Mickey Guyton was signed to major country music label Capitol Nashville in 2011 and released two EPs: Unbreakable in 2014, and Mickey Guyton in 2015.  The latter earned her a nomination for New Female Vocalist of the Year at the 2016 Academy of Country Music awards.   But two singles released this year, “Black Like Me” and “What Are You Gonna Tell Her”, both featured on her new EP Bridges that dropped this past Friday, are raising her profile to a new level.  She’ll be on stage at the ACM awards this Wednesday to sing “Black Like Me”.

Check out the lyrics video for “Black Like Me” and the video for “Better Than You Left Me”, the featured single from Mickey Guyton.  And here’s  a link to “What Are You Gonna Tell Her” if you’d like to hear more.

Black women singers are extraordinarily rare in mainstream country music, even more so than their male counterparts. It took a bit of searching to uncover Vicki Vann, who released an eponymous debut album in 2002 and Reckless Heart in 2011. Reckless Heart is chock full of classic country sounds, including the title track, “When You’re Comin’ Down”, and many others.

P.S. Sad news that Toots Hibbert, featured in last week’s blog post, did pass away this past Friday. Reggae and Toots and the Maytals’ music, though, will live on forever.