The War and Treaty, K. Michelle and more: These Black artists are redefining country music

Black artists are arriving in country music's Nashville-based independent and mainstream ranks in a manner not seen in a half-century. And now, with Beyoncé's East Texas roots propelling her up the charts, a more powerful spotlight is shining on the contributions of artists who've been working to overcome long-standing obstacles on the pathway to country music success.

Progress, while slow, is happening -- both on the charts and in terms of more diverse visual representation on stages and at award shows.

Have more Black members of the Country Music Hall of Fame been inducted since 2020? Sure. Ray Charles joined that rotunda's esteemed class in 2022. Are there more African-American Grand Ole Opry members? Not yet.

However, artists like RVSHVD and Willie Jones, plus Madeline Edwards, Camille Parker and Miko Marks have debuted there recently.

And the Black Opry -- an organization that started, like the dictionary definition of an "opry," as an establishment providing country or folk music -- has existed since 2021. Via the organization, 150 Black artists have been granted an opportunity to play paid dates at over 120 venues and festivals nationwide -- they also plan to open Black Opry Records, an independent label to be distributed by Thirty Tigers.

As for other outlets? Rissi Palmer's Apple Music Radio Color Me Country program allows the 15-plus-year mainstream country veteran to program Black artists in a format similar but different to country's mainstream radio dial. Her reach and impact are significant because she's also a correspondent for CMT's Hot 20 Countdown program.

13 Black Country Artists To Know

Here are a baker's dozen of Black artists making waves in country music.

Tanner Adell

A conversation-starting song: 2023-released "Buckle Bunny"

The fiercely independent performer straddles the line between the rodeo and Rodeo Drive with an assured confidence borne between being rooted in her Kentucky state of birth and, via adoption, part of her life spent in California and Wyoming. Where to find Adell? Social media is best. Since June 2023, her social media followers on Instagram, TikTok and X have increased 66 percent -- likes on her TikTok posts have also increased by over 25 percent.

A quote: "The beauty of the diversity of grace [I show] realities that [I've] authentically lived has mixed with the celestial and ethereal manner [my fans] show up, ready to embody their passion as an often unseen community of people."

BRELAND

A conversation-starting song: 2024-released "Heartbreak & Alcohol"

Post-pandemic country music placed BRELAND on a jet stream to stardom. As a singer, he's a gospel-bred dynamo capable of jaw-dropping vocal runs. As a songwriter, since 2020, he has achieved country chart-topping and R&B Grammy-nominated success. "My Truck" was a viral smash, while "Cross Country" articulated the course that the genre's mainstream took to navigate dynamic diversification best. Now 28 and five years into a 10-year town, he's onstage with Shania Twain, collaborating with seemingly everyone and a philanthropist extraordinaire.

A quote: "I used to write songs that sounded great in studios that streamed well. [Now] I am trying to create the honest, emotional music possible that shifts the energy in the room with the power of my presence."

Blanco Brown

A conversation-starting song: 2022's "CountryTime"

Calling Blanco Brown a country artist is like calling McDonald's Big Mac merely a sandwich. Before achieving chart-topping and viral stardom multiple times since 2020, Brown -- a native of West Atlanta's Bankhead neighborhood -- was already successful as a collaborator, engineer and producer for Outkast, the Dungeon Family, Jeezy, 2 Chainz and more. Looking for the guy to break down the link between Goodie Mob's "Cell Therapy" and Outkast's "Rosa Parks" to "Take Me Home, Country Roads" and "Tennessee Whiskey?" Look no further.

A quote: "We're making experimental music that sounds like nothing that's ever hit the radio before. The feelings and intentions that drive this music are unprecedented."

Kane Brown

A conversation-starting song: 2022-released "Whiskey Sour"

Kane Brown tops country's radio charts roughly once every 18 months. He's also the only artist in the genre currently pushing sonic boundaries, marrying bluegrass and trap, plus tropical house and neotraditional country. Brown also proves that existing both within and outside stereotypical traditions that define country music's mainstream is entirely possible. Need an artist who can croon like Kenny Rogers plus has swagger mirroring a decade of modern hip-hop evolutions from Soulja Boy to Drake -- and he'll host your awards show? Kane's your guy.

A quote: "When I make pop songs, [industry executives] say, [I'm] too country, which is a little weird...Doors are getting knocked down for everyone, and country music is being welcoming. Now [is anyone's] chance."

Shy Carter

A conversation-starting song: 2023's Frank Ray collaboration "Jesus At The Taco Truck"

Memphian Carter proves that easy is the hand that wields the pen. Rock and Roll Hall of Famers like Clive Davis and Songwriting Hall of Famers like David Lee Murphy know Carter's handicraft -- same goes for artists including Tim McGraw and Sugarland. As a vocalist, he's a honey-toned crooner, too. As quiet as he is creatively robust, Carter's likely forgotten more about the intersection of soul, organic instrumentation and R&B flavor than most could hope to remember. He's an integral part of the genre's continuing pop-crossover conversation.

A quote: "My music represents country music's timeless values: real, beautiful stories with beautiful chords."

Chapel Hart

A conversation-starting song: 2022's "You Can Have Him, Jolene"

There is no other country group you're as easy to find barnstorming from NBC's "America's Got Talent" to the Grand Ole Opry stage to serenading the greeter at your local Walmart. Poplarville, Mississippi natives Chapel Hart are a family group renowned for maintaining the genre's connection between its outlaw ways and pop-cultural explosion. Do they also carry the stamp of approval of Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Darius Rucker, Marty Stuart, Tanya Tucker and more standing ovations on the Grand Ole Opry than times they've appeared on the program? Of course.

