Country artist Palmer sails into "uncharted territory"

By Ken Tucker

NASHVILLE (Billboard) - Rissi Palmer appreciates the attention that comes with being the first black female on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart in 20 years, but she hopes the achievement serves as only the appetizer for something bigger.

After all, the last black woman to spend time on the chart, Dona Mason, whose "Green Eyes (Cryin' Those Blue Tears)" peaked at No. 62 in 1987, has not been heard from since.

"Being a black artist in a predominantly white genre does get you the attention," says Palmer (whose first name is pronounced "ree-see"). "I hope that people come and listen because I'm black, and they leave and buy a record because they like the music and the music's good."

"Country Girl" (1720 Entertainment) is No. 60 on Hot Country Songs and is getting airplay in Oklahoma City; Madison, Wis.; Des Moines, Iowa; and Rochester, N.Y., among other markets. Her self-titled album debut is scheduled for October 23 release.

That she's a young black woman singing country music isn't a strange concept to Palmer. "My parents listened to everything. My mom loved country and gospel. She loved Patsy Cline."

It wasn't until later that Palmer realized her unique situation. "It all kind of meshed together for me," she says. The result is Palmer's unique sound, which she describes as "gumbo. It's a mixture of all those things I heard growing up. It's a combination of country music and soul music."

Palmer was born outside of Pittsburgh and later moved with her family to Atlanta and then St. Louis. While there, she signed with Nashville publisher Song Planet and began commuting between the two cities. She later moved to New York, but continued to make the trek to Nashville.

SLOW CLIMB

Placing in the finals on "Star Search" reinforced Palmer's desire to be an artist.

Success came slowly. Her song "Faith" appeared in the 2004 film "The Woodsman." Faith Hill considered "Hold On to Me" for one of her albums.

In the meantime, Palmer pursued a record deal. "I met pretty much every executive in the business," she says. The execs were generally enthused, but also confused, Palmer says. She understood. "This is uncharted territory," she says, "and you don't know how people will react to a black country singer."

Then Palmer met a representative of 1720, which wasn't looking to sign a country artist -- its roster includes pop crossover artists Alison Hinds and Elvis White and hip-hop group C-Side -- but was quickly convinced.

When she played the Grand Ole Opry in June, "it was one of the greatest moments of my life," Palmer says. "As a little kid you always think about the big places you want to play ... and I wanted to play the Opry." In honor of her mother, who died when Palmer was young, she sang "Leavin' on Your Mind," which appears on her album and was a hit for Cline in 1963.

Palmer co-wrote nine of the 12 tracks on the CD, including the first single, which is a reminder that "country" is more than a geographical reference. "Country is a state of mind, not just where you're from," Palmer says.

Reuters/Billboard