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In the spring of 2021, country music fan Holly G launched the blog and artist directory BlackOpry.com little suspecting what would come next. The site and its social media reach inspired an AmericanaFest gathering space - The Black Opry House - last September, which in turn inspired a touring Black Opry Revue that’s been filling theaters around the country since last October. On Monday night, the Black Opry’s official Anniversary Party takes place at the City Winery.
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The movement to fully incorporate (or more accurately re-incorporate) African American artistry and influence in the realms of country music and Americana accelerated palpably during the 2020 pandemic. While artists of color have become more integral to AmericanaFest since about 2015, conversations last year shifted to matters of equity in the business, including jobs at music companies and representation wherever decisions about the genres' trajectory are made. To catch up on the issues in the wake of the 2021 convention, I spoke with Washington DC freelance journalist Marcus K. Dowling.
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America is roiling, and one of the central conflicts is over how we tell our national story. Cutting-edge race theorists propose the slavery-centric 1619…
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Various panels in recent months have taken 2020's surging Black Lives Matter movement into the trenches of Americana and Country music to define possible…
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Jake Blount recalls a day in 2011 when he happened upon a restaurant venue during a city-based music festival in Washington DC and learned more than one…
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Americana music was born with a contradiction at its core – one that was bound to surface in ways that would be both uncomfortable and fulfilling. As a…
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The dramatic events of 2020 have foregrounded issues of race and music, and this week the conversation goes public. Several organizations have…
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More than ever, it’s imperative to reinforce the truth that the blues, a creation of African-Americans, is the foundation upon which our popular music was…
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One of the essential stories that will be told inside the new National Museum of African American Music, set to open in downtown Nashville this Fall, is…
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It’s still a year and a half away from opening, but there is every reason to start getting excited now about the National Museum of African American…