Amythyst Kiah is a singer-songwriter from Chattanooga, Tenn., who is one of the biggest up-and-coming artists in Americana music today. The release of her 2021 album, Wary + Strange, advanced her solo career after Kiah first gained recognition as part of Our Native Daughters, a supergroup comprising Kiah, Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla and Allison Russell, whose live performance of Kiah’s song, “Black Myself,” at the 2019 Americana Honors and Awards ceremony in Nashville remains unforgettable to all who saw the performance in person or on video.

Kiah has been busily on tour in support of her solo work, which included a concert at the Parkway Theater in Minneapolis on Wednesday, July 5. Earlier that day, Kiah and her band visited The Current studio for a session with Radio Heartland’s Mike Pengra. Kiah played a couple of songs from Wary + Strange, and also treated us to a radio debut of her new song, “Empire of Love.”

Watch and listen to the complete session above; below, you can also read a transcript of Kiah’s conversation with Mike Pengra.

Interview Transcript

Mike Pengra: I'm excited to be in the studio today with Amythyst Kiah. She is originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee. And she was raised on folk and string band music and bluegrass, then kind of merged into rock and roll and blues and everything else. I want to talk to you all about that stuff because I'm really fascinated by all this different styles of music you can play.

Amythyst Kiah: Yeah. So actually, so it was actually, it is it is the other way around.

Mike Pengra: Oh, really? Started on...?

Amythyst Kiah: Yeah, yes. Started in, yeah, I actually didn't learn about string band music and old time music until I got to college, which isn't, historically is not really the most common known way to, to be introduced are traditional music. Usually, it's like it's in your, it's in your family. And that's how you would learn typically. But with the advent of technology, now, you can, even now you can go on YouTube and type in "old time" and even start from there. But when I was growing up, so I grew up in the suburbs, and I got into pop punk and Tony Hawk Pro Skater and like, all that stuff, and, and my parents bought me a guitar when I was 13. But even before I got my guitar, my both of my parents had a really strong love for music. And my dad's an audiophile, so we had like a really nice stereo system and a really nice music collection.

Mike Pengra: Was he also a musician, too?

Amythyst Kiah: Yeah, he was a musician at one point in the, back in the 70s. He lead-sang and played hand percussion for like a local band. And they did at the time, they did a lot of the, you know, the top 40 of that time, so like, you know, Allman Brothers, and Earth Wind and Fire, and stuff like that. And my dad has a beautiful voice. Even now, he'll like sing, and he's an excellent whistler too. I'm going to try to get some of his whistles on the next album. So yeah, cuz we never actually, like, ever recorded or done anything together, so I think it'd be it'd be really cool. He's 75. And he's, you know, been in my life for a really long time supporting me with music and stuff. So it'd be, so yeah, hopefully we'll we'll get that, we'll get that worked out.

But anyway, sorry, back to the story. So I grew up listening to, hearing like contemporary jazz, and classic country and Southern rock, blues, funk, just listening to everything. My dad's favorite artist is Carlos Santana. And then Prince, I don't know, they might be tied. I'm not sure if there's one he can rank over the other. But yeah, so I just listened to lots of amazing, awesome musicians, wonderful voices. So I really fell in love with Michael Jackson and Mariah Carey and those big voices from the 90s, and then I, like I mentioned, I got into alternative music. So I got into pop punk, got into Green Day, and Blink 182. And then, and then eventually I would get my curiosity would take me to finding my own sort of eclectic way of listening to music; my family, we got a computer about the time I was 13 as well, so I took video lessons. And then I started to explore, Kazaa and Limewire, and so I started... I think, I think the statute of limitations is like probably, hopefully it's gone by now, but I absolutely pirated music and made mix CDs. And so I got into like, nu metal, so I really loved Evanescence. And then I got into Scandinavian symphonic metal. So I got into bands like Nightwish and Apocalyptica. And like, yeah, so I kind of and then I also got into like Tori Amos and, you know, Fiona Apple and Bjork and Radiohead, and so I just really, my whole my favorite thing on the planet was to find music and listen, and then learn how to play the songs. You know, that was sort of, that was my big, big hobby in high school.

Mike Pengra: I was gonna ask you if your dad dragged you into music, but it sounds like you had an interest already without that. 

