Long before country music became the twanging heartbeat of Nashville, it was haunting spirituals sung by Fisk University’s Jubilee Singers that put “Music City" on the map. In the decades that followed, a radio tower rising from Nashville sent soul and R&B sounds as far as Canada and across the Deep South, influencing new generations of Black artists that would forever change the face of American music.
But the story of Black artists in country music is at its best complicated, and at its worst shameful. For a genre with roots firmly entrenched in African musical tradition, country music has been dominated by white artists since it was popularized nearly a century ago. Even Charley Pride, country music’s most iconic Black superstar, saw his early singles marketed without his picture. Like so many facets of American culture, country music faced a racial reckoning in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder – one made more urgent after one of the genre’s biggest names was recorded nonchalantly using a racial slur during a night out with friends.
Earlier this year, the USA TODAY Network launched Hallowed Sound, a project meant to illuminate the contributions of Black artists from the South. In this second installment of the series, our journalists dive into the state of race in country music. They shine a light on a new, eclectic generation of Black country, roots and Americana artists who are blurring genre lines and forcing change within the music industry.
Throughout these pages run stories of perseverance – artists who’ve overcome obstacles both personal and institutional to share their voices – and preservation: a blind man whose singing career reached new heights 60 years after he worked the cotton fields of northern Louisiana; Pride’s legacy and that of Nashville’s once-proud WLAC radio station; a venerated juke joint set for rebirth.
It’s no secret that for nearly a century, the country music market has been almost exclusively the domain of white performers – even as the genre owes tremendously to Black musical traditions. But today, in spite of the hurdles, the path for Black voices in country music appears more open than ever. Read the story
Apple Music’s “Color Me Country” show host shares her story, as well as stories of other Black artists throughout country music’s history. As she writes regarding the launch of her essential show, “it was time to tell these stories, including my own, no matter how painful or ugly. And it was time for country music to see itself — complicated, omitted history and all.” Read the essay
Allison Russell’s debut album weaves an unimaginable tale, in which she wrestles with a decade of childhood abuse, describing her escape from a toxic upbringing and, ultimately, finding peace with her identity as an “Outside Child.” Read the story
These 12 singular talents cover all corners of the musical map, but they’ve all been drawn to Nashville, where they’ve embraced the sounds, songcraft and traditions of country music — while expanding its horizons at the same time. Explore the list
He trailblazed a format, becoming the first Black superstar to top country charts. For his son, Dion Pride, the late singer represented a “universal” sound heard in country music. Read the story
Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach pulled Robert Finley from busking on street corners to his studio in Nashville to capture the voice of the 67-year-old soul singer from rural Northern Louisiana. Read the story
The untold story of WLAC, the Nashville-based radio station that helped introduce soul and R&B music into homes around the world in the ’50s and ’60s. Read the story
After decades of silence, music will return to one of the most important stops on the Chitlin’ Circuit: The Dew Drop Inn in New Orleans. Read the story
Blues. Jazz. Gospel. Soul. R&B. Funk. How Black voices from the South made American music what it is today. Explore the series
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Hallowed Sound, Part 2: Stories of perseverance and preservation from the American South - Tennessean
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