The Prine Family will present the third annual “You Got Gold: Celebrating the Songs of John Prine” this October in Nashville, with shows at the historic Ryman Auditorium (October 9), The Basement East (October 10, Prine’s birthday) and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s CMA Theater (October 11). The three nights of shows will be followed by John Prine Community Day on October 12, which will feature a variety of community-focused activities (more details to come).
Today, Oh Boy Records unveils Rhiannon Giddens’ stirring rendition of "The Ballad of Sally Anne,” the second track from My Black Country: The Songs of Alice Randall. The track delves into the harrowing reality of lynching in the American South, presenting a poignant narrative that challenges listeners to confront the historical atrocities often overlooked in the country music genre. My Black Country is Randall’s reclamation of the history of Black contributions to the genre, specifically hers.
For more than four decades the songwriter, New York Times best-selling author (The Wind Done Gone), and acclaimed educator Alice Randall has been one of the few Black female writers on Nashville’s Music Row, and the first to pen a #1 hit (Trisha Yearwood’s "XXXs and OOOs"). And while she has seen her songs recorded by multiple generations of country artists - from Glen Campbell and Mo Bandy, to Marie Osmond and Yearwood - none of those artists looked like her. Until now.