In our story Black and Country—Then, Now, and What Comes Next, Amara Hall, a Nashville-based talent producer, likens the way she listens to music to making a gumbo. “I'm not just out here listening to Allison Russell. I'm also out listening to Denitia as much as I'm listening to Angie K as much as I'm listening to Miley Cyrus,” she says to her fellow interviewees. It’s all in the mix.
It’s a sentiment I hadn’t really thought about before reading the piece, but it perfectly illustrates the way the Marie Claire team went about putting together our Music Issue. Each of the stories—or ingredients if you will—measured and combined together create a veritable feast for you, dear reader.
You’ll find stories like Meet the Artists Fighting for Fair Wages and Big Tech Wants You to Take a Sound Bath that will make you think about the many ways music plays out in our lives. There’s also the aforementioned roundtable that tracks the past, present, and future possibilities for country music, plus a wide-ranging interview with Victoria Justice, the former child superstar who’s finding freedom in her next act as an artist creating music on her own terms. A good reminder that it’s always worth listening to your instincts.
