Brittney Spencer
Over the past few years, the chorus of voices calling for justice for Black and brown people and an end to white supremacy has grown louder and louder. Many of those voices have frequently and knowledgeably pointed out the disconnect between the fundamental contributions artists of color have made to country music and the minuscule amount of support — let alone equity and power — they’ve received in return. Maybe you’ve read about it on Twitter. Or perhaps in publications like the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times, or Rolling Stone and Billboard. Or you’ve heard about it on the radio and in streaming programs like Rissi Palmer’s Color Me Country. I’m proud to say there’s a good chance you’ve read about it in the Scene, too.
For Love & Country, a documentary directed by Joshua Kissi that begins streaming via Amazon Prime today, puts this story on the screen in vivid color. Kissi focuses on letting an array of Black country musicians tell their stories: Contemporary breakouts like Brittney Spencer, Breland, Allison Russell, Shy Carter, Amythyst Kiah, Reyna Roberts, Willie Jones and Blanco Brown talk about the deep, deep roots of their passion for country music and how and why they have persisted despite the discouraging circumstances. Mickey Guyton, who’s been finally receiving some of the recognition she has long deserved, explains what it’s been like to be signed to a major label and left to languish for a decade. Frankie Staton, who came to Nashville to pursue a country career in 1981 and later led the Black Country Music Association, discusses how she’d been made to feel like an other over and over again.
Frankie Staton
Journalists, authors and scholars like Andrea Williams and Amanda Marie Martínez help explain how deliberate choices — about marketing “hillbilly” records to white audiences and “race” records to nonwhite audiences — enforced and strengthened the barrier against Black artists succeeding in country music. Masterful Nashville-raised rapper and community activist Mike Floss is among the others who appear in the film, offering perspective on the culture of the city and how it makes so little room for celebrating and supporting Black greatness. From the driver’s seat of a truly badass vintage Cadillac, he makes a crucial point: that giving Black people positions of power matters more than simply offering them representation within the already-warped framework of the industry.
If those weren’t enough reasons to recommend For Love & Country, it’s beautifully shot and shows you parts of the city that seldom make it into big productions. Many of the artists also give spellbinding solo acoustic performances, too. Don’t forget to tell yourself to breathe afterward.
