A powerhouse of female musical talent will be coming to Lakes Jam 2021.
Lakes Jam, an outdoor music festival that combines country and rock with premier camping, is scheduled next week, June 24-26, with gates opening at 4 p.m. each day on the grounds at Brainerd International Raceway, north of Brainerd off Highway 371. Artists will perform on the Bud Light Main Stage of this year’s event presented by Farm Bureau Financial Services.
This year’s event has the most female acts than it has in the past.
“Lakes Jam has pushed harder every year to bring more female acts to our three stages,” Lakes Jam General Manager Ken Lacy stated in an email release. “For 2021, we have the most ever. ... One third of our bands are female centric and we hope to keep that ratio growing.”
Female artists performing on the Bud Light Main Stage are:
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Lita Ford performs at 8 p.m. June 24
Sailor Jerri performs at 2 p.m. June 25
Runaway June performs at 6 p.m. June 25
Carly Pearce performs at 8 p.m. June 26.
There also are female artists performing on the secondary stage including Betty & The Noise and Midwest Mayhem, with both bands featuring female leads. Lakes Jam also has a VIP Stage, and the female artists for this stage include The Farmers Daughters, Dayna Koehn and LOLAH.
Carly Pearce
Carly Pearce’s kind of country transcends the moment. Fiercely rooted in the classics, the girl who left her Kentucky home and high school at 16 to take a job at Dollywood has grown into a woman who embraces the genre’s forward progression, her bio stated. Defying odds, her No. 1 debut “Every Little Thing” designated Pearce as the highest charting solo female debut since July 2015 and one of only three women to accomplish the feat the last decade. Her platinum-certified blockbuster ballad steered a chart-topping trifecta on SiriusXM’s The Highway as “If My Name Was Whiskey” and “Hide The Wine” followed. Beyond her 2019 Country Music Association Awards New Artist of the Year, iHeartRadio Music Awards Best New Country Artist, American Country Music Awards New Female Artist of the Year, CMT Music Awards Female Video of the Year nominations, the diversity of her connection saw her win CMT Music Awards’ Breakthrough Video of the Year and Radio Disney Music Award for The Freshest! As Radio Disney Country Best New Artist, the bio stated. The Grand Ole Opry has invited her for more than 75 performances since her debut while the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum partnered on “Unbroken Circle: Exploring Country Music History with Carly Pearce,” connecting the genre’s eras. The country artist also has toured with Blake Shelton, Rascal Flatts, Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean.
In a year of uncertainty, Pearce worked on her most recent album where she explores more of a pivotal time with a seven-song collection called “29” released by Big Machine Records. Songs include her Top-30 and rising single “Next Girl,” and “Should’ve Known Better” and “Show Me Around.”
As Pearce marks a new chapter coming of age, she earns three ACM Awards nominations for Female Artist, Single and Music Event of the Year with her platinum-certified, No. 1 duet with Lee Brice “I Hope You’re Happy Now.”
Runaway June
Lauded by Billboard as the “Next Hot Trend in Country Music” and likened to a “Dixie Chicks for a new generation,” Runaway June’s organic three-part harmonies and ringing strings are sweeping the nation, the band’s bio stated. The BBR Music Group/Wheelhouse Records act is comprised of the vocal stylings and musicianship of Naomi Cooke, lead vocals, guitar; Hannah Mulholland, vocals, mandolin; and Jennifer Wayne, vocals, guitar. The trio received rave critical notices from the likes of Billboard, Rolling Stone Country, The Huffington Post, CMT and more for its brand of organic and melodic country music. Runaway June is the first all-female trio in over a decade to earn two Top 40 hits and recently scored a 2018 ACM nomination for New Vocal Duo or Group of The Year. They are finalizing their debut project for Wheelhouse Records, due out later this year.
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Sailor Jerri
Sailor Jerri is a Navy veteran and country music artist from central Minnesota. While serving in the Navy she worked as an aviation mechanic on F/A 18s with the VFA 83 Rampagers.
Jerri started playing guitar and singing for the long term care at the Veteran Administration and in veteran support groups. In April of 2017 she wrote and posted "Hallelujah Veterans Version" and in just a year it was viewed over 150 million times, and downloaded in 22 countries, her bio stated.
She has been busy writing and in the studio ever since. "Screen Doors and Steel Guitars," her sophomore album, was released on May 17, 2019, and has been shared and played all over the world.
Jerri started 2020 when she took off for Florida to begin her 2020 tour. Already added to the schedule are over 17 states and 50 shows. Including shows with George Strait, Randy Hauser, Jamey Johnson and many others. She recently joined Reba on the stage at the CMA Awards in Nashville, to introduce Dierks Bentley and Sheryl Crow. She was featured on the CMAs and they aired a clip of Jerri and her band performing her song "Won't Be For Nothing."
Jerri is using her music to not only entertain, but to inspire and help her fellow veterans, her bio stated. She recently partnered with Crown Royal and Thomas Rhett to announce the Purple Bag Project, where they pledge to pack and ship one million Crown Royal bags filled with essentials to the military serving overseas.
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Lita Ford
Lita Ford hits include “Kiss Me Deadly” and “Close My Eyes Forever.” Ford’s career began in 1975 as a founding member and guitarist of the groundbreaking all female group the Runaways. In 1983, Ford launched her career as a solo artist with her début album “Out For Blood” establishing her as the premier female performer in rock and heavy metal, Ford’s bio stated. Ford quickly followed up in 1984 with the release of “Dancin’ on the Edge” which earned her a Grammy nomination in the Best Female Rock Vocal Performance category. The album produced the world charting single “Fire In My Heart” and the U.S. Billboard top 50 charting hit “Gotta Let Go.”
The year 2018 celebrated the 30th anniversary of the self-titled multi platinum “Lita” album. Released on Feb. 2, 1988, the “Lita” album boasted four charting hit singles. “Back to the Cave”, “Falling In and Out of Love” co-written with Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx, along with the worldwide mega hits “Kiss me Deadly,” nominated for the MTV Video Music Awards Best Female Video of the year, and the certified gold ballad single “Close my Eyes Forever” featuring Ozzy Osbourne, which remained in the Billboard Top 10 for 25 weeks.
The “Lita” album solidified Ford as one of the most influential female performers in the music industry and earned her the title “Queen of Metal,” her bio stated. Ford released three more studio albums following “Lita” — “Stiletto,” “Dangerous Curves” and “Black.”
