Where They’re From: Chattanooga, Tennessee

Who They Are: Singer-songwriter Amythyst Kiah released her debut solo album for Rounder Records, Wary + Strange, in 2021. Her song “Black Myself,” which received a Grammy Award nomination for Best American Roots Song, was a hit leading up to and after the release. Kiah went to East Tennessee State and musically brings together her love of folk, bluegrass, and contemporary singer-songwriter styles. From Johnson City, TN, she’s also a founding member of Our Native Daughters, along with Rhiannon Giddens, Allison Russell, and Layla McCalla. The album is highly personal and introspective, about which she has said: “A lot of these songs come from a moment in my 20s when I was grappling with trauma while also trying to navigate the experience of being a Black and LGBT woman in a white suburban area in a Bible Belt town.”

Years Active: 2010 – present

Essential Albums: Wary + Strange (2021)