Blacks in country music are rare.
America’s most well-known black country singer is Charley Pride, whose crossover hit, “Kiss an Angel Good Morning,” garnered him a Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year award in 1971 and Male Vocalist of the Year in 1971 and 1972. In 1967, he was the first black performer to appear at the Grand Ole Opry since DeFord Bailey, who appeared between the mid-1920s and 1941.
Throughout the legendary Ray Charles’s career, he recorded in various genres, including a style known as “country soul.” Several years ago, a self-described “blackneck” named Troy Coleman, better known as Cowboy Troy, exploded onto the scene with an audacious blend of country music and rap he dubbed “hick-hop.”
But Rissi Palmer, whose self-titled debut album was released last October, isn’t dabbling in country music, nor is she trying to invent a new style; however, she’s not your typical country singer. Palmer, 26, said when country music radio programmers find out she’s black, they inevitably wonder, “Is she really country?”
