Joy Postell

Back & Forth

For several years now, we’ve turned to Joy Postell for her mighty voice. Since 2015’s “Hands Up Don’t Shoot” following the death of Freddie Gray, Postell has been praised for not just her powerhouse vocals but also her powerful message,
with socially minded music speaking candidly to racial inequality and systemic injustice, through last fall’s debut Diaspora. But on that record, between the truth-to-power bookends, the singer-songwriter also included intimate songs about love and love lost,
the very themes that now make up this new EP. “I didn’t want to box myself
in as a political artist,” Postell told us last year. “At the same time, I still want love…Relationships are all about knowing yourself.” In the style of her past work, these songs draw inspiration from eras past, but this time, she looks to the sounds of her own life- time, offering a contemporary twist on the golden
era of ’90s and early ’00s R&B. Through hard-hitting slow jams, she continues to meditate on emotions and explore personal growth while showcasing her versatility. It’s clear Postell is only just getting started.

Emma White

The Actress

There’s a movement afoot in country music—a new generation of rebels who are pushing the ideology, sound, and story of the old genre to fit with the 21st century. Besides the rare royalty like Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton, women have long played second fiddle to the male kings of country, but this new class of female trailblazers—Kacey Musgraves, Brandi Carlile, even Baltimore’s own Emma White—is now steal- ing back the crown. Since relocating to Nashville nearly a decade ago, White has experienced her fair share of the genre’s general competition and gender bias, only fueling her fire. After garnering buzz by the likes of Rolling Stone and Billboard, this debut EP introduces her as an artist on her own terms. Don’t let the sweet vocals or contemporary melodies fool you; rooted in Southern storytelling with pop-forward production, her songs turn some of the traditional tropes of country—drinking, cheating, stardom—on their heads. Exhibit A: “Ten Year Town,” which tackles the music industry head on. She’s even launching her own label to show the world she means it.

In a town built on hip-hop and indie rock, it’s not every day that a Baltimore singer-songwriter finds herself a rising country act in Nashville, Tennessee. But Emma White is not interested in the old way of doing things. It’s why her new EP, The Actress, flips the script on love songs, drinking songs, songs about success and stardom, and it’s garnered her attention from the likes of Billboard and Rolling Stone. And after years of being turned down for her male counterparts, she’s launching her own female-forward label, Whitehouse Records, too. On the heels of her launch, we caught up with White about Baltimore radio, her country roots, and gender bias in the music industry.

Growing in Baltimore, what was your first introduction to country music?
The first country group that I loved was the Dixie Chicks. I was the perfect age to become obsessed with them, and they were my first concert, at what is now the Royal Farms Arena. I always say the lead singer, Natalie Maines, taught me how to sing. They were just unapologetic and leaned very pop. But I didn’t really listen to country radio, like WPOC; as a high schooler, I really listened to a lot of the hip-hop and R&B stations, because that’s what was big then. 92Q was my favorite.

You went to school for music at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Did you know at that point what sound you wanted to pursue?
I really wanted to be the female Justin Timberlake. I did not think I was a country artist, but I had a lot of people guiding me in that direction. My family has always loved country music, and when I was growing up, they had hootenannies and I’d show up and sing a Lauryn Hill song. I wanted to be different and loud and proud about what I liked, and I think I fought it more because that’s just my personality. But at Berklee, I started to write by myself and on the guitar, not to loops and beats like I had been. My songwriting just changed, and I started to really love country and the craft of writing a country song.

After college, how did you make your way to Nashville?
I came home to try to figure out where I should move. I didn’t know where to go—L.A. or New York or Nashville. I played in Baltimore for a while and made trips to all those other cities where I would play all of the singer-songwriter clubs to, like, nobody. But it’s good practice. You learn to stick it out. Now I feel very comfortable on stage; I love to perform live. But my dreams felt too big in New York and L.A.; here, I could actually make connections with people. It felt like there was a community, and a way to work your way up. Like I could make some tangible goals and execute them.

And now you’re releasing a new EP. Your first single, “Ten Year Town,” sparked some national buzz with its release earlier this summer. What are other seminal songs for you?
The title track, “The Actress,” is one of my favorites. It’s about struggling with depression. A large portion of my 20s was spent battling that and making it out of that darkness has been a huge part of my life thus far. I had lost a friend to it around the time I wrote the song, and the words just came to me in the car in full, which never happens. I’ve come a long way and want people listening to know they’re not alone if they’re going through sometime and there is a way to get better.

