Country Soul Songbook Summit Promotes Unity, Inclusivity

By Sydney Miller, Associate Editor

Starting today and continuing through Sunday, Oct. 18, Country Soul Songbook is putting on a four-day music festival and activist summit. “I Am Your Mama’s Country Music” is “broadcasting out to a front porch near you.”.

The lineup is meant to amplify marginalized Americana and country artists, something we’re always happy to support. Some all-star queer artists on the bill include Amythyst Kiah, Kamara Thomas, Patrick Haggerty (Lavender Country), Jake Blount, Karen & The Sorrows, Alice Gerrard and Kym Register (Loamlands). Other notable artists include Rissi Palmer, Gangstagrass, Birds of Chicago, and Lee Bains, as well as writers Charles L. Hughs, Marcus K. Dowling, and Taylor Crumpton.

Amethyst Kiah goes on tonight at 5 p.m. EST, with Karen & The Sorrows and Jake Blount performing at 4 p.m. EST on Friday. 

Karen Pittelman, frontwoman of Karen & The Sorrows, is also hosting a panel called “Tools for Transformation 101: How to Use Country Music to Organize White People for Racial Justice” at 2 p.m. EST on Saturday.

Registration starts at $10, and buying a ticket is more than just forking over money: it’s an experience. Country Soul Songbook asks for your pronouns, the Native lands you currently reside on and your go-to jukebox selection (I went with “The Wino and I Know” by Jimmy Buffett).

More info, including registration, at the Country Soul Songbook website.