Back in the day, I was embarrassed to tell people I liked certain styles of country music.
It’s the sound of music that appeals to me, not the genre. That’s why I grew up listening to everything from rap (pre-gangsta) to heavy metal to grunge to punk rock to “beach” music.
I’d listen to country singers like Patsy Cline (esp. “Crazy”) and The Judds (esp. “She’s in Love With the Boy” [Oops! I'd forgotten that's country gal Trisha Yearwood's song.] and “She Is His Only Need” [and that's Wynnona Judd only) behind closed doors. As I matured, became more self-assured, and cared less and less what people thought of me or my tastes, all that changed. Today, I do what I want, baby, out loud and in the open!
Anyway...ever heard of Rissi Palmer? She's a country music singer who happens to be black.
And her star is rising.
Palmer recently was profiled in the Wall Street Journal. An excerpt:
According to a 2005 CMT documentary about African-Americans and country music in which Ms. Palmer was featured, the genre's roots are intimately tied to black America. The most frequent guest on the 1928 season of the Grand Ole Opry was black harmonica player DeFord Bailey. Innovators such as Hank Williams and Bill Monroe credited black musicians with teaching them musical insights, the film said, but as country grew more prominent, Jim Crow laws were brought to bear on the genre. Performing a style of music that would come to be called rhythm and blues, black musicians were channeled into a parallel world of segregated performance venues, record labels and radio stations. These barriers would take decades to crack.
...
[Palmer] takes pains to point out that her family roots are in the rural Georgia towns of Summerville and Sparta, where her parents grew up listening to all kinds of regional music. “For some reason, people think black people don’t like country,” Ms. Palmer says. “My family is very country. They all listen to country and gospel and soul.”
Palmer says when country music radio programmers find out she’s black, they inevitably wonder, “Is she really country?” Well, I wondered the same thing! Then I went to her MySpace page and listened to the 26-year-old singer’s music. Yes, she really is country, twang and all. The single “Country Girl,” climbed the charts. My favorite of the four samples is “Anybody Out There.”
As if you really need my advice, Ms. Palmer, I’ll offer it anyway: Continue pursuing that dream, and aim as high as you can. Some will love you, others will hate you, the rest will be indifferent. A few will laugh, mock, and sneer, but so many more will cheer. That’s kind of corny, but you get the idea. 
For what it’s worth, I like your style. Perhaps this little blog post will bring you new fans (and no haters!). Keep singing, “Country Girl”!
I so admire people who take risks, go against the grain, and act instead of sitting on the sidelines watching, criticizing, and picking nits. What colorless lives the sideliners must lead.
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