Spotlight On: RISSI PALMER

ABOUT this week’s podcast guest + radio hour featured interview:

This week’s guest is someone I've wanted to have on the show for a long time. She is a singer, songwriter, radio host, CMT news correspondent, and fellow activist. When she released her debut in 2007, she became the first black woman to be on the Billboard Hot Country charts in 20 years, with a single called “Country Girl”. A decade and a half later, Rissi Palmer has independently released three critically acclaimed albums and scored two Grammy nominations in the Best Children's Music Album category. She’s not only carved out a space for herself but quite literally created space for other artists who have been marginalized in mainstream country music on her Apple Music Radio Show, Color Me Country with Rissi Palmer. Daughter of Georgia natives, Rissi Palmer was born near Pittsburgh, PA and spent her teens in St. Louis, Missouri. Raised in a musical family that loved both country and R&B - think Patsy Cline and Aretha Franklin - and she dreamed of being a star of the stage and the radio. By the time she was 19 years old, she had already been offered her first publishing and label deal, and her dreams were well on their way to coming true. And what stages! Rissi has performed at the White House, Lincoln Center and the Apollo, and has made multiple appearances on the Grand Ole Opry. In conjunction with her radio show, Rissi created the Color Me Country Artist Grant Fund designed to support new country artists of color who are just beginning to build their careers. Earlier this year, Rissi was highlighted in the new PBS American Masters: In the Making series. And she has just released a new EP, aptly titled, Still Here. In this not-to-miss in-depth conversation, Rissi shares her journey, the state of diversity and inclusion in Nashville, and the necessity of what she calls "ego death".

A condensed version of the Rissi Palmer interview is featured this week during the SHEROES Radio hour. Here’s what else you’ll hear:

We celebrate some SHERO BIRTHDAYS:

9/22 - Lido Pimienta

9/25 - Rosalía

9/26 - Olivia Newton John, Tracey Thorne

9/27 - Mitski

Listen to the syndicated public radio SHEROES Radio hour, below: