AND NOW BEYONCE.

THESE ARE JUST A FEW OF THE ARTISTS KNOWN FOR THEIR POP ROCK AND DANCE.

SOUNDS WHO ALSO EXPLORE THEIR SOUTHERN ROOTS THROUGH COUNTRY MUSIC.

BUT BLACK ARTISTS IN CULTURE HAVE SHAPED THE GENRE LONG BEFORE THEM PULLING FROM THE MELODIES OF BLACK HYMNS INCORPORATING AFRICAN INSTRUMENTS LIKE THE BANJO.

WELL, TODAY'S COUNTRY MUSIC IS MOSTLY DOMINATED BY WHITE ARTISTS.

SOME ARE TAKING A STEP BACK TO RECOGNIZE ITS DIVERSE ROUTES.

JOINING US NOW WITH MORE, OUR FRANCESCA ROYSTER, PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH AND CRITICAL STUDIES AT DEPAUL UNIVERSITY AND AUTHOR OF THE BOOK BLACK COUNTRY MUSIC LISTENING FOR REVOLUTIONS AND GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING COUNTRY AND FOLK ARTIST DOM FLYNN'S KNOWN AS THE AMERICAN SONG STIR.

I'M EXCITED TO HAVE YOU BOTH HERE.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

GREAT TO BE HERE.

THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF ABOUT HOW THIS ALBUM BEYONCE'S, WHAT IS THE ACT TO COWBOY CARTER, HOW GENRES.

AND SHE HERSELF HAS SAID IT'S NOT A COUNTRY ALBUM.

IT'S BEYONCE ALBUM.

I WANT TO GET YOUR REACTION BRIEFLY AND THEN TALK SOME MORE OF IT.

FRANCESCO, WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF ALBUM?

I THINK IT'S JUST A REALLY BEAUTIFUL ALBUM.

IT'S COMBINATION OF LOTS OF DIFFERENT BLACK SCHOOL TRADITIONS.

>> BUT WITH THE OUT HIS OWN ORIGINAL SPEND TO IT, WHICH I THINK MAKES IT FUN AND EXCITING.

DID YOU THINK?

>> WELL, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT THE FITS INTO ONE OF THE CATEGORIES OF BLACK COUNTRY MUSIC THAT COMES THROUGH THE WHOLE HISTORY.

YOU KNOW, IF YOU BREAK IT DOWN, WE'RE IN SORT OF FOR PATTERNS OF THE BLACK COUNTRY MUSIC.

THE FIRST ONE BEING FOLK MUSIC TRADITIONS THAT HAVE FUELED COUNTRY MUSIC.

THERE'S I GUESS, THE BEYONCE, I'M SORT OF FITS IN THE SECOND PHASE, WHICH SOME LIKE RAY CHARLES BLACK MUSICIANS WHO HAVE GENRES R AND B SOUL GOSPEL MUSIC PUT THE COUNTRY FLAIR TO IT AND PUT THEIR OWN SPIN ON IT.

AND THEN THERE'S THE 3RD PATTERN, WHICH ARE PEOPLE LIKE CHARLEY PRIDE TO DARIUS RUCKER, WHO TAKING MORE OF A STANDARDIZED COUNTRY, WESTERN FLAVOR TO HOW THEY PERFORM.

AND THEN, OF COURSE, IS THE 4TH PATTERN, WHICH IS HIP-HOP AND IN MODERN MUSIC.

IS SORT OF A RECLAMATION OF BLACK COUNTRY MUSIC AS IT FITS FOR WHOEVER IT MIGHT BE.

AND SO BEYOND AM SORT OF FITS AND THAT PATTERN TO.

YEAH, I THINK WE'RE LOOKING A LITTLE BIT OF A VIDEO RIGHT NOW AS WE'RE TALKING.

FRANCESCA, DOES IT TAKE SOMEONE LIKE BEYONCE >> CREATING COUNTRY MUSIC FOR PEOPLE TO START TO RECOGNIZE THE CONTRIBUTIONS THAT AFRICAN AMERICANS HAVE MADE TO THE GENRE.

>> I THINK THERE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A FAN BASE OF PEOPLE WHO LOVE COUNTRY MUSIC AND BLACK COUNTRY MUSIC ARTISTS.

BUT BEYONCE HAS TAKEN IT TO A DIFFERENT LEVEL.

AND SOMETHING WE'RE SAFE.