Amythyst Kiah: Oh, yeah. I mean, literally, it was just a thing of like, he would play music, and I, you know, just became interested in it. But then as you get older, as I got older, I started like, you know, kind of finding my own, like I said, my own little eclectic way of listening to music. So it wasn't really until fairly recently that I've started going back and listening intently to the stuff my dad listened to and been like, "Oh, yeah, this is cool." You know? I mean, not that it wasn't cool before. But you know, you're like, I mean, when you're a mall goth listening to Evanescence, it's hard to like, listen to the Isley Brothers, you know? Because you're so used to that really heavy kind of in-your-face kind of sound. So it's harder to appreciate other kinds of music that aren't kind of just blasting in your face. But yeah, so in college, that's when I got introduced into bluegrass, old-time and country music studies.

Mike Pengra: Which is, kind of like you said, backwards anyway, because that's where you learn to study classical music and—

Amythyst Kiah: Right, exactly, exactly. But Jack Tottle is the founder of the bluegrass, old time, and country music studies [at East Tennessee State University]. He lives in Hawaii now. Actually went to visit him fairly recently with me and my, well, now my now my fiancée, we went, we went and visited him. But he was really like, I'm so glad that I called to check into this bluegrass guitar class, because I didn't really want to get into classical because it was just so formal. And there was this emphasis on, you know, aural skills and music theory. And I'd already been playing guitar and I knew how to listen and read guitar tablature, so in my 19-year-old brain, I was like, "I don't need to go through all that." So when I came across bluegrass guitar, I mean, the only image that could come to mind for me for bluegrass was like the Beverly Hillbillies. Like, I had zero knowledge of any of it, or even Appalachian culture, even though I'm Appalachian; I grew up in Chattanooga. But I had no idea about any of the music or any of that stuff.

So I called Jack Tottle and said, "Hey, do I need to learn how to sight read or anything for this class? Because like, I'm not interested in that." And he laughed, because I don't think anyone's ever asked him that before. And he was like, "No, this is an oral tradition. Like the way you've been learning music is that's how we learn here." And I'm like, "Oh, thank goodness."

So I took that group guitar class. I learned how to — at that point, I had, I had learned fingerstyle from classical guitar. So even though I learned to flatpick, and then I learned how to do three fingerstyle, three-fingerstyle really like, spoke to me, and rhythm. So I really ended up leaning into rhythm guitar and fingerstyle guitar. And then I played in, there's an old-time string band that I played it in called the ETSU Old Time Pride Band, or East Tennessee State University Old Time Pride Band. It's kind of a long name! But, um, and then I started taking clawhammer banjo lessons with a guy named Roy Andrade, who was also my band director as well, for several semesters. And, yeah, so I just met some really great people that knew the history of the music.

And, you know, I've had people ask me, you know, "What was it like to, you know, be in this program with, you know, mostly with pretty much all white people?" And I was like, "Well, I grew up in the suburbs, and I went to predominantly white schools." So like, that really wasn't, that was not an issue for me. I think the other thing though is, and my dad had some concerns in the beginning, because once he started getting interested in the music and saw that I had talent and wanted to support me, as I decided to, like jump into this endeavor, he was also concerned because there's this, you know, the stereotype of, you know, like, close-minded, backwoods people listen to bluegrass and white people listen to bluegrass and, you know, you look at the history of how, you know, commercial music was segregated, you know, it's, so there was, my dad did have a concern. He was born in 1947. So he is very aware of what can happen, you know, to, if you're, if you're Black in an all-white setting, especially if it's if it's a closed-minded setting. So, but fortunately for me, you know, even though all my teachers were white, they all knew the history. They knew that, you know, West African culture was, was a huge part of string band music.

Mike Pengra: The banjo.

Amythyst Kiah: Yeah, exactly. So there was that acceptance, you know, from, from my teachers and also from from students as well. So, and I, you know, as time went on, you know, it was one of those things where, you know, there wasn't, I never, ever felt unsafe, or I was never overtly treated poorly. I just know that sometimes I would be in some spaces, and it would be, you know, a little, sometimes it would be a little cold. But, I mean, that's their problem. I had enough people rooting for me that those people didn't really matter.

Mike Pengra: So how to play with Our Native Daughters, with Rhiannon Giddens and Leyla McCalla and Allison Russell?