With the release of this album, you’re also launching your own label, Whitehouse Records.
I’ve always wanted to have my own label and have always looked up to artists who do. I’m a huge Jay Z fan and he couldn’t get a deal, so he started his own label that grew into Roc Nation. I just never thought it would happen so soon; I thought it would be later on in a longer career.

Why now?
What sparked the immediacy was the gender bias I was experiencing. It just kept happening and I thought, am I just going to keep having the same meetings, over and over again, where people tell me, ‘Well, you know how to write a song, but we don’t have a lane for you, we don’t pitch female songwriters, its riskier to sign women, they’re not playing them on the radio.’ Women were looked at as a bad investment. It was enough of hearing that my gender was the issue. I realized I had to do something about it. And so, we want to fill this need of supporting women, but the overarching goal is diversity and inclusion.

Back in Baltimore, your songs have been on the radio, particularly on WPOC. What has that been like?
It’s been cool. My family and friends tape it for me whenever it comes on. My dad sent me a video on his way to work at the 8 o’clock hour, which was pretty neat.

In the latest iteration of The Big Baltimore Playlist, we found five local songs ranging from old-school R&B and girl-power country to dance-inducing, pop-infused rock-and-roll. Check back each month for new top songs of the moment, and follow our Spotify playlist as we continue to build a soundtrack for our city.

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“Trigger” by Butch Dawson
Over the past several years, blurring the lines between hardcore hip-hop and head-banging punk rock, Butch Dawson has created his own lane, crafting tracks with underground spirit and unbridled confidence in a murky musical no-man’s-land of his own creation. Enter Ollieworld, his latest record and the follow-up to last year’s fawned-over Swamp Boy, where elements of his past work permeate—eerie melodies, gallows humor, lackadaisical swagger. This first song, riddled with NSFW lines, shows off Dawson’s mastery of catchy chorus rhymes and addictively heavy beats before devolving into an outright mosh pit. We wouldn’t be surprised if, any time now, he makes a national hit.

“Checks in the Mail!” by Dyyo
Music fans are always looking for the next great act that they can then tell all their friends they discovered first, and if you haven’t yet caught Dyyo performing around the city, consider the artist found. There’s no one in Baltimore, or beyond, for that matter, quite like this up-and-coming alternative rapper. Each of his songs has a singular, shapeshifting sound from the next one, like this wavy, jazz-infused hip-hop track with clever wordplay, crashing live drums, and a smoke-swirled storyline (as well as all of November’s People Are Scared). Appearing on many a diverse local lineup, his explosive energy fits any bill while always remaining uniquely his own.

“Ten Year Town” by Emma White
For the last decade, Baltimore native Emma White has been hard at work on her music career, attending Berklee College of Music, cutting her teeth in Nashville, and now, this bare-it-all ballad, which might just be the song that steers her into the spotlight, garnering buzz by the likes of Billboard and Rolling Stone. With honeyed vocals, hearty strums, and smart songwriting, this first single off her upcoming EP speaks openly about the many roadblocks and heartbreaks that aspiring musicians—especially women—run into in this industry. In a moment when fearless females are gaining traction for bucking the genre’s old-fashioned ways, White introduces herself as an artist to watch.

“Back and Forth” by Joy Postell
Last fall, Joy Postell’s debut Diaspora EP was met with critical claim for its socially minded singles, seeming to cement the 26-year-old singer-songwriter as a voice for political change. But Postal is not one to be pigeonholed, and now she shows us that her truth-to-power approach to music is equally impressive when applied to more intimate topics, such as the dealings of the heart. With some of last year’s most popular tracks lying in her love songs, this new EP is confidently rooted in the throwback sounds of 1990s and early 2000s R&B. With knocking bass, self-assured rhymes, and a message of personal empowerment, this title track only has us on our toes for what’s to come.

