by Fiona Golden

I have a confession. I used to hate country music. But whenever “Jolene” by Dolly Parton would come on, well, I had the human instinct to go buckwild. After furtively streaming oldies country music on Spotify, I came to a realization. When people say they hate country, they’re typically only looking at a single facet of it. The term itself is all-encompassing and includes hundreds of niche subgenres. It’s the core of American music and a key aspect of history. When it comes to popularity and chart-topping in country music, Black women are severely underappreciated. Billboard’s list, “The 30 Greatest Country Artists of the Modern Era” includes 29 white artists and 1 black artist, Charley Pride. The same thing occurs on Rolling Stone magazine’s “100 Greatest Country Artists of All Time”; Charley Pride is the only person of color out of 100 artists. Here are 6 songs by Black women who are continuing to rock the folk out with much less recognition than they deserve.

Lonely The Night – Yola

One particular artist I’ve started listening to in the past year is Yola, who hails from Birmingham. She has created an entirely new sound of soul and country, mixed with retro elements from the 70’s. Her voice is dreamy and powerful at the same time, and reminiscent of an older era of country. My personal favorite off of her debut album Walk Through Fire is “Lonely The Night”, which I believe contains some of her best vocals. It starts off slow but the buildup is worth the wait. She also recently released a cover of Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” and the music video is magical to say the least. STAN YOLA.

Heavenly Track – Kaia Kater

Kaia Kater is insanely talented and can pick a mean banjo. This song comes off her album Grenades, which explores her father’s ancestral roots in Grenada. This song is like entering a dream and Kater’s voice is absolutely ethereal. The Guardian described her music as “Where bluegrass meets Nina Simone” and I couldn’t agree more. Her style is timeless and her emotion seeps through the lyrics. I have been streaming “Heavenly Track” obsessively ever since.

Darlin Corey – Amythyst Kiah

Let me talk about Amythyst Kiah for a minute. THIS. WOMAN. I have never heard a more beautiful, deep voice. She only has one album, Dig, but it is worth its weight in gold. The album evokes southern gothic imagery with “Darlin Corey” as its most popular. It describes burying a body, which is as cool and creepy as you can get. I’m not sure if she is still making music but Dig is an album for the ages. If they ever make a horror movie that takes place in Appalachia, the director better call up Ms. Kiah because no one else can do it like she does.

*Amythyst Kiah, courtesy of Anna Hedges*

Mountain Hymn – Rhiannon Giddens

I first heard Rhiannon’s music while playing the video game Red Dead Redemption II, of all things. She has a song that’s featured in probably the most emotional part of the gameplay and needless to say, my sensitive self was crying immediately. Her chanting in it is nothing short of angelic. Outside of RDR2, Rhiannon has worked on several musical projects, including the Carolina Chocolate Drops which performed traditional Americana music. She also performed Celtic music with her band Gaelwynd. Honestly, what can’t this woman do? Check her out, she’s truly a modern-day renaissance woman.

*Rhiannon Giddens, courtesy of Nonesuch Records*

Shakedown – Valerie June

There’s something about this song. Maybe it’s the way it’s produced, maybe it’s her vocal techniques, but “Shakedown” is an absolute banger. Valerie June defies all genres with her unique sound, describing it herself as “organic moonshine roots music”. Hua Hsu, a writer for The New Yorker pinpointed the feeling you get while listening perfectly; “a reminder that life goes on”.

Seeds – Rissi Palmer

*Rissi Palmer, for Guitar Girl Magazine*

Rissi Palmer was the first Black woman to make the charts with a country song since 1987. She describes her music as “Southern soul” and recently released her third album, Revival. “Seeds” is an incredibly powerful song about resistance and unity with beautiful vocals. Palmer said in an open letter to fans that she wrote it after the murder of Michael Brown by a police officer. The lyrics were inspired by a poem written by Greek poet Dinos Christianopoulos in 1978, which read “What you didn’t do to bury me / but you forgot that I was a seed”. Rock on, Rissi!

ST.ART does not own the rights to any of the images above.