A New Exhibit Honors the Women Who Shaped Country Music—And Continue to Propel it Forward 

The Power of Women in Country Music, a new exhibit coming to the NC Museum of History from the GRAMMY Museum on October 28, spotlights the women who shaped country music and those who continue to propel it forward.

"“Some of the most groundbreaking stuff that’s happened in country music has happened because of women,” says the Durham musician Rissi Palmer, who also hosts the Apple Radio show Color Me Country. Palmer is also featured in the exhibition. 

Much of that history-making has taken place along gendered lines, but a growing number of artists, Palmer among them, have pushed for greater racial inclusivity as well. After all, many of the songs deemed “country” in the early 20th century were popular hymns, spirituals, and folk tunes that circulated in sundry communities."

 

You can read more HERE

Holler Country profiles Rissi Palmer and Color Me Country Radio  

"Since Color Me Country has been on air, Rissi Palmer has quickly become a leader in the conversation pushing for more equity and inclusion in country music. Ahead of her stage takeover at The Long Road Fest we spoke to Rissi, Madeline Edwards, Chapel Hart Band, and Miko Marks about the work the show is doing for Black, Indigenous and other artists of color" - Matt Wickstrom 

You can read the article HERE

NPR's The Best Music of 2021: How Black women reclaimed country and Americana music in 2021 

To see it all together is really something. I'm crying reading this, thank you for the acknowledgement and the reminder to keep fighting. My sisters showed out this year. Thank you Andrea Williams, Ann K. Powers, Jewly Hight, and Marcus K. Dowling. And this damn list of artists is like something out of my favorite playlist. To be named alongside these extraordinary women is unreal, read the whole thing HERE.

BBC News presents Changing Country Music documentary 

Of Billboard’s 2019 top 50 country artists, only one was black. Four were women. None of them were black women. Now, with country music under the spotlight as it never has been before, is it finally moving beyond its white, male image? 

Americana-folk singer Lady Nade explores the roots of country and Americana and its debt to black music, and reflects on her own place in a genre that is only now starting to confront its history. You can hear the full documentary HERE