Color Me Country: A Celebration of Black Women Who Shaped Country Music - by Newport Festivals Foundation (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Multitalented Grammy Award winner Rhiannon Giddens paints women of color up-front and center-stage in this vibrant homage to some of country music's first and finest. Featuring a coloring sheet on the back of the jacket!

In 2020, Linda Martell, the first Black woman to play on the legendary Grand Ole Opry, celebrated the fifty-year anniversary of her debut album. That record, Color Me Country, marked a vital milestone for generations of Black and brown female musicians. Mining a bounty of stories and packed with resources, this collective tribute to artists like Martell--who have defiantly loved a genre that didn't always love them back--pairs nearly twenty mini-biographies with playful portraits in full color by Rhiannon Giddens, a musical legend in her own right. Each profile is a love letter to pioneers in country, Americana, and roots music who set the stage--or grace it today--with guts and soul. From the trailblazing Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who braved racism and sexism to infuse gospel with the blues, to "Queen of Rock" Tina Turner; from Odetta, the Voice of the Civil Rights Movement, to the heady vocals of Valerie June; from the Pointer Sisters to Our Native Daughters, Color Me Country challenges stereotypes to inspire young readers, especially Black or brown girls with a dream, to lift their voices high. Turn the book jacket over for a coloring sheet!

About the Author

Kelly McCartney inhabits a purposefully intersectional corner of the roots music space with a style that is equal parts personal, political, and philosophical, making her one of the format's favorite commentators and curators. As a journalist, she has contributed to No Depression, NPR Music, Folk Alley, Stereogum, and other outlets. She also spent over four years hosting and producing the Hangin' & Sangin' podcast/radio show and now hosts Apple Music's Record Bin Radio. When not promoting artists in a public-facing way, she continues that work as cofounder and director of the Rainey Day Fund, supporting roots artists with marginalized identities. Kelly McCartney also regularly organizes benefit projects to support social justice causes and serves on the board of directors for both the Color Me Country Foundation and the Hello in There Foundation.

Rissi Palmer is the host of the Apple Music Country show Color Me Country Radio. She describes her musical style as "Southern Soul" and has made numerous national appearances on Oprah & Friends, CNN, CBS Mornings, GMA, Entertainment Tonight, and FOX Soul's Book of Sean. She has also been featured in publications and news outlets including the Associated Press, Ebony, Essence, HuffPost, The New York Times, Newsweek, NPR's All Things Considered, People magazine, Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. She has performed at the White House, New York's Lincoln Center, and the Grand Ole Opry and has toured extensively across the country, sharing stages with Taylor Swift, the Eagles, Chris Young, Charley Crockett, and many others.

Rhiannon Giddens is the author of Build a House, illustrated by Monica Mikai, and We Could Fly, illustrated by Briana Mukodiri Uchendu. A musician, singer, songwriter, illustrator, MacArthur Fellow, Pulitzer Prize winner, founding member of the traditional African American string band the Carolina Chocolate Drops, and the artistic director at Silkroad, she has won two Grammy Awards and been nominated for an additional six for her work as both a soloist and a collaborator. Her lifelong mission is to uplift people, particularly Black Americans, whose contributions to American musical history previously have been ignored or erased, and to work toward a more accurate understanding of the country's musical origins. Rhiannon Giddens lives in Limerick, Ireland.