Professor of African American and Diaspora Studies and Vanderbilt Writer-in-Residence Alice Randall discussed the historic significance of Black musicians and their many contributions to country music during a talk at Central Library on Nov. 20, part of the unique slate of programming hosted by the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries this semester. The event was a collaboration among the libraries’ Teaching and Learning team, the university’s Writing Studio and the Live. Learn. Lead. Academy.
Randall, author of My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music’s Black Past, Present, and Future, discussed the foundational figures who comprise her “first family” of country music: pianist, composer and bandleader Lil Hardin; pioneering country and blues musician DeFord Bailey; film actor and singer-songwriter Herb Jeffries; pianist and legendary entertainer Ray Charles; and Charley Pride, country music’s first Black superstar. They are also the subject of a public mural on Nashville’s Chestnut Street sponsored by Vanderbilt’s Government and Community Relations.
These artists’ contributions often have been overlooked, disputed, and even erased by the mainstream country music industry—a legacy that resonates today. Randall noted that the day of her library talk coincided with the 2024 Country Music Association Awards—being held minutes from the Vanderbilt campus in downtown Nashville—for which Beyoncé’s platinum-selling Cowboy Carter went unrecognized.
Randall credits a deep dive into archival materials for helping her confirm Black musicians’ pivotal roles in country music milestones. She commended the Heard Libraries’ Special Collections and University Archives for its ongoing efforts to preserve contemporary Black country music history through distinctive collections and exhibits.
“Vanderbilt has really stepped up and is buying Black women’s papers in this market, and that is creating a kind of equity within the music business,” Randall said, referring to collections acquired in partnership with the National Museum of African American Music, including the Allison Russell Papers, Miko Marks Collection and Rissi Palmer Collection. “Vanderbilt has been so ethical and so visionary in this area, where few others are collecting the papers of Black women and the songwriting materials of people of color.”
The Nov. 20 event included an exhibition of items from the libraries’ Women in Country Music Collections. Students in attendance participated in a question-and-answer session and a book signing with Randall and received a free copy of My Black Country. Many were members of the Live. Learn. Lead. Academy, a yearlong, hands-on leadership program designed to empower undergraduates by immersing them in leadership experiences within the university and Nashville communities.
In closing, Randall invited the students to visit the “First Family of Black Country” mural and take photos with the artwork.
“Come, put yourself in this picture. Be a part of the expanding history of country music, and celebrate the larger neighborhood and city in which we create new art and new understandings,” she said. “That’s what we are doing here today—creating new art and new understandings.”