Recently, Nashville-based artist/music therapist/activist Kyshona announced her highly-anticipated, forthcoming LP, Legacy. Co-produced with GRAMMY-nominated producer/engineer/mixer Rachael Moore, the album is set for release on April 26th via Soundly Music. Inspired by Kyshona’s ancestral history, her family members, and her communities, Legacy chronicles  Kyshona’s journey researching and writing about her family and their stories.

“We are a fragile and fragmented society,” Kyshona says. “Our access to the people and places who shaped us can grow weaker and more distant the older we get. People pass on, forget things. We move, travel, and explore new places, collecting new stories. This album about Legacy is my attempt to capture the history, character, essence, and honest stories of my ancestors and family so generations that come after me will have something tangible to turn to when they waiver in who they are and wonder where they came from. This project is an invitation to others to do the same, in their own way. Maybe tracking my family’s stories into song will be a healing for not only me but others who feel untethered or isolated, removed from their origins,” she adds.” My hope is we can rediscover the past together, and in doing so understand more about ourselves in the future.”

To bring the vision of the album to life, Kyshona and Moore assembled an intersectional team of engineers, musicians, singers, and featured guests to record in Memphis, Tennessee at Southern Grooves Studio, created by GRAMMY-winning producer Matt Ross-Spang who also was a supporting engineer on the record. With guest contributions from Ruthie Foster, Keb Mo’, Odessa Settles, and more, the album features songs co-written with Aaron Lee Tasjan, Brittney Spencer, Caroline Spence, Jess Nolan, and others, including Kyshona’s brother, Kelvin Armstrong, her late grandfather, Hawthorne “H.T.” Armstrong.

Legacy, however, is not only an album — it is a multi-faceted project. In preparation, Kyshona worked with a genealogist at the Robert Frederick Smith Explore Your Family History Center at The Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of African American History & Culture. She and her family have traced five generations, the oldest record dating back to the 1860 US Census Slave Schedules. Searching for information and its meaning, studying records, and photographs, and gathering stories have been a rich part of this album’s creation. Developing relationships with organizations that support communities seeking to do this type of research has also been a part of the process. Kyshona hopes to connect followers and fans with resources and experienced professionals dedicated to helping black Americans trace their ancestry and collect their stories, too. She wants to create a platform for those who wish to share their stories and experiences, so they can be heard by others through song. She documents stories of legacy to encourage, inspire, and support the next generation to come.

Pre-save Legacy HERE, and be sure to follow Kyshona at the links below for the latest news and updates.

LEGACY TRACKLIST

 

1. Elephants

(written with Shannon LaBrie)

2. The Echo

(written with Caroline Spence)

3. Waitin’ on the Lawd

(featuring Ruthie Foster, Odessa Settles, and Chris Pierce, written with Crys Matthews)

4. Whispers in the Walls

(featuring Ellen Angelico, written with ZG Smith and Kathryn Rosewood)

5. Alma Ree

(featuring Nickie Conley, written with Hannah Miller)

~Interlude: Grandpa H.T. and The Church Elders~

6. Heaven is a Beautiful Place

(featuring Maureen Murphy, Nickie Conley, written by Hawthorne “H.T.” Armstrong – Kyshona’s grandfather)

7. Always a Daughter

(written with Jess Nolan)

~Interlude: From Grandpa’s Tapes~

8. What’s in a Name

(written with Aaron Lee Tasjan)

9. Where My Mind Goes

(written with Jamie Lidell)

10. Comin’ Out Swingin’

(featuring Kelvin Armstrong, written with Kelvin Armstrong)

11. Carolina

(featuring Keb Mo, written with Brittney Spencer)

12. Where I Started From

(written with Kelvin Armstrong, ZG Smith, Ryan Madora)

~Interlude: A Word~

13. Covered

(written with Jess Nolan)

 

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