SMYRNA -- Legendary Nashville Singer-Songwriter Frankie Staton will share insights on the growing success of Black artists in the country music industry during a special presentation on the Motlow Smyrna campus on March 2 (Thursday).
Staton’s talk, “How Black Artists Are Changing the Country Music Landscape,” will occur from 12:30-1:30 p.m. in Room 323 of the HSC Building. Seating is available by reservation on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, contact Professor Charles Whiting at cwhiting@mscc.edu.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to learn from one of most prominent and hard-working singer-songwriters in the country music industry,” Whiting said. “Frankie founded and led the Black Country Music Association for more than 20 years, helping countless emerging and professional Black artists achieve their dreams.”
Frankie recently achieved a lifelong dream by performing on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry. Her performance was heard by thousands of listeners on legendary radio station WSM-AM. She received a standing ovation for “Forever, Loretta,” a song dedicated to her late idol, Loretta Lynn.
The artist took action in the late 1990s after a New York Times story claimed there was no diversity in country music. She founded the Black Country Music Showcase at the Bluebird Café, providing national exposure for more than 60 country singers of color. Those efforts canonized Frankie on the Nashville music scene, sparking a national conversation that has continued to this day in publications such as Rolling Stone magazine.
Frankie has been featured in the Amazon documentary, “For Love & Country.” She recently was chosen to participate in the upcoming exhibition “American Currents: The State of the Music Unbroken Circle” at the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum in downtown Nashville.
“I woke up singing songs I was hearing in my dreams,” said Frankie, who began nurturing her passion for music in the 1970s as a singer and pianist at the High Point Market, the world’s largest furnishings trade show. “The event, which attracted anywhere from 70,000 to 80,000 attendees, gave me a global audience during my first five years as a musician.”
Frankie quickly found success after moving to Nashville in 1981. A residency at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel & Convention Center led to appearances on “The Ralph Emery Show” on WSMV-TV (Channel 4) and the nationally aired “Nashville Now” talk show on TNN: The Nashville Network.
“My approach to performing proved to be ahead of its time in a city that was not familiar with African-American women in the country music scene,” Frankie added.
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