Finally showing her true colors
When country singer Rissi Palmer was 12 years old, she wrote her Grammy acceptance speech, sealed it in an envelope and vowed not to open it until she could read it from the stage.
Today, Palmer – the first African American woman to appear on the Billboard country music charts in 20 years – carries the envelope in her Bible.
And though she hasn’t had the chance to share the speech, 2007 brought other milestones: her first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry, her first album and her first chart single, “Country Girl.”
“It was funny, because it happened the day after my birthday,” says Palmer, 26.
“I had a little party, and we’re all sitting at Pancake Pantry, and they’re like, ‘What do you want for your birthday?’ And I said, ‘I just want my song on the charts,’ and then the next day the song was on the charts. It was crazy.”
The last time a black woman landed on the Billboard country music charts was in October 1987: Dona Mason, with the single “Green Eyes (Cryin’ Those Blue Tears).”
Palmer grew up in a family that treasured many genres of music. Her mother particularly enjoyed country, especially Patsy Cline.
“I love the storytelling aspect of it and the honesty in which country music is sung,” Palmer says.
“You listen to some of the great singers like Wynonna, Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette, and it’s not so much their styling, but it’s the honesty in their voice I’ve always loved.”
At 16, Palmer started singing professionally, and at 18 she settled on country as her career path. She met noted producers Terry Lewis and Jimmy Jam, and for a while it looked like they were the answer to her prayers.
“They offered me a deal,” she says. “But as we got further along in the creative process, it became apparent they wanted me to go in a more urban direction, and that’s not what I wanted to do.”
Palmer had to wait five more years before she found a label willing to allow her to make her country record.
“I thought, ‘Maybe I’m just supposed to be a songwriter. Maybe this isn’t what I’m supposed to be doing,’ because it was just so hard. We met with every major mogul in this business, and everyone was like, ‘Wow, she’s good, but I don’t know how we’re going to market this.’
“It was very trying, and the only thing that kept me going was that I love what I do.”
It took her more than a year and a half to record her self-titled debut album, but it’s a product Palmer is very proud of.
“I think it’s a great representation of where I was when I was writing these songs,” she says, “a good reflection of the things that influence me and that clearly define me.”
But she’s still waiting for that day when people choose to talk about country singer Rissi Palmer without including her ethnicity.
“One of the biggest things that everyone has always said to me is that the emphasis should not be on what I am, but on who I am,” she says. “I just want to be judged on the music.”
The birthday bunch
Singer Richie Havens is 67. Singer Mac Davis is 66. Actress Jill Eikenberry is 61. Singer-songwriter Billy Ocean is 58. Actor Robby Benson is 52. Actress Geena Davis is 52. Actress Charlotte Ross (“NYPD Blue”) is 40. Singer Emma “Baby Spice” Bunton (Spice Girls) is 32.