Beyoncé set the internet on fire earlier this month when she unexpectedly dropped the first single from her upcoming country-inspired album, “Texas Hold ‘Em.”
Rhiannon Giddens by Ebru Yildiz
This song set the folk community on fire as well, because their reigning queen, Rhiannon Giddens, was prominently featured on the track, playing a vintage, clawhammer banjo lick that anchored the song, bringing an old-time folk/country sound to mainstream listeners. Giddens is a GRAMMY-winning, MacArthur Genius and Pulitzer Prize-winning folk musician. She’s also co-founder of the Black string band, The Carolina Chocolate Drops, of which two band members, Dom Flemons and Hubbie Jenkins, are Grand Annex Music Hall alums!
Dom Flemons at the Annex 2018 by Taso Papadakis
Dom Flemons appeared on our stage in 2018 on his “Black Cowboy” tour and Hubbie Jenkins in 2021. Both are undisputed masters and historians of the banjo and are highly awarded in their own right. Yes, we know how to pick ‘em at the Annex!
But getting back to Beyoncé, the release of “Texas Hold ‘Em” has helped initiate a nationwide conversation about Black artists in country music and about the birth of country music in America. As folks are coming to understand, there actually would be no country music as we know it without Black artists, or without the banjo. Enslaved Africans created the first banjos in the Caribbean and American South based on instruments from back home, like the Akonting of Senegambia. Gourd banjos in the South eventually became the banjo instruments we know today, an integral part of Old-Time music, which is the foundation of today’s country, along with influences from blues, gospel, and European folk music.
Chris Pierce at the Annex 2022 by Taso Papadakis
Black artists did not only contribute to the genre in the past. There is a vibrant Black country music scene happening today, even though its artists are under-represented in commercial releases (about 3% of artists signed to major country labels are BIPOC). Rissi Palmer hosts a long-running radio show on Apple Music called “Color Me Country” where she interviews and plays today’s rising artists of color in country music. Artist collective The Black Opry has also become a nationwide sensation, touring premiere stages with a rotating song circle of artists sharing their music. Two Black Opry members and rising stars, Chris Pierce and Lizzie No, recently graced the Annex stage as well. Chris was also part of our National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) supported “Roots & Rambles” series, in which the Annex presents artists dedicated to the preservation and evolution of folk and traditional music in the United States. So thanks Beyoncé, for helping shine a light on other Black country and folk artists this month, and for getting us all dancing!
Check out Rissi Palmer’s “Color Me Country” playlist
Article contributed by Joselyn Wilkinson, Artist and Grand Vision’s Development Officer
Photo Credits
- Beyonce’s cover art for her single “16 Carriages” off of her album Act II by Mason Poole
- Rhiannon Giddens by Ebru Yildiz
- Dom Flemons performing at the Grand Annex 2018 by Taso Papadakis
- Chris Pierce performing at the Grand Annex 2022 by Taso Papadakis