Amythyst Kiah: Yeah, well, it was, I mean, it was a really incredible experience, because, you know, we were all, you know, able to kind of, you know, share our experiences, you know, being, you know, being people of color in, in a space that traditionally is seen as a white space. And I think, while it was important to have for me to have that experience, because that was one of the few things that I wasn't really necessarily able to, like, relate to people on, which, you know, for the most part I was fine with, but I think to have that moment where we're all sort of like, we're all on the same page, we understand that experience. That was, that was a pretty, that was a really kind of, really formative moment, pivotal moment for me.

And then also, when I decided to take on the project, and you know, knowing that the subject matter was going to be centered around, you know, the story of the transatlantic slave trade, and segregation, and all these different things, these are all things that I've always, you know, I've talked about in academic settings, or, you know, talking with my dad, but never really engaged in musically. And for me, you know, any time I've had negative emotions, or uncertainty, or, you know, just, I'm currently struggling through emotions about something, either writing a song or playing a song, is the that way of, as a way of, you know, helping me process that. And so for me, this project, while obviously from the creative aspect, and from the people I was working with, and for the overall message, that was all very important. I think my biggest takeaway was that once I wrote those songs, and that, and was able to write those songs with with these women, that part of me that was angry about what happened before and kind of had a hard time letting that go, I was able to just let that anger go, you know? And, you know, "Black Myself" is really about talking about those negative tragic instances. But then in the final verse, for me, it's about realizing that I wouldn't be able to do what I do today, if it wasn't for, you know, for the struggles that people had before me. And so I'm standing on a lot of shoulders.

And, and I also want to recognize that like, for us to be playing these songs, in front of audiences, and for so many people that have been touched by it, you know, Black and white, you know, this was a, for me, it was like, a very, it was just a very, it's a special thing to be able to have, to have so many people just understand and want to understand. Yeah, and just being able to have talked about those subjects through music. It has a way of disarming people that maybe don't know, or maybe have reservations about some of the things so yeah, it was good.

Mike Pengra: Wasn't "Black Myself," it won the Folk Alliance International Award for Song of the Year, right?

Amythyst Kiah: Yeah! 

Mike Pengra: Grammy too?

Amythyst Kiah: Well, it was the nomination. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, it just, what's so funny about that is, you know, when I wrote that song, I was... I've always wanted to write songs where anybody can see themselves in the situation, and I was almost, I was a little worried that because it was specific, because anything that if, you put the word "black" in something, that could really kind of turn off a lot of people, or at least be like, "Oh, well, this isn't for me," because we still, so many people still separate themselves by color. And, you know, my dad's always taught me that, like, it's, you know, yes, there is, there is still racism out there, there's sexism, there's all these different things out there. But move through the world, seeing people as human beings, and have that as your, I guess, the prism that you look through, you know? Like, we're all human beings, we're all part of the human species, and how you treat someone, and that should override, however they look or whatever they believe in, or whatever their skin color is, to not allow these really arbitrary things, you know, be the final judgment of how you treat someone.

So for me, you know, even though that song was so specific, and because it was so specific, I had people ask me, "Am I allowed to sing the song? Am I allowed to cover the song?" And it's, you know, and I always tell people, I understand why they're saying it. And I tell them like, "First of all, you don't need my permission to sing my song. It's out there in the world for everybody to enjoy. So you don't have to ask me permission. I understand where you're coming from. And I appreciate you. You know, I know you mean well, but you really really don't have to ask me; just if you love the song, just sing it."

Because if you think about "Coal Miner's Daughter" by — I almost said Cissy Spacek! — Loretta Lynn. That was a really good movie. But anyway, um, if you hear that song by Loretta Lynn, should I not sing it because I'm not a coal miner's daughter. But if you listen to the message of the story, it's the message of the story, not necessarily the details, you know. 

Mike Pengra: About opportunity.

Amythyst Kiah: Exactly. And so that's kind of that's kind of my big sticking point with that song. Or if I ever write any other song, again, that maybe addresses those issues, this isn't, you know, this isn't off limits. That's my whole point. My whole message throughout all the music that I play, and all the different influences that I allow into my music like, this music is awesome, and everybody should just enjoy what they enjoy. And let's throw off all these, all these descriptions and all of these, like, all these identities that we have to tie. Let's just enjoy music. That's my, that's my whole thing, but yeah.

Mike Pengra: I'm talking with and with this key in the studio. The first two songs you did today were from Wary + Strange. The last one you did is brand new.

