Spotlight On: Amythyst Kiah

ABOUT THIS WEEK’S SHERO IN THE SPOTLIGHT:

Guitarist, singer, and songwriter Amythyst Kiah grew up in the Bible Belt, first in Chattanooga, and then Johnson City, Tennessee. As a Black and queer young teenager, playing the guitar became a form of self therapy, a tool that would become crucial when losing her mother to suicide. After studying old time, bluegrass and country music at Eastern Tennessee State University, it wasn’t long before Amythyst was putting out her debut album Dig in 2012, and starting to tour. Two years after releasing an EP in 2016 as Amythyst Kiah & Her Chest of Glass, she joined forces with Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla and Allison Russell as Our Native Daughters, penning the song “Black Myself” which earned a Grammy nomination in 2019, and now has been reinvented for her new solo album Wary + Strange. At the time of recording this episode, Amythyst was up for three Americana Music Awards, including Song of the Year for that new solo rendition of “Black Myself,” and duo/group of the year as part of Our Native Daughters; all of this on the heels of releasing her amazing new solo album, Wary + Strange. Amythyst Kiah is this week’s SHERO in the Spotlight.

Our playlist includes new music from Snail Mail, Tasha, and Lump. Plus a new track called “SYNCOPATE” from NYC collective MICHELLE who just announced that their album AFTER DINNER WE TALK DREAMS will be out in January. 

SHERO BIRTHDAYS:
We celebrate three SHERO birthdays this week; Happy Birthday to Mitski on Monday 9/27, and to Patrice Rushen, and Sylvia Peterson of The Chiffons both on Thursday, 9/30. 

This week’s Radio SHERO: 
Nilufer Arsala of KXT in Dallas joins us to spin the track “Harshest Critic” from a fellow Texan, 25 year-old singer-songwriter Allison Ponthier.