Performance: Rissi Palmer

Rissi Palmer's Lefts make things right says Guest Curator Shirlette Ammons, "Rissi Palmer’s career is a series of left turns. Palmer's 2017 twangy mid-tempo anthem, Country Girl, made her the first Black woman to grace Billboard’s Hot Country charts in over 30 years. She achieved this feat by wading through the prejudices of country music while brandishing the obstinance of the genre’s Black forebears. Her podcast, Color Me Country, reminds us that there has never been an absence of Black voices in the country category, just a bigoted radio dial. Palmer's 'Southern soul' is a resounding catchall for the impellent lyrics, fervent vibrato, and palatial strings that bind her country, gospel, rock, and blues inflexions at a common crossroad." This performance is part of "Up 86," a trio of spring performances is the culmination of a new collaboration between the Moss Arts Center and North Carolina artist Shirlette Ammons, who is serving as the center’s first independent guest performing arts curator. Ammons brings a new perspective to the center’s lineup, creating a focus on Black Southern artists who effortlessly cross genres and revitalize time-honored music traditions. Thursday, March 30-Friday, March 31, 2023, 8 PM $15 general admission | $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under