Read on Twitter
So @RissiPalmer introduced me to this song and to Patty Griffin on her new show, Color Me Country (BIPOC in country!) and I had to pull over to cry. https://music.apple.com/us/album/sweet-lorraine/1440924336?i=1440924830
Wrecked my ass
I am giving the first episode of Color Me Country some legs by blasting it on a road trip. Let me jot off some quick reactions. (You can check it here https://music.apple.com/us/curator/color-me-country/1500977601)
This is basically a pilot episode and it is already so good that I get giddy imagining what it will become. I was unprepared for how EXCITED I was to hear country music from a Black woman’s voice. Rissi is a very good host and guide.
The episode does the necessary work of laying out the history of this show but then Rissi does something that resonates with me deeply: she *positions* herself. Very Black feminist praxis!
We meet her bestie, who is a hoot. (If you like Roxane and I’s banter or @thenodshow BFF vibe? You will love this chat between them.)
The show is named for Black woman country artist Linda Martell, who I have only read about it. Rissi brings something home to me that I had not processed before: Linda is recording country music in 1968. 1968. The summer of 1968. That juxtaposition blows my mind.
Then Rissi says, “Linda was touring on her debut album in 1968 for her label...Plantation Records”.
The episode takes you through some of Rissi’s favorites and her influences: Chicks (natch), Martell (mentioned), but also contemporary folks like this https://music.apple.com/us/curator/color-me-country/1500977601
Those harmonies
So far the show is what The Highway could be if it had more courage, what indie internet radio does well when it pays attention to local voices, and what Ken Burns could have learned to do for a much better documentary. I said it.
Anyway, I’m calling it. This show should get a huge sponsor, launch a songwriting fellowship and produce a BIPOC country music festival. Just tell me about tix when you blow it up, @RissiPalmer
(And @AppleMusic has to figure how to let me build a playlist from the songs feature on the show, from within the episode, and how to easily follow the artists. Sheesh.)
Jesus that Ken Burns documentary would have been so much better with these voices. Ah well.
What I call the gateway drug song for every Black Country music fan
There’s a lot of Patsy Cline on the show, which yes. My grandma and I loved some Patsy. She wouldn’t be played within 1000 miles of Nashville today.
I also love how Rissi’s influences reflect how diverse black audiences are. She closes with Roberta & Donny’s Be Real Black For Me and by the time she gets to it? It feels as Country as anything she has played before it. She recalibrates your musical expectations
I’m biased but the show feels right. There’s a whole generation of white listeners who 1) want country in rotation 2) don’t want to consume the culture of country radio 3) have invested in an anti-racist identity. And there’s a braver black listener & a new hickhop audience.
Or - and I cannot stress enough that this is what matters most - this show was just made for me and only me. LOL #almostlibraseason
As someone who now knows a bit about making this kind of show, i think the best segment is the one where Rissi and her former manager share stories. There is a whole lot more there. And it all sounds interesting. The seg is the best produced of the show
If you’re into that Behind The Music kind of vibe, that segment is great. Former manager was w/ Bad Boy! Falls in with Chicks’ management at CAA (big deal). Is introduced to Rissi. Learns from managing her how deeply sexist country radio is (his story about her fan mail is whew)
That dude is a great storyteller and he *clearly* wants to tell his full story of managing Rissi and experiencing country music industry as a Black man. I would order that Netflix special.
