Since its founding in April 2021, the Black Opry has championed the work of numerous Black country and Americana artists and has worked to increase opportunities for the artists the organization supports across various platforms, including media, industry showcases and touring.
Earlier this year, the Black Opry partnered with Philadelphia public radio station WXPN to initiate an artist development program to highlight five emerging Black country and Americana musicians, and offering resources, mentorship and other support to each of the artists. WXPN produces World Cafe, public radio’s most popular program of popular music that is distributed by NPR to more than 280 U.S. radio stations.
Now, these artists’ stories will be further spotlighted in a new five-episode podcast, Artist to Watch: Black Opry Residency, launching on Thursday (June 8). A new episode will release each week throughout June, in support of Black Music Appreciation Month.
“We’ve been focused on showcasing emerging talent through our Artist To Watch program for two decades,” Bruce Warren, WXPN’s associate GM for programming, tells Billboard in a statement. “Building on that commitment, we really wanted to up our game and build an artist development residency. We chose to partner with Black Opry and focus on Black creators who have not traditionally been afforded access to resources to help their careers.”
The premiere episode will highlight the musical journey of Texas native Tylar Bryant, who first gained a following in 2016 through a cover of Brothers Osborne‘s “Stay a Little Longer,” and now blends elements of country with R&B and rock. Bryant has played over 80 shows per year throughout the Lone Star State, and recorded his debut EP, Don’t Let Go in 2017, before moving to Nashville in 2019.
The subsequent episodes will trace the journeys of Samantha Rise, Grace Givertz, Denitia, and sibling duo The Kentucky Gentlemen.
Rise is a Philadelphia-based teacher, performer, songwriter/singer and activist whose music is rooted in indie folk. Boston-based Givertz is a multi-instrumentalist with a blazing folk sound. Nashville-based Denitia fuses elements of country and folk with poetic lyrics, The Kentucky Gentlemen’s Brandon and Derek Campbell, who issued their debut EP, The Kentucky Gentlemen, Vol. 1 last year, blend pop, country and R&B.
“The partnership with xpn for the Black Opry Residency has been such an easy fit, it felt like we were meant to work together,” Holly G, founder of the Black Opry, tells Billboard in a statement. “It can be hard to find people in the industry that are passionate about emerging artists and willing to provide the resources to support them, especially artists from marginalized identities in the country and American landscape. It displays a tremendous amount of leadership and faith that Bruce and his team were able and willing to put their efforts behind such a big project and i’m grateful they were so keen to listen to myself and people like Rissi Palmer about the needs of our community.”
Additionally, WXPN hosted each of the Artist to Watch: Black Opry Residency artists for a week-long residency in Philadelphia, where they collaborated on writing and recording and performed at World Cafe Live. Those performances will be released on Monday (June 5), alongside the World Cafe interview on the national show.
Artist to Watch: Black Opry Residency is produced by Rowhome Productions and hosted by journalist/radio host John Morrison. Artist To Watch: Black Opry Residency is distributed by PRX and available at XPN.org and on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher and most other podcast providers.
“My hope is that others will see the success of this project and realize that we need to do it many times over,” Holly G says.
