Occasionally, music does more than entertain the masses. It has a message.

Singer/songwriters Cris Williamson and Holly Near have a strong message in their feminist music, which they present to audiences in their own unique ways.

“Feminist music is not exclusive to women,” Williamson says. “It is, however, a special way for us to state our views. It’s about saying what you want in this world and holding your head up and saying you are proud to be who you are.”

Williamson and Near, who have been sharing this message with audiences around the world for almost 30 years, will be appearing Saturday at the Ames City Auditorium.

The pair, who are the forerunners of such performers as Melissa Etheridge and Ani DiFranco, both say they did not create the genre of feminist music. Near says music for women first emerged as a voice of social change in the 1970s.

Both have their own takes on what the genre is and what it means to them.

“When I started out in the ’70s, I discovered that music that spoke to women had already been around for a long time,” Williamson says.

“It’s been around for as long as women have tried to speak up and have a voice in the world. It was just in the ’70s that more music started emerging that spoke to women’s lives.”

Near says while growing up in Ukiah, Calif., she learned about important social issues of her time through music, so she looks at feminist music in a historical context.

“Social change as embodied in music was a wonderful thing when I was growing up,” Near says. “I could listen to the songs about the civil rights movement and hear about the changes that were taking place. I never marched with Dr. King, but through the music I felt like I was.”

Near says this helped her see that music for women was all about them finding their own voices, just as other groups have done throughout history.

Williamson, who grew up in South Dakota, says a song that really defined women’s issues in the ’70s was by country music legend Loretta Lynn.

“Revolutionary, to me, is coming from Butcher Holler and singing a song about the Pill,” Williamson says. “Especially in country music, where women are revered somewhere between a bar and church.

“That song spoke to millions of women. Feminist music happened when it began to reflect women’s true views on the world around them.”

Besides women’s issues, both Williamson and Near raise other issues in their music. For Williamson, it’s that anything is possible. Near, on the other hand, likes to teach through her music about the wonder of creation.

“I think we should all be in a state of awe over how wonderful just life itself is,” Near says. “Sometimes we get complacent and forget that we’re only here for a short time. Music helps me get that point across to a wide variety of people.”

Williamson, on the other hand, likes to tell audiences that anything in life is possible.

“Look at me — I’m a prairie and mountain kid,” she says. “I have been truly blessed in that I am able to go out on stage and share my abilities through the songs I sing and the stories I tell.

“Everybody has something that we’re good at. We as human beings just need to discover what it is and put it to use for us.”

---

Who: Holly Near and Cris Williamson

Where: Ames City Auditorium, 515 Clark Ave.

When: 8 p.m., Friday

Cost: $25