 She's a self-described country music disruptor. We're joined by the founder of the Black Opry, which performs on the WJCT soundstage, February 15th at 7 p.m. Holly G, welcome to First Coast Connect. Good morning. Thanks so much for having me. Thank you for being here. And if you have questions, you can give us a call at 904-549-2937. You can email First Coast Connect at wjct.org, or you can message us on Facebook, Instagram, or tag us on X. Holly G, tell us, why did you decide to create the Black Opry, the Black Opry Review? What need did you see? Well, it came from just me being a huge fan of country music. And I've lived it all my life, and I've not seen people that look like me represented on the stage and not in the audience either. And so I created it to connect with other people that looked like me that loved country music. And I was attempting to reach fans, but I was so pleasantly surprised when I found so many artists that were making country music and needed a platform because nobody was paying attention to them. So we've been able to fill in that gap. So you're not a performer yourself, as my understanding, but you're a music critic and a writer. What was your experience with country music as a fan or even as a professional? Well, I did not start writing until I started to launch Black Opry. I was writing so that I could pay to keep the website up, basically. But yeah, before I started doing this work, my interaction with country music was very limited, other than listening to it. It does not feel safe as a Black queer woman to go into some of these spaces that country music fans have created. It's just another reason why it's so important that we exist so we could try to help make those spaces safer so that people that don't look like the typical country music can go and enjoy these events as well. You know, it's interesting. Our producer here has a program that she puts together annually called Queer Country Disco for the same reason, which is, you know, creating a space that feels safe to people who maybe don't feel safe when they go or perhaps welcomed when they go to see country music. What kind of personal experience did you have with that? I saw it in one article about you that, for instance, you wanted to go to a Miranda Lambert concert. Yeah, I had bought tickets to see her like five times, and then I would never go because I couldn't find anybody that would be willing to go with me. And when you look at the people that typically support that kind of music and there's some better flags and all that kind of stuff, it just doesn't feel like a safe place to go alone. And so, unfortunately, I would have been able to participate in the music that I love so much. So it is a fan experience, but it's also an experience of black country artists, black folk artists. It's my understanding that only 1% of black artists played on country music in the last 20 years, that only 1% of the music on, you know, country music radio stations is from black artists. Yeah, that was figured out by Dr. Data Watson who did, she did a study called the Red Light Report where she studied representation in country music over a span of 20 years. And I think it was like 0.1% actually. Oh, wow. And so their numbers are just really low. And every time, like, I mean, if you look at black artists and numbers low, but then if you look at black women and slower, if you look at queer black people, it's even lower. And so we try really hard to make sure that we are being intersectional in our approach as well. And just try to get as many voices out there as we can. And, you know, as far as shows though, we only play with black artists, but, you know, we do a lot of things with the community as well. We try to be a safe space for anybody who loves this music and does not feel welcome. And the black opera has shown that there is obviously no shortage of black country and Americana artists. How many do you work with? How many typically perform when you are doing tours? So we have like a database of about 200, probably a little over that now, artists that we have to pull from when we have shows. And each show has between three and five different performers. And the cool thing about our shows is you can go to as many as you want and you'll never see the same show twice because we changed the line up for every show. And so there's always different artists always telling different stories. And, you know, it's also breaking down the stereotype of what people think of when they do think of black country music, which is typically only serious rocker. There's so much diversity just within the community of different styles and sounds and stories. And it's always a really good mix of different perspectives. I'm curious just because of this kind of news that was happening this week with Tracy Chapman, who, you know, I think has been described as a variety of different kinds of artists, but I think of her certainly as having that kind of folk element. And, you know, the fact that her song was, some would say, you know, covered and others might say appropriated, but the recognition for that song went to a male white artist as opposed to her at the CMAs. They, of course, performed together this week at the Grammys. But what are your feelings on that evolution of that song and her role in it? So, the whole thing really, to me, is more so about what it illustrates as opposed to the actual song itself or anything that Luke Holmes has done. That is the first time that a black songwriter has been at the top of the country radio charts and it only happened because there was a white man singing her song. You can argue whether or not she even wanted to be considered