Jewly Hight
[Copyright 2024 NPR]
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Marks' catalog — especially her latest album — deserves a close listen, revealing a history lesson not just about her own experiences and repertoire but the entire last century of Black roots music. -
The Nashville-based, Nigerian-American artist writes songs that offer trustworthy empathy, delivered without romanticism — a tone that has connected with listeners during the tumultuous pandemic era. -
The intersections of country music and LGBTQIA+ communities can sometimes come across as solitary acts of bravery. But the state of queer country is better measured by its full time residents. -
These music makers have wildly different relationships with genre and cultural conventions. They don't look or sound alike or share the same aims or aspirations. That's the point.
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Some of the best country songs of 2019 were equal parts tradition and ambition. -
Lambert, who just put out her seventh album, Wildcard, has closed the gap between serious singer-songwriter and arena-rocking entertainer to become the most riveting country star of her generation. -
There really was no precedent for Maybelle Carter, who learned to play from her own mother and spent much of her life teaching her children — as well as generations of country stars that followed. -
No longer pouring all of their time and creative energy into collective endeavors, each of these Nashville artists are defining who they are on their own. -
In the '90s, Brooks & Dunn helped to broaden country music's audience with its embrace of a wide range of sounds and on-stage spectacle. 25 years later, their influence is everywhere in Nashville. -
The country legend's new album returns to some of her commercial roots, telling stories of domestic betrayal in grand yet thoroughly grounded fashion.
