Francesca T. Royster

Black Country Music: Listening for Revolutions is an exploration of black, queer identity and country music. Francesca T. Royster explores these intersections through a series of six essays - each one examining a different musical artist and their country roots as well as the author's own journey as a black, queer, woman who loves country music. Country music, sadly, is often thought of as a white Man's (emphasis on the man) genre. But, the history and the new history being made - the revolution being made Royster would argue, proves that this isn't the case.
Royster discusses Tina Turner, Beyonce, Lil Nas X, Darius Rucker, Valerie June, and the supergroup Our Native Daughters. These essays and the diverse artists they examine, prove that country music - and black country music at that - is a wide spectrum. These artist encompass everything from mainstream country (Darius Rucker), to the organic moonshine roots music of Valerie June (who sadly will probably never be on mainstream country radio), to the folk music of Our Native Daughters (which explores the roots of the banjo and what it means to be a black woman in America), to the country trap of Lil Nas X.
I found Royster's writing to be insightful, often moving. And I learned a lot.
My favorite essays were the ones about Valerie June and Our Native Daughters.
Highly recommended.… (more)

This book struck me as a sort of academic memoir. Each chapter focuses on a different artist and discusses their importance in the realm of Black country music: for example, Tina Turner gets a chapter for her first solo album, Tina Turns the Country On!, and in other chapters we meet Darius Rucker, Charley Pride, Valerie June, Beyonce, Our Native Daughters, and Lil Nas X (in a chapter called “13 Ways of Looking At ‘Old Town Road’”). The lenses of Black feminist scholarship and queer theory are applied to the music and the context in which it was produced, and the author describes her own experiences with each of the artists’ music and how their history is hers as well. I particularly liked the chapter on Our Native Daughters, having recently found out about their work through one of David Byrne’s monthly playlists. When I made the time to sit with this book, I found it very interesting, but it took me a while to read because I had to put it down to read library books with shorter deadlines. If you do pick this book up, you’ll probably want YouTube or Tidal or Spotify or something open nearby to listen to all of the artists being discussed. Recommended for music fans who like previously untold, or seldom-told, stories.… (more)

An absolutely incredible dive into the roots and the present of Black country music artists. Royster does much more than rolls through the history of Black involvment in country music, she hand picks artists to help her tell a much deeper narritive. The experience is deeply moving and will have you running to Spotify to see what you've been missing out on.

But to make that easier, here's a playlist I made of the songs discussed as part of the story in this book: rel="nofollow" target="_top">https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1AHncWF3sOALiplZ8bTYRg?si=35989395076d410c… (more)