How Black women reclaimed country and Americana music in 2021

December 15, 2021 6:33 PM

Want some really amazing good news about the state of the world today? How Black women reclaimed country and Americana music in 2021 [medium read NPR article with links and YouTube videos] is a month-by-month look at the process and progress of remarkable artists this past year. I'm going to be tapping into this for artists to check out for a while!
posted by hippybear (12 comments total)

Love all of this! I first saw Amethyst Kuah at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, and Rhiannon Giddens with the Carolina Chocolate Drops at the Sugar Grove music fest. I need to learn more about a bunch of these artists.
posted by Shotgun Shakespeare at 7:14 PM on December 15, 2021 [3 favorites]

Regarding one of the women in the article, the fingerpicker Yasmin Williams, see this previous metafilter post.

This is a great descripion of interesting musicians.
posted by blob at 7:30 PM on December 15, 2021 [3 favorites]

I saw Brittney Spencer open for Jason Isbell and it was striking how she needed maybe a third of a song before the crowd was on her side.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:06 PM on December 15, 2021 [2 favorites]

Amythyst Kiah is the best. THE BEST.
posted by thivaia at 8:12 PM on December 15, 2021 [3 favorites]

Amythyst Kiah is great and Adia Victoria’s latest album is one of my favorites in the last few years.
posted by adamsc at 8:26 PM on December 15, 2021 [2 favorites]

Same, DirtyOldTown—and her cover of “Landslide” was stunning!
posted by MonkeyToes at 8:36 PM on December 15, 2021 [1 favorite]

Dang, what a list! Can't wait to listen, thanks Hippybear for yet another excellent music post!
posted by TheCoug at 10:05 PM on December 15, 2021

It's about damned time that country truly recognizes its roots. Nobody's used the term "race records" in a very long time yet it's taken until this year for this to happen? Shameful, but so are many other things in American history.
posted by tommasz at 6:41 AM on December 16, 2021

Adding to the love for Amythyst Kiah. I saw her in October and was absolutely blown away. Wary + Strange has been prominent in my music rotation since then.
posted by martinX's bellbottoms at 8:14 AM on December 16, 2021

Make time for this: Adia Victoria, Magnolia Blues. It's phenomenal!

P.S. Jason Isbell has also done the work of featuring this talent!
posted by MonkeyToes at 10:33 AM on December 16, 2021 [3 favorites]

If Black women playing Americana is your jam, I can't recommend Canada's Kaia Kater enough -- her more recent sound has broadened out a bit, but Nine Pin is just amazing.
posted by Shepherd at 7:22 AM on December 17, 2021 [1 favorite]

In Conversation: Brittney Spencer. "I can’t wrap my mind around how country radio intentionally doesn’t play music from a certain gender. It doesn’t make sense. But I do know that it is changing artists. Artists are becoming more vocal and being themselves, particularly women. It feels like an opportunity, in a weird way. I’m not saying it’s a good thing that country radio doesn’t play women, but women in country music are finding other ways to get our music out."

(Also, she is SO GOOD. Stage presence and talent for miles.)
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:15 PM on December 17, 2021