“brooding soul eloquence… and folk-infected naturalness.” – NPR
Gospel and blues, melodic sensibility, and honest emotion…
Based in Minnesota, with roots in Tennessee, Chastity Brown grew up surrounded by country and soul music. In the gospel church of her childhood, she played saxophone and drums. She also found her singing voice and a passion for music. NPR’s “Favorite Sessions,” CMT, American Songwriter, the London Times and Paste Magazine have all featured her. She has shared the stage with artists as diverse as Ani Difranco, Andrea Gibson, Indigo Girls, The National, Justin Vernon, and Micheal Kiwanuka.
Brown’s latest, 2022’s Sing To The Walls, is a sonically expansive album, mining the roots of Americana, folk, and soul music. Chastity delivers her stories in a style that feels remarkably timely, modern, and forward-thinking. These songs unfold with Chastity’s expressive voice and expansive melodies, leading the listener through intertwining tendrils of atmospheric sounds.
Between writing sessions she’s been vibing to chilled-out, forward thinking artists like Leon Bridges, H.E.R., SZA, and Daniel Caesar. Like them, she expands beyond genre and her folk/roots history to encompass her appreciation of all Black American musical art forms. “I also want to poke at what the blues is,” Chastity reflects. “It has a lot of stereotypes, like it’s mostly only played by blue-eyed white guys now. But what about Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey? I feel so closely connected, in a pure, undeviating lineage, to the heritage of being a Black, queer blues woman.”
📸: Brad Ogbonna
Recommended for fans of Amythyst Kiah, Rhiannon Giddens, Valerie June and Brittany Howard.
