Amythyst Kiah delivered a potent version of “Black Myself” on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Friday night.
The lead single off her upcoming label debut, Wary + Strange, is a newly arranged rock rendition of the song Kiah first wrote for the supergroup Our Native Daughters’ 2019 debut, Songs of Our Native Daughters. The song would go on to be nominated for a Grammy for Best American Roots Song.
“‘Black Myself’ is the gift that keeps giving,” Kiah told Guitar Girl Magazine last year. “My goal was to say as much as I can within a music structure that when you first hear it, you’re like, ‘Hell, yeah, this is some rock. Southern rock, blues, gospel. I’m into it.’ You’re nodding your head, you’re dancing, and then I come with this really important message while you’re also rocking out. That’s always been my favorite kind of music.”
Kiah has also released another taste of the album with the brand-new “Hangover Blues,” a stormy acoustic blues song featuring Blake Mills on guitar. “Eyes are like switchblades/Breath of cigarettes/Lord knows I’d like to look but I was scared to death,” Kiah sings on the stark ballad, which she wrote years ago and first recorded for her 2016 EP. Wary + Strange will be released on June 18th on Rounder Records.