ABSOLUTELY.

YEAH.

AND THE DEBATES TO LIKE THE DEBATES AROUND PROTECTING THE BOUNDARIES OF THE GENRE.

I THINK BEYONCE IS REALLY BRINGING THAT OUT AS WELL.

HAVE OTHER BLACK COUNTRY ARTISTS BEEN LESS LESS SUCCESSFUL.

AND I MEAN THAT IN HAD THEY BEEN ABLE TO SELL AS MUCH OF THEIR HAVE THEY BEEN LESS WELCOME BECAUSE THE INDUSTRY HAS GOT TO BE PREDOMINANTLY WHITE ARTISTS.

ABSOLUTELY.

I MEAN, THE PERSON THAT COMES TO MIND IMMEDIATELY IS LINDA MIGHT HEALTH AND SHE'S ON THE ALBUM AND HER CAREER-WISE.

WAS HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL IN ITS MOMENT.

SHE HAD MADE ONE ALBUM BUT WAS DROPPED BY HER LABEL AFTER THAT OUT BUT SHE ALREADY CROSSED BOUNDARIES PERFORMING AT THE GRAND OLD OPRY.

SHE'S THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN TO PERFORM.

>> AND SO RETURN TO THE COUNTRY.

MUSIC SCENE IS REALLY THROUGH THE LENS OF ALBUM AND KIND OF SEEING HER INTRODUCING THE SONGS AND ACTUALLY LITERALLY TALKING ABOUT GENRE IS REALLY EXCITING.

YEAH, SHE'S ALSO IN IN THAT WAY SORT OF UPLIFTING THIS ARTIST LINDA MARTELL WHO CAME BEFORE HER FIANCE LITERALLY SENT TO SOME OTHER A FEMALE COUNTRY ARTIST AS WELL OVER THIS LAST WEEK.

>> DON'T WOMEN'S WHAT ARE SOME OF THE INFLUENCES FROM BLACK CULTURE THAT WE SEE IN MODERN COUNTRY MUSIC?

I >> THERE'S OBVIOUSLY A HIP-HOP HAS BEEN IN RECENT DAYS.

YOU KNOW, A LOT OF COUNTRY ARTISTS TEND TO INCORPORATE THAT INTO THEIR MUSIC.

WE'LL DO WHEN YOU ALSO THINK ABOUT HIS SONGS, LIKE THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN, FOR EXAMPLE, IS THE SONG THAT HAS BLACK GOSPEL ROOTS.

AND WHEN OUR WHEN ARTISTS PERFORM THAT SONG, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT IS EVOKING BLACK FOLK CULTURE IN A WAY THAT EVEN THOUGH WE MIGHT SEE A WHITE ARTIST ON THE SURFACE LEVEL, IT'S STILL SOMETHING THAT'S ROOTED WITHIN BLACK CULTURE SO THAT SOMETHING THEIR OWN DID MY OWN WORK WITH MY OWN BLACK COWBOYS ON SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS AND TRIED TO MAKE SURE WAS PART OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE SO THAT PEOPLE WOULD NEVER QUESTION BLACK COWBOYS IS THE SUBJECT MATTER.

SO, YOU KNOW, THERE'S THOSE ARE COUPLE OF DIFFERENT WAYS SOMEWHAT BROUGHT YOU TO TO THE GENRE COUNTRY AND FOLK MUSIC WILL.

YOU KNOW, MY DAD WAS A BIG FAN OF COUNTRY MUSIC.

HE WAS BORN RAISED IN FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA, WHICH IS IN NORTHERN ARIZONA.

AND WHEN HE WAS GROWING UP THERE WITH JUST ONE RADIO STATION IN TOWN AND IT WOULD SWITCH BETWEEN ALL THE DIFFERENT GENRES.

SO MY MOM USED TO SAY THAT WHEN HE CAME DOWN, HE WAS THE ONE BLACK EYE SEEING ALL THE COUNTRY SONGS.

AND SO THAT WAS MY INTRODUCTION TO COUNTRY MUSIC.

>> ALL RIGHT.

YOUR LIVING IN FRANCESCA, SAME TO YOU.

WHAT ATTRACTS YOU TO THE I DEFINITELY GREW UP IN NASHVILLE WHERE COUNTRY MUSIC AROUND IN THE 70'S.

YEAH.

