Chastity Brown - Sankofa (2009)

A respected Minneapolis singer/songwriter with a soulful, folk-oriented style, Chastity Brown had already amassed an impressive catalog by the time her fourth album, 2012's Back-Road Highways brought her more widespread acclaim. Along with tours of the U.S. and Europe, Brown's subsequent albums began to take on a more deeply layered sound, incorporating elements of rock and pop into releases like 2017's Silhouette of Sirens and 2022's powerful Sing to the Walls.
Brown was raised in Union City, Tennessee, where she nurtured her early love of roots music. Playing saxophone and drums and singing in church, she soon began writing her own songs on guitar, encompassing elements of jazz, blues, R&B, and folk. She ingrained herself in the Twin Cities folk scene after a move to Minneapolis in 2006, recording a live full-band set of songs for a local television network that eventually became her 2007 debut, Do the Best You Can. Her 2009 follow-up, Sankofa, was a more stripped-down guitar-and-vocal affair that better showcased her impressive vocals and often politically inspired songwriting. Released in 2010, the more fully arranged High Noon Teeth began to further explore Brown's sonic diversity, but it was her fourth album, 2012's Back-Road Highways, that put her on the map. Her first release for the Creative and Dreams Music Network, the album garnered national praise and helped launch her first European tour and other appearances over the next several years, sharing bills with artists like Leon Russell, Michael Kiwanuka, and Ani DiFranco. Her sound became more textured with 2014's Long Way, incorporating elements of rock and pop alongside her myriad Americana influences. A deal with renowned folk label Red House Records resulted in 2017's powerful Silhouette of Sirens LP.
Brown's next album, Sing to the Walls, explored a range of emotions, inspired in part by the dissolution of a long-term relationship as well as topical themes like the 2020 uprising in her hometown following the murder of George Floyd. Released in 2022, the album took a surprisingly hopeful tone, channeling personal and political upheaval into a potent and revelatory set of songs.