As women artists continue to face an uphill battle at country radio, Nashville-based independent record label Big Loud is launching Songs & Daughters, an imprint devoted solely to signing female acts.

Hit songwriter and producer Nicolle Galyon will serve as president and run the label. Settling into a couch at the Alabaster Collective event space in Nashville’s historic Germantown section, Galyon, best known for co-writing such songs as Dan + Shay’s “Tequila” and Miranda Lambert’s “Automatic,” details the evolution of Songs & Daughters with Big Loud vp of marketing Candice Watkins and first signee, Madison Kozak.

Nearly nine months since the idea took shape, Galyon jokes they’re giving birth.

“It’s been nine months of keeping a secret and basically speaking in code about this idea,” Galyon tells Billboard. “Songs & Daughters is a female-focused record label, but even bigger than that, what [we’re] building is a brand: a music house for female creatives. It’s a way for me to use my platform and pass the baton onto the next generation of songwriters and artists. I want to create something that didn’t exist when I came to Nashville 17 years ago.”