Mickey Guyton

A conversation-starting song: Her cover of Black Pumas single "Oct 33" from a 2023 edition of CMT Crossroads

Mickey Guyton was signed to Capitol Records and three years elapsed before she released her debut EP. How a Texas artist inspired by LeAnn Rimes with vocal chops comparable to the likes of Carrie Underwood then saw 10 years elapse before her debut album dropped is astonishing. However, undeterred, Guyton now exists as the modern-era country standard bearer (and four-time Grammy-nominated artist) for opening doors and eyes to peerless standards for African-American art in country's mainstream.

A quote: "I [write] from the heart. Literally from my truth...for myself, versus worrying about how to write something that will get on the radio."

K. Michelle

A conversation-starting song: Her 2023 Country Music Association show-closing duet with Jelly Roll on The Judds' "Love Can Build A Bridge"

A Tennessee native as tall as Dolly Parton, who spent her childhood yodeling in her closet to The Judds and Alison Krauss cassettes, has as many hyper-engaged social media followers as Miranda Lambert. If K. Michelle were allowed to create the music that inspired her vocal career the most for the past decade, conversations about Beyoncé's necessity as a groundbreaker in country music's mainstream might be moot. However, that was not the case and K. Michelle has arrived in the genre with platinum-selling R&B diva status among many credits to her name.

A quote: "I have so much love for country music. The people who believe in my career deserve to discover the same type of happiness through the genre that the genre has brought me."

Darius Rucker

A conversation-starting song: 2023's "Fires Don't Start Themselves"

Twenty years have elapsed since former Hootie & The Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker "debuted" in country music. Since then, he's artistically evolved from being the second half of a statement defending anyone perceiving country music to be a bastion of racism ("We have Charley Pride...and Darius Rucker") to being a 10-time genre chart-topper, evolving song stylist, and well-regarded philanthropist for genre-favored St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. And yes, a decade ago, he covered Old Crow Medicine Show's "Wagon Wheel" excellently.

A quote: "I'm always motivated to work because I've got greater goals to reach. If I'm not thinking about working hard -- from charity work to recording and touring -- then I don't feel justified in [my acclaim]."

Allison Russell

A conversation-starting song: 2022's "Nightflyer"

In the annals of earnest songwriting and conscientious multiracial and LGBTQ+ civil rights leadership, Allison Russell's break to stardom has facilitated her ability to mirror stars and legends like Brandi Carlile and a vaunted era of Laurel Canyon songwriters' level of renown. Her "Rainbow Coalition" cohort of collaborators is a chosen family intentionally present as much for their talent as their conviction to creativity and social progress. Now both an Americana Music Association and Grammy award-winner, the Canadian native's arc assumes a global reach.

A quote: "Fear, harm and violence reduction in places where people feel supported, can thrive and are visible in their humanity allow for an energy to resonate that draws us together."

Brittney Spencer

A conversation-starting song: the 2023 ballad "Bigger Than The Song"

Pop's mainstream intersecting with country music benefits Baltimore native Spencer's comfort in both genres' spotlight. She mentions June Carter Cash, Reba McEntire and Dolly Parton in 2023's "Bigger Than The Song." Her 2021 breakout came after she covered Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby, Maren Morris and Amanda Shires' "Crowded Table." Fit her strolling through the backstage of 2022's Academy of Country Music Awards with fellow Black female country artists Guyton and Reyna Roberts into the mix. Somewhere in between exists Spencer's brightest future.

A quote: "Elements of previous music I've put out remain, but I'm also growing both as an artist and in vulnerability as a person, plus allowing myself to have more fun as a songwriter."

The War and Treaty

A conversation-starting song: 2023's cover of Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald's "On Our Own" from CMT's "Breaking Glass" event

Since 2020, The War and Treaty have received more standing ovations at television-broadcasted country music events than any other act in the genre. The Americana Music Association Award-winners have been nominated for ACM, CMA and Grammy awards in the same era. Save perhaps Jelly Roll, they're also the act most likely to be considered able to directly impact the most fans' lives with a gospel-style impulse related to the power of their voices and the conviction of their spirits. In short, the married tandem effortlessly bridges genre gaps with powerhouse soul.

A quote: "Country musicians with soulful styles are the defining factor of how country music values greatness. The uniqueness of our empathy and experience has connected and deserves to connect even deeper with the country music industry."

Yola

A conversation-starting song: 2019's cover of Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"

British-Barbadian artist Yola jet sets between Nashville and New York City because her artistry moves both feet and hearts, doesn't suffer foolishness and has created a perpetually busy schedule. The six-time Grammy-nominated artist, songwriter, and actor is now governed by a desire to release art made via what she describes as "a utopia of black creativity, freedom and power." Nuanced art defined by her interest in Afrobeats, country, disco, electronica, funk, R&B, rock, roots and soul push an artist always regarded for her inimitable ability to "stand for [herself]."

A quote: "I'm making the statement now for women in music broadly, and women of color in music specifically that you don't have to be in service to someone else's art or vision of yourself to be worthy of appreciation."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Beyoncé just released a country album. These Black artists redefine country music