Frankie Staton is Nashville royalty. She moved to Nashville in 1981 to follow her country music dream. The racial barriers were apparent right out of the gate, but that didn’t keep this trailblazer from pushing things forward. She created the Black Country Music Association and initiated the first black country showcase ever at the Bluebird Café. She’s toured the U.S. and Europe, even playing the legendary Apollo Theater along the way. Now, after 40 years in the business, there is renewed (and overdue) interest in her work. She’s been featured in several magazines including Rolling Stone, as well as in Amazon’s documentary For Love & Country, and has been a guest artist with The Black Opry. With new music in the works, she’s poised to get a little of the wider reach that she and her music have so-long deserved. She’ll be joined by special guest and Tennessee native Valeirie Ellis Hawkins, a strong country crooner in her own right.