BONUS TRACKS: Beyoncé Swings the Spotlight to Country Music

I don’t know if you heard, but there was a big football game last weekend. But the real big news, obviously, was Beyoncé dropping word of a new album via a Verizon ad that aired during the game. And as foretold by her recent public fashion choices and confirmed by the two songs released from Act II, a continuation of her three-part Renaissance project coming March 29, Bey’s latest buzz is country. On one of the new songs — “Texas Hold ’Em” — the prominent banjo part as well as viola playing are provided by Rhiannon Giddens. “I used to say many times as soon as Beyonce puts the banjo on a track my job is done,” Giddens remarked on her social media accounts this week. “Well, I didn’t expect the banjo to be mine, and I know darn well my job ain’t done, but today is a pretty good day.”

It was, you might say, the banjo riff heard ’round the world. Has Beyoncé truly gone country? If she has, it wasn’t too far a journey. She grew up in Houston, often attending rodeos with her family. And these new singles are not, of course, her first foray into country music. “Daddy Lessons,” on her 2016 album Lemonade, was a previous reminder of her country bona fides, on full display at that year’s CMA awards show in a memorable performance with The Chicks. Part of Beyoncé’s musical genius all along has been her boldness in blurring genre boundaries and incorporating sounds into new contexts. This is a continuation far more than a new chapter.

But of course some parts of the story are, maddeningly, the same. Country gatekeepers are gonna gatekeep, and fans who have never peeked outside the music industry’s long-running practice of segregating genres and dividing audiences are gonna squirm. Will they play Beyoncé on country radio? (Not without some serious pressure, in at least one well-publicized instance, and probably not quickly, according to this piece in Variety about country radio’s glacial pace in adopting anything that catches them off guard.) Does this, more importantly, change the game? If anyone can finally swing the spotlight fully onto Black artists’ contributions to country music now and throughout its history, it’s Beyoncé. (Read more about how Black country artists are reacting to Beyoncé’s new songs in this piece from NBC News.) The BeyHive is listening. Will mainstream country music fans now finally tune in?

Allison Russell was celebrated by the Recording Academy this month with a Best American Roots Performance Grammy for her song “Eve Was Black” (ND story). Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones thought it only fitting that Russell’s state of residence celebrate her too, so he introduced two resolutions in the House: one to honor Russell’s achievement, and a similar one honoring the band Paramore’s Grammy wins for Best Rock Album and Best Alternative Music Performance. The resolution honoring Paramore passed without a snag, but the Republican-controlled legislature sent the resolution for Russell back to committee, essentially killing it. Jones, a member of the “Tennessee Three” expelled from the House after a gun control protest but later reinstated, attempted to express concern about the unusual move but had his mic cut by the House chair. “That you and (Rep. Gloria Johnson) presented this resolution is a high honour,” Russell said in a social media post. That the TN GOP blocked it, I take as a compliment. Their bigotry, sadly, is on relentless display.” Read more about the Tennessee legislature’s appalling act of pettiness in this coverage from Variety.

UPDATE: Paramore has declined the resolution honoring them, expressing support for Russell and dismay at the Tennessee House’s blockage of the similar resolution honoring her. “The blatant racism of our state leadership is embarrassing and cruel,” Paramore’s Hayley Williams said in a statement to The Tennessean. “Myself, as well as Paramore, will continue to encourage young people to show up to vote with equality in mind.” Read more in this story from Rolling Stone.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this week announced its nominees for induction in 2024, which was met with the usual outrage and eyerolls about who made the list and who did not. For your perusal, the nominees are: Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Cher, Dave Matthews Band, Eric B. & Rakim, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Jane’s Addiction, Kool & the Gang, Lenny Kravitz, Oasis, Sinéad O’Connor, Ozzy Osbourne, Sade, and A Tribe Called Quest. As always, nominees must have released their first commercial recording at least 25 years ago, and will be voted on by artists, historians, and music industry professionals who are tasked with considering “an artist’s musical impact and influence on other artists, length and depth of career and body of work as well as innovation and superiority in style and technique,” according to the Hall of Fame. The inductee list will be announced in April, and the ceremony will take place this fall in Cleveland. You can read more about the process, and about each of the nominees, here.

Never one to align to industry standards, singer-songwriter Todd Snider has announced he’s releasing live versions of all his albums to be released once a month throughout 2024 — and the music will be free to stream or download from his website. Each live album (Todd’s Version?) was recorded at his home studio in Nashville in 2020. The first release in the “All My Songs” series will be his first album, Songs for the Daily Planet, coming Feb. 23 and coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the original’s release. Read more about the All My Songs project in this interview in Rolling Stone.

WHAT WE’RE LISTENING TO

Here’s a sampling of the songs, albums, bands, and sounds No Depression staffers have been into this week:

Will Hoge – “I’d Be Lying,” from his new album, Tenderhearted Boys, coming in April
The Red Clay Strays – “Wondering Why”
Hermanos Gutiérrez – “Sonido Cósmico,” the title track from their new album, coming in June
Gaby Moreno – “Dance the Night Away”
Father John Misty – Pure Comedy
Teddy and the Rough Riders – “Rose Tinted Glasses”
Biscuit & Gravy – “The Carpenter”
Josh Ritter – Hello Starling
Taylor Rae – “Fixer Upper”
Pokey LaFarge – “Sister Andre,” from his new album, Rhumba Country, coming in May