(NEW YORK) - Joan Osborne has signed the first artist to Womanly Hips, her Mercury-distributed label.|

Debby Schwartz, best known from her stint in the former I.R.S. band the Aquanettas, will release her solo debut in April 1998. Womanly Hips has also signed gospel singer Dr. Bethenia Rouse and is pursuing jazz/blues singer/guitarist Dana Kurtz. Womanly Hips does plan to sign male artists.