The Nashville In Harmony choir’s “That Ain’t Country” show is a stylistic stretch for the LGBTQ+ group. It features songs by Little Big Town, Kacey Musgraves, the Chicks, Garth Brooks, and Beyoncé.
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."
In their country music, the flag is for everyone
Recent songs from country stars Morgan Wallen, Brantley Gilbert and Lee Brice portray their side as the only one that can claim the American flag. At the edges of the mainstream, some artists have found ways of freeing the flag from that narrow meaning.
The surprising depth of affection in Ashley Monroe’s “I Hate Nashville”
It may seem like Ashley Monroe is contradicting herself when she sings these emphatic sentiments nearly back to back: “Country music is the reason I’m alive. …But I hate Nashville.”
Elevating Nashville’s R&B scene is a collective effort | Key Changes
The rising R&B scene here in Nashville is advancing through the collaborative dynamic they’re cultivating and the type of music they’re making.
Country music comedy is back | Key Changes
Do you remember when country music had a sense of humor? Punchlines have taken a backseat to the sullenness and swagger of some of the genre’s current male superstars, but it hasn’t always been that way.
New Music Friday: The best albums out May 1
Welcome to New Music Friday, NPR Music’s podcast dedicated to sharing the best albums out each week. This week, our guest is Jewly Hight critic and journalist from Nashville Public Radio.
Veronique Medrano, Kacey Musgraves and Gillian Welch want to let their roots show | Key Changes
Artists including Kacey Musgraves, Gillian Welch and Veronique Medrano are giving credit where they feel it’s due, and connecting their work to musical and cultural lineages.
Nashville artist Summer Joy has learned how to transcend boundaries with her voice
“Singing, honey, that is like breathing to me,” says Summer Joy. The emerging singer-songwriter released her debut EP, “Lessons in Love,” in March.
AI music platform launched in Nashville puts songwriters in control
Soundbreak, an AI songwriting platform, gives users an approximation of co-writing with artists they admire.
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