Novelist and songwriter Alice Randall tells stories of her career in music and discusses her newest book, “My Black Country,” and the companion album of songs she’s written. The Museum’s Paul Kingsbury moderated this conversation, which was followed by performances of two of Randall’s songs by artists Miko Marks and Saaneah Jamison. This program was recorded on June 15, 2024.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, and raised in Washington, D.C., Randall shares what it was like growing up in a family of music lovers and graduating from Harvard, what inspired her to start writing, what ultimately brought her to Nashville, and her experiences navigating the music industry. Randall also discusses her most recent book, “My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music’s Black Past, Present, and Future,” which recounts her exploration of the Black presence in country music. Oh Boy Records released a companion album with the same title, which is a collection of eleven songs written by Randall and performed by Black women. During this program, Saaneah Jamison and Miko Marks perform two of the album’s songs: “Get the Hell Outta Dodge” and “I’ll Cry for Yours (Will You Cry for Mine).”

Randall is a professor at Vanderbilt University, serving as the Andrew Mellon Chair of the Humanities Department and a writer-in-residence. She’s been awarded the Al Neuharth Free Spirit Award and the Literature Award of Excellence from the Memphis Black Writers Conference. In 2016, both Randall and her daughter, Caroline Randall Williams, received the NAACP Image Award for Literature for their book “Soul Food Love.”

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