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Roots and Blues Announces Gender Representation Initiative, Headliners

https://flickr.com/photos/theholygrail/16841691777/in/photolist-rEf5da-b2x7sv-rG7HGK-rYrChL-rFYGp9-8qbeLA-8q85Rn-6Lgasc-2go7fDx-a94pXh-7yG9aV-a94pW3-a91zX8-a91zLT-a91zQt-a94pU3-a94pRb-a94q4L-a94q2w-rYrE1L-7yG9xB-7yG9w6-7yKVYq-7yKVW9-7yKVKy-7yKVLU-7yG9cz-7
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R&B Singer Mavis Staples is one of the two headliners the festival announced Friday.

The annual Roots N Blues festival in Columbia announced a couple major changes Friday, including that it’s dropping the “and BBQ” from its name.

The festival’s new owners, who took over six months ago, said the festival is making a push for greater inclusivity by focusing on female representation.

In a statement, the management team said the 2020 festival will have women performers in every act they book, and announced two Grammy-award-winning female headliners: R&B singer and activist Mavis Staples and singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile.

Roots N Blues co-owner Tracy Lane said the initiative aims to address inequalities in representation in the festival scene.  “20 to 25 percent female representation generally. And that’s not just talking about solo artists or front artists, but all artists," Lane said. "So we thought let’s not just talk about this as a problem, let’s do something about it.”

As far as dropping the "BBQ" component of the name, the festival's statement said because, “All varieties of midwestern cuisine are available at the festival,” the name needed to reflect all their food offerings. 

Sebastián Martínez Valdivia was a health reporter at KBIA and is documentary filmmaker who focuses on access to care in rural and immigrant communities. A native Spanish speaker and lifelong Missouri resident, Sebastián is interested in the often overlooked and under-covered world of immigrant life in the rural midwest. He has a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Missouri and a master's degree in documentary journalism at the same institution. Aside from public health, his other interests include conservation, climate change and ecology.