It’s not a big secret that I am a huge fan of music. Lots of different genres, old and new, blues and pop, alternative and (some) country, rock and roll. I’ve written perhaps ad nauseam on this blog about my adoration of the music I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying throughout my life.

So for this entry of my Alphabet Soup Challenge, I’m choosing to introduce you to someone new (to me anyway) in the music world: Yola.

Yola’s music is hard to categorize. I think that is what makes her so special. She mashes up country, folk, blues, pop, gospel, and rock and roll in a way I’ve never heard before. And man, she has some serious pipes.

The first time I heard her voice, she was covering her fellow Brit Sir Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”. Wow, I thought to myself, who is this person? I needed to know. I needed to hear more of her.

So of course I googled her. And listened to the entirety of her album “Walk through Fire”. A-freaking-mazing. This song is a stand out. Then I listened to several tracks from her debut album, “Orphan Offering” from 2016. I love how she commands the lower notes with such bluesy, soulful swagger. But turns out she can hit those high notes as well. Hear what I mean below:

Yola was nominated for several Grammys last year as well and should have one them all IMHO.

She’s played with many of my favorites, too. She jammed with the Highwomen and Dawes at the Newport Musical festival last year. She contributed vocals to the Highwomen’s debut album alongside Sheryl Crowe as well. I look forward to seeing her live someday, assuming we get back to being able to attend live concerts again.

I think she is just getting started too. I believe her immense talent is going to be enjoyed for generations to come. She’s only 36, after all. She’s to play Sister Rosetta Tharpe in an upcoming movie about the life of Elvis Presley. Tharpe, I’ve learned, is thought of by many as the “Godmother of Rock and Roll”. Another black musical artist we all ought to learn more about.

Hopefully, Yola will get an opportunity to cover this one in the film:

The snippet of the lyrics to this song that you see below is apropos to these times of racial unrest, don’t you think?

There are strange things happening everyday
If you want to view the climb
You must learn to quit your lyin’
There are strange things happening everyday
If you heal right through the lies
You can live right all the ties
There are strange things happening everyday