This Is Country Music

I was nine years old when I heard country music for the first time. My favorite cousin, Ruthie, was watching my sister and me while my mom was away. I loved her because she never treated me like a kid. She had us learn the lyrics to some of her favorite CDs to keep us entertained. One of those albums was Why Not Me by The Judds. Hours of singing later, a newfound love for country music was born. I was hooked.

Back then, no one I knew liked country music. I kept it to myself and happily listened to it whenever I was alone. Outside the walls of Ruthie’s haven, I never told anyone I liked country music.

Commercial country music often seemed at odds with my progressive West Coast Mexican-American identity, leaving me to question whether I truly belonged in a male-dominated space traditionally associated with conservative white southern values. I felt like an outsider.

That all changed when Spotify suggested the music of Mickey Guyton, a Black country singer from Arlington, Texas. Her music blew me away and opened the door to curiosity. Were there other Black artists making country music?

I quickly learned that not only were there other artists of color making country music, but the genre itself wouldn’t exist without the contributions of Black musicians and the West African roots of the banjo. My world was further blown open when I learned about singer Rissi Palmer and her podcast, Color Me Country, a program dedicated to uplifting Black, Indigenous, and Latino artists, which introduced me to folks like Linda Martell, Charley Pride, Miko Marks, and Valerie Ponzio. Her podcast made me feel connected to the music in a way that I hadn’t before—not just as a fan but as someone who belonged. Yet the discrepancy between those who attain mainstream success and widespread recognition and the diversity of folks who are making the music kept nagging at me. What could I do to further uplift the voices of the genre that I loved so much?

My project, “This Is Country Music,” was born from a desire to reclaim my space in the genre and amplify the voices of women, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ artists and change makers in the best way I know how. They say country music is three chords and the truth. This project aims to make it so.

Miko Marks, Redtone Records, East Palo Alto, California, 2021.

Marks, a Bay Area country singer, fuses traditional country with blues and southern rock influences. Her EP Race Records confronts racial barriers in early music marketing and celebrates Black artists in country music.

Dzaki Sukarno, Eastside Yards, Nashville, Tennessee, 2023.

Sukarno is a Las Cruces–based country singer-songwriter known for blending traditional country sounds with a modern twist. He is a 2023 Color Me Country alum.

Rissi Palmer, back entrance of the Bluebird Cafe, Nashville, Tennessee, 2021.

Palmer is a country music artist and the host of Apple Music’s Color Me Country, a podcast dedicated to celebrating BIPOC country artists.

Rico Del Oro, College Grove, Tennessee, 2024.

Rico Del Oro is country singer from Fort Worth, Texas. His latest EP, El Camino, blends traditional mariachi music with Country Western. He is photographed wearing a custom Manuel Cuevas jacket.

Manuel Cuevas in his atelier, College Grove, Tennessee, 2024.

Cuevas has had a storied, eight-decade career. He is best known for crafting couture pieces for country music legends and dignitaries.

Holly G, Cumberland Pedestrian Bridge, Nashville, Tennessee, 2023.

Holly G is the founder of The Black Opry, a platform created to support Black country and roots artists. In 2024, she launched Black Opry Records.

Marcus K. Dowling, The Henry James Bar, Nashville, Tennessee, 2023.

Dowling is an award-winning music journalist, former Country Music reporter for The Tennessean, and founder of the Culture At Large podcast.

Larysa Jaye photographed before her set with the Black Opry, Lulu’s Downstairs, Manitou Springs, Colorado, 2023.

Jaye was a singer-songwriter who blended country with soul and rock influences. She performed regularly at Nashville International Airport and was one of the few black artists to have a weekly residency on Lower Broadway. She passed away in 2024.

Leah Galvan Turner, IndieLuna, Nashville, Tennessee, 2024.

Galvan Turner is a country singer from Morongo Valley, California. She became the highest-charting Latina in country music history with her 2013 single, “Take the Keys.”

Valerie Ponzio, American Legion Post 82, Nashville, Tennessee, 2022.

Hailing from El Paso, Texas, Ponzio is a country music artist whose debut EP, Frontera, pays tribute to her hometown and celebrates her cultural heritage.

Julie Williams in front of the historic Woolworth Theatre, Nashville, Tennessee, 2021.

Williams is a singer-songwriter based in Nashville, Tennessee. She is a CMT Next Women of Country alum and a member of The Black Opry.

The Kentucky Gentlemen, Shelby Bottoms Greenway, Nashville, Tennessee, 2023.

Twin brothers Brandon and Derek Campbell are a country music duo from Versailles, Kentucky. Their song “Whatever You’re Up For” was named a “Song You Need to Know” by Rolling Stone.

Amanda López is a Mexican-American editorial and commercial photographer based in Denver, Colorado. Whether on assignment or photographing family and friends, her camera eye looks for a balance of strength, vulnerability, and tenacity. Her images are in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and the Marian Library at the University of Dayton.

Header image: Jaime Wyatt, Vue Photo Studio, Nashville, Tennessee, 2021. Wyatt is a country music singer-songwriter from the West Coast. She was dubbed the “New Queer Queen of Outlaw Country” by The Advocate in 2020. Her latest album, Feel Good, earned critical praise and explores themes of grief and personal growth.