Amythyst Kiah: Yeah, it's a brand-new one!

Mike Pengra: This is a debut, a radio debut, right?

Amythyst Kiah: Yeah, I'm pretty sure. I may have to check. I don't think I've played,, I don't think I've played it on the radio. But yeah, let's say, let's say it is!

Mike Pengra: It's gonna be in an upcoming album, hopefully coming out this fall, you think?

Amythyst Kiah: Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna get back in the studio later on this summer. And the idea is to have the album out by fall of next year. But yeah, I co-wrote, I did some co-writes earlier this year. And it's the first time I'd ever, other than co-writing obviously with, in Our Native Daughters, it was my first time really co-writing since 2018, when I did that project. And I've, and I'm happy that I'm not the only one that feels this way, but like, sometimes as a songwriter, it's like, you're I don't know, for me, it just felt, it felt really vulnerable and anxious, anxiety-inducing to like, be in a room with someone I've never met, and then just share my, my inner my deepest inner thoughts, you know, about things that felt really awkward.

But I got to my A&R guy, Mark Williams at Rounder, you know, he's been amazing in, you know, really listening to me and what, what's important to me and what I value, as a musician, and the things that matter to me, and, you know, the kinds of music that I really love, and he like, set up a bunch of different sessions for me. So like, Monday through Friday, I think back in January, it was like I was, I met with a different person every day. So it was almost like, it's almost like dating, you know? It's like you get to know the person and see if you vibe really well. And fortunately, he did a great job of picking people to work with, because I really got along with everybody, and I got something out of each session. And this song in particular, "Empire of Love," it's a song that I co-wrote with Sean McConnell.

Mike Pengra: Oh, yeah!

Amythyst Kiah: Oh, my God.

Mike Pengra: Yeah, right! 

Amythyst Kiah: And I hadn't, I hadn't, I mean, and I hadn't heard of him before. But each day, I would, every morning when I would get up, I would make it a point to listen to the person I was going to meet up with and then decide which songs I feel like would be, would really be well suited to like to bring to the session. And for Sean McConnell who was like, I, because for the song, I wanted something that was, you know, just like really melodic. And the melody I'd come up with, I was wasn't like super crazy about. When I heard his voice, I'm like, "There's nothing like a songwriter that also has an amazing voice!"

Mike Pengra: No kidding!

Amythyst Kiah: It's like, it's so good. So anyway, so yeah, so we, I met at his studio, just 40 minutes outside of Nashville. And, and yeah, we just talked about like, philosophy and religion, and, you know, nature and where you come from, and like, just all of these things that kind of make up who we are as people, and how those things shape our lives. And so then "Empire of Love," kind of, you know, came out of that. I had some lyrics sort of getting at all of those things. And yeah, and then we just, we went to, we went to town, and it was awesome. So yeah.

Mike Pengra: I can't wait to hear the album when it comes out.

Amythyst Kiah: Yeah. Thank you.

Mike Pengra: Congratulations on that. Congratulations on your recent engagement.

Amythyst Kiah: Oh, thank you! Appreciate that.  I'm very happy for you. Yeah, thank you.

Mike Pengra: And thank you so much for bringing your band in today and playing these tunes for us. It was really fun to hear you and get to know you.

Amythyst Kiah: Yeah. Thank you. We had a lot of fun today, thanks for having us.

Mike Pengra: Good, all right. Thank you.

Amythyst Kiah in studio

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Video Segments

00:00:00 Fancy Drones (Fracture Me)
00:03:39 Wild Turkey
00:08:13 Empire of Love
00:12:05 Interview with host Mike Pengra

The first two songs appear on Amythyst Kiah’s 2021 album, Wary + Strange, available on Rounder Records. The third song is previously unreleased — this is its radio debut.

Musicians

Amythyst Kiah – vocals, guitar
Chris Collier – guitar, vocals
Austin Drewry – drums
Emma Lambiase – bass, vocals

Credits

Guest – Amythyst Kiah
Host – Mike Pengra
Producer – Derrick Stevens
Video Editor – Evan Clark
Camera Operators – Christian Ankrum; Micah Kopecky
Audio – Eric Xu Romani
Graphics – Natalia Toledo
Digital Producer – Luke Taylor

External Link

Amythyst Kiah - official site