Welcome to Talking Culture! In this weekly interview series from 97.9 The Hill WCHL, you’ll hear from writers, performers, musicians and individuals involved in advancing and promoting cultural arts in our community.

This week, Aaron re-airs an in-studio performance from country star Rissi Palmer, whose new EP is called “Perspectives.” That’s just the latest iteration in Palmer’s spectacular career – dating back to her debut single, 2007’s “Country Girl,” which made her the first Black woman in 19 years to hit the Billboard country charts. (Though she’s far from the only one, and she wants everyone to know it: Palmer also has a podcast, “Color Me Country,” spotlighting the many Black musicians in country music today and tracing the history of country music back to its Black roots in American history.)

If you want to see Rissi Palmer playing live, she has two shows in the area this spring. Friday, April 10, she’ll be in Raleigh performing alongside Dawn Landes, Mike Wiley, Django Haskins and Mipso’s Jacob Sharp in response to a public reading of the Declaration of Independence to commemorate its 250th anniversary. She’s also working on a new full-length album, due out later this year; it’ll be her fourth, counting a children’s album she released in 2013. And speaking of works for children, she’s also about to release a children’s book called “Color Me Country,” which she wrote in collaboration with another highly decorated area musician, Rhiannon Giddens – with whom she’ll be performing on the DPAC stage on April 27. (That show, “Beloved Community,” will serve as this year’s installment of Giddens’ “Biscuits and Banjos” series, which launched last year as a way to celebrate Black musicians in folk, bluegrass, and Americana.)

Rissi Palmer stopped by 97.9 The Hill for a live performance of “Good To Me,” one of four tracks on “Perspectives.”

97.9 The Hill WCHL and Chapelboro.com are your headquarters for local news and local voices in Chapel Hill-Carrboro. Every weekday morning, 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck chats with government officials, UNC scholars, business and nonprofit leaders, area musicians, and others in our community as they share their thoughts, their experience, and their expertise on the central issues of today. Click here to listen back to all of Aaron’s conversations – and tune in to “This Morning with Aaron Keck” at 7:30 a.m. on 97.9 The Hill to hear those conversations live.

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