“High” by Super City
With searing guitars, soaring vocals, and a can’t-help-but-sing-along chorus, it’s official: the boys are back. Not that they ever went anywhere, with Super City continuing to be one of the most infectious and just plain fun live acts in the city, with more new music on the way. But riding off the good vibrations of their 2018 Sanctuary, this summer track is a rocking roller coaster with a breakneck melody made for dancing with abandon—just follow the chorus and “don’t care, don’t care, don’t care” what others think. Come for the big, brilliant vocal harmonies. Stay for the two-minute-mark crescendo that would make The Beatles proud. While you’re at it, give a listen their other recent single, the sunny, jangly, toe-tapping tune, “Too Right.”

In this next iteration of The Big Baltimore Playlist, we found five local songs we can’t get enough of, ranging from star-quality country music and jazzy R&B to experimental instrumentals with a touch of spoken-word poetry. Check back each month for new top songs of the moment, and follow our Spotify playlist as we continue to build a soundtrack for our city. 

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“Not That Into You” by Emma White

It’s not often that a Baltimore singer makes it big in Nashville. For starters, we’re just barely below the Mason-Dixon line, and our music scene is better known for its bluegrass roots, hip-hop heritage, and DIY devotees than its country stars. But Towson native Emma White has changed all that, with her pop leanings and stellar pipes leading her to be dubbed one of the “10 New Country Artists You Need to Know,” according to Rolling Stone magazine. White breaks the mold of heartbroken love songs and odes to Mr. Right with this righteous number about skipping games and not settling for anything less than what she wants. With fresh vocals, original lyrics, and hearty acoustic strums, she has all the trappings of a future—though all her own—T. Swift.

“Stay On It” by Horse Lords

We’re a few months behind on Horse Lords’ latest Mixtape IV, out this past May, but when we finally heard this compelling number, we were completely mesmerized. The experimental quartet takes their instrumental grooves to a new level with this adaptation of “Stay On It,” created by composer Julius Eastman in 1973. With its original political undertones and brazen departure from the mainstream, this homage couldn’t be timelier, and Horse Lords carries on those same themes as it transforms Eastman’s minimalist layering of vibes, strings, and brass into a sax-funked, festive dance number. Moving from syncopated rhythms to a beautifully dissonant chaos, it questions the norms and rethinks the very nature of sound. Best of all is the introduction, as Eastman’s program notes are turned into spoken-word poetry by the one and only Abdu Ali.

“Gut It to the Studs” by Letitia VanSant

It’s been five years since we’ve heard new music by Baltimore’s Americana darling, Letitia VanSant, and boy are we glad she’s back. The folk singer-songwriter returns with a full-length follow-up album (out February) that quietly rivals her already accomplished debut. On this rich single, VanSant announces a sort of rebirth—having quit her job to become a full-time musician, watching the world and her city change along the way. This title track uses her trademark harmonies, heartfelt storytelling, and authentic acoustic sound to start over, to reemerge with fresh eyes, to expose and embrace her truest self. It arrives just in time for the New Year, reminding us to do the same—gut it to the studs—while showcasing how the tumultuous times of 2017 have led to the creation of some pretty great art. 

“FreKweency” by MovaKween

One of the smoothest voices to come out of the woodwork this year is that of MovaKween. The local singer-songwriter has just released her first full-length debut, featuring this infectious single. The slow jam doubles as a freestyle jazz number, with MovaKween’s voice swinging between cooing neo-soulful lows and urgent hip-hop highs. In the vein of Erykah Badu or Jill Scott, she uses her honey-coated vocals and sharp rhymes to tackle larger topics, like the importance of female empowerment, creative freedom, and feel-good vibrations for the hardship-riddled city of Baltimore. Mark her down as an artist to watch. 

“Spiral/Wave Is Not the Water” by Wye Oak

Wye Oak might no longer live here full time, but they’ll always be a Baltimore band to us. The indie duo came home for the Ottobar’s 20th birthday this fall, and lead singer Jenn Wasner’s solo Flock of Dimes show before that. And who could forget their performance at BSO Pulse. (We know we never will.) It’s been a long year since their last album, Tween, but the band now gives us a possible sneak peek of its upcoming record with this new double release. Sure, they’re essentially two separate songs, but they compliment each other like no one might have guessed in the five years between their creations. “Spiral,” circa 2012, is a rolling, chord-running number that stems from the band’s early days—back when they first started adding electronic touches to their rock-forward sound—while “Wave Is Not the Water” is a song of 2017: blossoming, powerful, introspective. If it’s any indication of what’s to come, we can’t wait for 2018.