A short time after Nashville artist Jamaal Sheats became director and curator of galleries at Fisk University in 2015, he got a phone call. Might Fisk have available in its collection any works by Akinola Lasekan, a mid-20th century Nigerian artist?
Growing up in Nashville, the Fisk Jubilee Singers were, and remain, a constant presence for the developing Black singer. My own reference for Western classical singing in the Black aesthetic begins with them. In fact, when I first started formal voice study, it was in the hopes of becoming a Jubilee Singer.
On a nice day in Bellevue, you can walk your kid to school, take an exercise class, paddle along the river, play some tennis, shop in a favorite store, see a movie, eat sushi, eat Italian, eat Indian, go ice skating, or watch your kid’s soccer game—all within a few miles.
Words made this town. Words in novels, history books, and poetry. Ann Patchett, Jon Meacham, and Tiana Clark are names that many readers recognize, their words bound between two covers that are devoured during many sittings.
At a venue as historic as the Ryman Auditorium, every song begins with a story. And stories that span generations and genres are the centerpiece of a new Rock & Roll Hall of Fame exhibit opening this month at the Ryman.
In the summer of 2015, the album that would become Margo Price’s breakout debut, Midwest Farmer’s Daughter, had been sitting in the can for months.
A disastrous summer tour left her and her husband, Jeremy Ivey, broke and disgusted. Record label rejections were piling up.
