Black Opry Records, the new Thirty Tigers-distributed label started by The Black Opry founder Holly G, has signed its first artist. Jett Holden’s label debut, The Phoenix, will arrive Oct. 4. The infectious, rock-tinged first single, “Backwood Proclamation,” which feature John Osborne and Charlie Worsham, premieres below.
Holly G founded Black Opry in 2021 initially as a blog to talk about her disheartening experience as a Black country music fan, but it quickly evolved into a platform to bring attention to Black artists and help launch their careers. It then expanded to booking shows across the country, under the Black Opry Revue banner, to highlight the unsung Black country artists Holly G found.
The label became a natural progression and a way to fill a great void.
“Over the years that I’ve been working in and observing the conversations surrounding diversity in country music, we are still not seeing the same resources and opportunities being poured into Black country artists as we do their peers (outside of very few exceptions),” Holly G says. “We’ve got the community, we’ve created a pipeline to touring and show opportunities through the Black Opry Revue, we’ve got all of the work Rissi Palmer is doing with [her Apple Country show] Color Me Country, but we still don’t have people who are in executive positions strategically advocating for and developing Black country artists.”
Watch Jett Holden’s “Backwood Proclamation”:
That is one reason that the smoky-voiced Holden, 35, had pretty much given up on getting a label deal.
“Being gay and Black had been a nonstarter for me in the industry from the time I started chasing a career in country music when I was 19. I had a developmental deal fall through when they learned I was gay,” Holden says, declining to name the label. “Every time things started to look up for me, all of a sudden I wasn’t marketable because I’m gay or my race or both. But when Black Opry Records became an option, I leapt at it.”
Holden and Holly G first connected on Instagram when she reached out as she was launching the blog and had discovered his music.
“I had actually quit music in 2020 when the pandemic hit, but the community that developed around the blog, and later the collective, drew me in and reinvigorated my drive to create again,” he says. “Then in 2021 everything changed. Black Opry blew up into more than any of us expected.”
Though Holden is only being announced now, he was asked to sign with the label last summer after playing the Black Opry Revue at the Newport Folk Festival.
“When we got back to the Airbnb, they pulled me aside and sat me down by the fire pit like I was in trouble for something,” he says. “And then they told me about the label and that they wanted to sign me first. I’m not used to being chosen first for anything, so it was a huge shock, but a no brainer. It was the easiest yes of my life.”
Jett Holden
For Holly G, talent led the way in signing Holden, but it was also important to send a message with his selection.
“From a big picture standpoint, it was really important to me that we set the tone for who we are as a label by signing an LGBTQ artist right out of the gate,” she says. “I put a lot of pressure on other institutions about their lack of inclusion, and I feel it’s important I lead by example by making sure there are diverse artists even within marginalized communities when I serve on different projects.”
With Holden teed up, Black Opry Records has already signed its second artist, Tylar Bryant, a former MMA fighter-turned-singer-songwriter, but Holly G resists pinpointing the ideal roster size for the boutique label.
“There may be some artists that we have to pour into more than others, which will dictate what my bandwidth is for beginning the next project,” she says. “I have such a long list of artists that I would love to sign but I’m taking things one artist and one album at a time so that we are giving everyone the best chance possible to be successful.”
Holly G will sign artists who align with the Black Opry’s mission to highlight Black talent.
“The Black Opry was created as a platform specifically for Black artists and Black Opry Records will carry on that tradition,” she says. “We have a beautiful community of people from all backgrounds that interact with us behind the scenes, but it’s really important that we have this space specifically for Black artists. When you consider the lack of opportunity for Black artists overall, it would do a huge disservice to them to open the space up for other marginalized groups (though they are all equally deserving).”
Black representation at country labels, both on the artist and executive roster, is meager, at best, and “Black artists need to see that there is a space that will always be held, so they know there is somewhere for them to go,” she says.
For now, Holly G will handle A&R and Black Opry Records will rely on Thirty Tigers’ staff for all other functions.
“Thirty Tigers has already established itself as a leader in the music community in terms of putting artists first and letting music guide the journey,” Holly G says. “With them providing our label services, we want to use that as a foundation to diversify country music by helping Black artists build their careers.”
Holden’s Will Hoge-produced album covers a wide spectrum of country styles, which Holly G thinks will help broaden its appeal and possibilities for airplay, but she’s not counting on terrestrial mainstream country radio stations to lead the way given how limited their playlists are and how conservative they have been.
“As far as country radio, it would obviously be great to have them get on board with this project, but given the dismal track record they have with both Black and queer artists, we aren’t going to depend on that happening,” she says.
Holden’s goals extend far beyond radio play. “I have a lot of the same hopes as a lot of my counterparts; making my Grand Ole Opry debut, winning a Grammy, and making a living writing and performing,” he says. “But I also hope that I’m fostering a more welcoming industry than I came up in. I hope that kids growing up today feel seen in the ways I didn’t. And I hope that I’m not an anomaly, and other artists of color and queer musicians will continue to get opportunities.”
As for Holly G, she’s already thinking long term as well. “We are always trying to figure out ways to make country music spaces safer and more inclusive. Ideally I’d like to start another label down the line that could serve as a home for artists of any and all backgrounds that are making good country music, but it was important to create this space for Black artists first.”