a country. I don't think that matters very much. If you do listen to the cover, Luke didn't really change the arrangement very much. So, if that can be considered a country song when he sings it, it should have been able to be considered a country song when she sang it. And also, there are so many black queer women that are making country music and not getting acknowledged. So it would just be really nice to see people be able to see their own music and be successful with that in the industry. We're talking with Holly G. of Black Opry, which is going to be in town next week. You can give us a call at 904-549-2937 or send an email to First Coast Connect at wjct.org. We'd love to hear you if you're a black country music fan or a black country music performer. Holly, what kind of challenges or pushback have you received on this project and how have you addressed them? You know, I feel like we do get a lot of pushback, but for me, it's not worth the effort to acknowledge or pay very much attention to it because we've also gotten so much support. I don't think that I've ever had an experience where so many people rallied around something so passionately and so quickly. I mean, we just launched this project in 2021 and it was only intended to be a website, but it ended up growing into this huge tour because there was just a need for it. And so for every one person that, you know, has an issue with what we're doing, I get asked all the time, well, what if they made a white opry and I'm like, well, they'd have one. That's why we had to make the black one because they're not letting us into that one. And so I just kind of ignore those people and focus on the fact that, you know, we have been able to put these artists in a position where their lives are being changed. And that's really important to me. And who are some of the artists that have performed with the black opry review? What are some moments that you have, maybe some favorite moments of the tour? I will say, I think one of my favorite standout moments was that we were headed to play pilgrimage fest here in Franklin, Tennessee. And we were on the golf cart and my phone rang and we were like, hey, this is Alicia Key's manager. She wants you to come sing with her tonight. And I was like, there is no way this is real. But it didn't have been really got to go and the artist got to play with her and sing with her on stage. And it was just such a cool moment seeing, you know, a black artist that I grew up listening to and respect so much, embrace the project and support it in such a memorable way. That's an exciting moment. I mean, so this is something that it's not just that you're reaching out to black artists and performers about this project. They're also just reaching out to be a part of it. Yeah, she said she got my phone number from Brandy Karla, which is also insane because I'm like... So it's been, you know, that's one of the things that I talk about a lot. It's only works because there have been so many people that have been, you know, gracious and kind enough to speak positively about us in rooms where they were powerful people. The first festival we played was Newport Folk Fest, which is, I mean, insane for that to be our festival debut, but we were able to do that because Allison Russell stood up for us and advocated for us to be there. And so that's something that I try to do anytime I get an opportunity to advocate for other people because that's how it's been able to work for us to have so much success with this project. Can we talk just briefly about the lineup that we are going to be hosting here at the WJCT soundstage on February 15th? What can we expect from that performance? Well, again, the cool thing is it'll be a show that nobody's ever seen before. I think we've got some of the performers that have been with us since the very beginning on that show as well, some newer ones. And one of the most special things about a Black Opera show is not only are you, you know, getting to enjoy the music and the stories behind the music, but you're able to see this camaraderie that these artists build. And sometimes they're building that in the moment on stage and it's just really special to see what community can bring to music. Are there plans for the Black Opera in terms of, you know, a future educational component or any expansion of the current, you know, setup and mission? Yeah, for sure. We're trying to figure out... That's one of the big things because I'd now have, like, all of this access to all of these people in the industry. I think it's so important to figure out how to translate that access and the knowledge that I'm able to gain from all these people to as many folks as possible. It's really difficult being an independent artist. There's no guidebook or anything like that. And so we started with a residency program last year that was put together with WXC and up in Philadelphia. And we were able to put five artists through a six-week program. We were able to pay them for their time, provide them with mentors, and then it all culminated with a performance at World Cafe, which is really, really great. We're always looking for different ways to kind of put things together to create resources for artists. A lot of it is just very informal. Artists just reach out to me for whatever they need, and we try to provide as much as we can. I do have one person to help me, but for the most part, my one-woman show. Thank you for joining us, Holly. Gia, it's been great to hear about the project, and we look forward to the show on February 15th. Doors at 7, the show starts at 8. Thanks so much for being here. Thanks so much for having me. It was great talking to you.