music (April 2025)
- Lakecia Benjamin: Tiny Desk Concert — NPR Music (June 2024)
- Saya Gray: Tiny Desk Concert — NPR Music (March 2025)
- Official biography Grace Bowers — gracebowers.com
- Fatoumata Diawara: Tiny Desk Home Concert — NPR Music (2022)
- Ellie Dixon — Wikipedia
