We take for granted that sporting events have music. But for performers, it can serve as personal or political expression.
jewly hight
Music critic and journalist Jewly Hight has been based in Nashville for two decades. Often, she's interpreted developments in Nashville's music communities and industries for a national audience. Her work has appeared on NPR and in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, New York Magazine/Vulture, The Guardian, Billboard, The Oxford American, Slate and numerous other outlets, and she's lent her expertise to a number of podcasts and documentaries. Hight landed her first book deal while studying religion, gender, sexuality, music and the South at Vanderbilt Divinity School, she was the inaugural winner of the Chet Flippo Award for Excellence in Country Music Journalism and she helped launch WNXP as its Editorial Director in 2020. Now Senior Music Writer for Nashville Public Radio, and working with a diverse Nashville audience in mind, she's created the organization's first limited podcast series focused on music, "Making Noise."
New trio The Cowgays embraces the queerness of ‘90s country music sensibilities
The Cowgays are a new openly gay country vocal trio. They’re just getting started, but the response thus far shows they’re connecting with a hungry audience.
John Anderson sings for the doctors who gave him his music back
John Anderson made his name throughout the 1980s and early ‘90s. Hearing issues stopped him in his tracks.
On her new album, Kacey Musgraves returns home, to the ‘Middle of Nowhere’
Before making her upcoming sixth album, the country star returned to her small-town Texas home and discovered the power of in-between spaces. “I found a lot of clarity there,” she says.
Key Changes: In Nashville radio, Contemporary Christian music, R&B, and hip-hop hold very different places
There’s a good chance that you already know Nashville’s the radio capital for country music. Christian music and R&B both have long histories here, too.
Nashville legacies are in the spotlight during Black History Month
This February marks one century of Black history month. While events across the nation are bringing greater awareness to African American cultural contributions, there’s a lot happening to highlight the history made right here in Nashville.
Key Changes: Noting what feels new about the 68th Grammys
The Grammy Awards have gotten knocked for being slow to adapt. But the 68th edition of the awards show is likely to feel more like a responsive update.
A new biography of Justin Townes Earle clarifies the singer-songwriter’s complex legacy
In the late 2000s, Justin Townes Earle emerged as one of the most magnetic singer-songwriters in roots music. He died in 2020 of a fentanyl overdose in Nashville, and now journalist Jonathan Bernstein has an engrossing biography, “What Do You Do When You’re Lonesome.”
Nashville rapper iNTRO contains multitudes
On “Duality of Man,” rapper iNTRO paints a self-portrait from many different angles, continually shifting in style and subject matter alike. “What is a rapper? … I’m also doing these other things that aren’t necessarily rapper-esque, like baking banana bread.”
Mon Rovîa sought quiet to make an album that could reach the world
Mon Rovîa named his debut album, and its title track, “Bloodline.” In the song, he reflects on his quest to restore his sense of connection to the people and place he came from.
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