I MEAN, IT WAS A PART OF THE EVERYDAY CULTURE, POPULAR CULTURE >> AND THEN HAVING A A DAD ALSO WHO WAS INTERESTED IN ALL KINDS MUSIC SUPPRESSION US OR IS A PERCUSSIONIST AND HEARING ABOUT HIS WORK PLAYING ON DIFFERENT COUNTRY MUSIC ALBUMS WHILE HE WAS THERE AND LEARNING ABOUT THOSE STORIES JUST MAKES ME CURIOUS.

AND ONCE I STARTED LOOKING INTO IT, THERE ARE SO MANY DIFFERENT KINDS OF ARTISTS UP THERE.

>> STORYTELLING IS OBVIOUSLY A LARGE PART OF COUNTRY MUSIC.

FRANCESCA, YOU TALKED ABOUT NOT HEARING YOUR EXPERIENCE IN YOUR STORY IN COUNTRY MUSIC.

TELL ME A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THAT.

YEAH, YOU KNOW, IT'S IT'S REALLY TRUE THAT IT'S IN THE WORK SOMEONE LIKE TINA TURNER OR LINDA MARTELL, WHERE I AFTER AMERICAN HISTORY KIND OF THING.

>> I'M TOLD AND TALKED ABOUT LIKE INFLUENCE OF THE GREAT MIGRATION I SEE IS UNDERCURRENT IN BOTH OF THEIR ALBUMS, THEIR COUNTRY MUSIC ALBUMS.

BUT NOW THAT I KNOW LIKE THE WORK THIS KID, FOR EXAMPLE, OR WE GOOD OR OTHER FOLKS WHO ARE TELLING A KIND OF HISTORICALLY INFORMED STORY ABOUT BLACK EXPERIENCE THAT CAN ALSO BE UNIVERSAL.

I REALIZE THAT THERE'S ACTUALLY EVEN MORE OUT THERE.

DON, BEFORE WE LET YOU BOTH GO, WHAT DO YOU HOPE FOR THE FUTURE OF COUNTRY MUSIC?

THINK IT'S HEADING.

>> IT'S A HARD THING TO SAY.

JUST TALKING ABOUT BACKSTAGE THAT THERE HAVE BEEN SO MANY NEW PEOPLE WHO'VE COME ALONG THE CONVERSATIONS AND BLACK COUNTRY MUSIC SHRUNK DOWN AT ONE POINT WAS SO FEW AND FAR BETWEEN TO HAVE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT BLACK COUNTRY MUSIC AND NOW IT'S SHRINKING DOWN EVERY YEAR.

AND SO THERE'S JUST A PLETHORA OF NEW PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, ON.

AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT'S SO AMAZING AS WELL TO HAVE AFRICAN-AMERICAN PERFORMERS DOING COUNTRY MUSIC.

THE IDEA THAT HERE IN NEW CAN CHANGE THE WHOLE MEANING OF THE SONG.

AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN PERSON PERFORMS BECAUSE OF THE CULTURAL EXPERIENCES.

I THINK OF JUST LINDA MARTELL, THE SUNCOAST OF COLOR, HIM FATHER, FOR EXAMPLE.

YEAH, THAT'S CHANGES COMPLETE MEANING WHEN YOU HAVEN'T TO MARTE, HE'LL SING RIGHT.

THE THE DEPTH AND BREATH OF THE STORY.

LOT MORE TO LISTEN TO HIM.

TALK ABOUT.

WE'LL HAVE TO LEAVE IT THERE.

BUT THANKS TO FRANCESCA REISER AND DUMPLIN AND I KNOW YOU'RE JUST GETTING WARMED BEFORE WE GO, WE WANT TO INVITE YOU TO A SPECIAL EVENT.

WTW IS HOLDING LATER THIS MONTH.

>> YOU CAN JOIN US FOR AN INSPIRATIONAL EVENING OF GOSPEL MUSIC RIGHT HERE IN OUR W T TW STUDIOS WERE HONORED TO BRING THE AMAZING VOCAL ARTISTRY.

FIRST LADY KAREN CLARK SHEARD.

>> PASTOR SMOKING NOR FULL CHICAGO MASS CHOIR AND LAMAR CAMPBELL, IN THE SPIRIT OF PRAISE, YOU CAN BE PART OF THIS MEMORABLE MUSICAL EVENT AS WE HONOR AND PAY TRIBUTE TO